The First Step to Greatness

The Fairfield University men's basketball team will welcome three new freshmen for the 2010-2011 season. At the end of the last school year, Coach Cooley thought there would be five new recruits, but with the departure of Adam Jones and Majok Majok, the team will try to pick up the pieces. Without these two players, the Stags still have a respectable incoming class. Fairfield was recently featured on the front page of ESPN.com recruiting page. Last year, we were one basket away from heading to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997. But it was all about the impact player. Derek Needham flew under everyone's radar. The MAAC Rookie of the Year, was the best rookie that the program has every seen and arguably the best the conference has ever seen. Will this class have an impact player? A Needham impact player?

#23 Jamel Fields (Albany NY) Every place you look there is one word that you see over and over again. Intangible. According to scout.com, a 2 star recruit who is a strong finisher at the rim. This will blend well with Needham and Colin Nickerson who I feel are great finishers at the rim. Cooley and the scouts have also commented on his speed and quickness. This is going to be a strength for this team. They are going to have to try and combat for the lack of height through their speed. This is basically a guard team who can keep up with anyone on the floor.

Field's downsides include his decision making. This is one aspect that I am not worried about when it comes learning under Coach Cooley. Derek Needham grew so much last year if you look at the start and end of the season. Needham made some awful decisions on the court the first part of the year making some crucial turnovers. By the end of the year he became on of the best passers in school history. I do expect any freshman to struggle with decisions when arriving on the college scene. It is only human nature. So many differences exist between the college and high school games. What really shows your skill and talent is your ability to fight through it.

ESPN Grade: 82

#41 Keith Matthews (Sebastian FL) He was his high-schools all-time winningest player with 86 victories through his four years. Also racking up a program record 1,867 points which led him to a McDonalds All-American nominee.

ESPN calls this guy a great playmaker who plays like an oversixed power forward because of his lack of offensive skills. I have talked to people who have said that Cooley feels like Matthews could be "the best player [I] have ever coached." They say that he is athletic and can finish above the rim. I have never seen this guy play but they say he can be explosive.

What worries me is that he is not going to be able to use his size aganist the people in the college game. At only 6'5'' the same moves that he used in high school simply wont work now.

ESPN Grade: 78

#15 Maurice Barrow (Middle Village NY) This is the guy that many sources have as our new impact player. His scouting report, however, does not lead up to a Derek Needham impact player. "He is a jack of all trades and a master of none," ESPN says. "He possesses the versatility and willingness to be a valuable role player at the mid-major level," the report continues. He averaged 12.4 PPG and 6.5 rebounds per game as a senior and led his team to the CHSAA Class AA intersectional championship by recording a double-double.

His skills include his strength and being able to score with both hands around the basket. The Stags are going to NEED a replacement for Anthony Johnson who was able to do that same thing. They need an offensive presence who can change the momentum of the game. Peanut was able to get the fans behind the team with his monstrous dunks and that is something that the Stags might have to rely on Barrow to do.

ESPN Rank 84

Who will be the next Derek Needham impact player? Will there be one? With the lingering injuries the Stags are going to experience this year they are need to going to have depth. Needham and Nickerson added that bench depth and both were dangerous when they were on the floor. Can this class be the same thing? Or will it be like the 2008 class in which Brandon Davis, Jamal Turner, and Shimeek Johnson all have transferred and only Ryan Olander and Sean Crawford is left? We will find out. And the journey should be fun.

Mens Soccer Recruting Class has a more Local feel

A year after the Stags signed 4 New Zealand born recruits the class of 2014 has more local players. With 4 out of 5 of the incoming freshmen around the Tri-State area it looks like Coach Rees is trying to get more of a local flare. Here is a breakdown of the class.

Anthony Arena- (D, Seaford NY, St Anthony's)
He's a defender who has also been known to score. He ranked 25th in the New York area in points with 8 all with 4 goals. His team the St. Anthony's Friars looks like a power house in the league. The same school as Joe Michaelson (men's tennis team) and Larry Cornelia (men's baseball) was 30-3 overall and had 6 players ranked in the top 25.

Wow the defenders on this team are very young. Erik Ilisije is probably the most experienced defender on the team but combined with the now sophmore Kiwis, Johnny Raj and Adam Cowen, the defense looks very young and talented. Now I think the big area that we need to improve on is offense because it looks like our defense it set for the next couple of years.

Patrick Bellero- (MF, Melville NY, Half Hollow Hills)
A mid-fielder who scored 10 goals in a season. He took the corner kicks for his team which finished 18-11 overall.

I don't think he will be taking the corner kicks for the Stags but I do like the fact that he is a scorer. We are losing a pretty consistent player in Christian Uy who was one of the best passers the school has seen. With 3 midfielders in this class hopefully one of them can step up and be that presence.

Matthew Danaher- (MF, Trumbull CT, St. Joseph)

He has his own highlight reel. He made the first team all-FCIAC the only one on his team to do so.

Wow this guy looks like the real deal. In his various highlight packages he is clearly able to blast past offender and is great at getting the ball to mid field. He can use his quickness and strength which is a deadly package. I think he might be the strongest in the class.


Matteo Marzoli- (MF, Westport CT, Staples)

He was a part of the youngest team in Staples history and they were almost undefeated.
This kid seems to have a very strong leg. Various reports say that he has scored on free kicks from around 50 yards! He was also the player that the team looked to to set up the offense and was great at clearing the ball.



Jon Clements- (Boreham Woods, England)


This player seems to have alot of intangibles. His old coach used words such as "ambassador" and remarked that he also "played a massive in our promotion"


How about this. For Woods he scored over 80 goals in just 2 seasons! WOW!