By Stretch Jenkinson

3/12/2024

Casey has guided the Stags to a 20-11 record as Interim Head Coach this season

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Ahead of postseason play at the MAAC Championship this week in Atlantic City, the second-seeded Stags will be led by Chris Casey, who has been named the head coach of the Fairfield Men’s Basketball program. Casey and the Stags finished the regular season with a 20-11 record.

“I am extremely excited for this opportunity. Fairfield is an outstanding university on an exceptional trajectory,” said Casey. “To be given the chance to lead our men’s basketball program is an honor and the task will always get our best efforts. Thank you to President Mark Nemec and Vice President for Athletics Paul Schlickmann for their support and confidence in us. This has been a very successful season and we look forward to continuing that success in the future! Go Stags!”

After four seasons as an Assistant Coach with the Stags, Casey was appointed Interim Head Coach in October of 2023. Fairfield’s 20 victories this season are the most for the program since 2011-12, and the 14-6 conference mark is the Stags’ best since the 2010-11 campaign.

“Coach Casey has done an exceptional job leading our program on and off the court this season,” said Vice President for Athletics Paul Schlickmann. “He has earned this opportunity and the competitive success we have achieved thus far is a byproduct of the sense of unity, relentless work ethic, positive energy and selfless approach that he and his staff have instilled in our team this year. There is great positive momentum with Fairfield Basketball and we are all committed to using this season’s progress as a springboard for continued success with Coach Casey at the helm.”

Casey’s team this season was led on the court by three All-MAAC performers. Jalen Leach was selected as a member of the All-MAAC First Team, Caleb Fields claimed All-MAAC Second Team laurels and Brycen Goodine was slotted for the Third Team and chosen as MAAC Sixth Player of the Year. Fairfield had not had three All-MAAC honorees in one season since 2010-11.

“We are delighted that Chris Casey will continue to lead our men’s basketball program into the future, and are excited about our upward trajectory reflected in the standard and style of play the Stags have demonstrated this season,” said university President Mark R Nemec, PhD. “Chris knows the level of success that we are determined to reach, represents the values and integrity of our university, and is truly passionate about the wellbeing and holistic development of our student-athletes as young men of purpose as we take our men’s basketball program to new heights.”

The 14th head coach in Fairfield University Men’s Basketball history, Casey is in his 38th year as a college basketball coach. As a head coach, he was a part of the MAAC for six years at Niagara from 2013-19. His tenure in Western New York included a 19-win campaign in 2017-18 that saw the Purple Eagles finish 12-6 in the MAAC as the third-seeded team in the conference. He joined Niagara after a three-year stretch at LIU Post highlighted by back-to-back East Coast Conference Championships and NCAA postseason appearances. Casey’s first head-coaching stop was at Division III Rutgers-Newark from 1998-2001.

Casey’s assistant coaching career began as a part of the first two Division I seasons in Central Connecticut State history from 1986-88. After a return to his alma mater Western Connecticut State for one season, he reentered the Division I ranks with stops at St. Francis and Saint Peter’s.

Following his stint as head coach at Rutgers-Newark, Casey rejoined the staff at CCSU from 2001-06. He was a part of the Blue Devils’ 2002 NEC Championship squad and was recognized as an AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2003. In 2006, he moved on to Norm Roberts’ staff at St. John’s for a four-year tenure that included a trip to the 2010 National Invitation Tournament.

Casey graduated from Western Connecticut State in 1986 with a degree in Business Administration. He earned a Master’s in Education Administration from Central Connecticut State in 1993.

COURTESY FAIRFIELD ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS