2023 Hercules Tires MAAC Basketball Championships Digital Program

2022–23 FAIRFIELD MEN’S & WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

MEN’S ROSTER

WOMEN’S ROSTER No. Name Cl.

QUICK FACTS LOCATION FAIRFIELD, CT NICKNAME STAGS COLORS CARDINAL RED YEAR FOUNDED 1942 PRESIDENT MARK R. NEMEC, PhD ATHLETIC DIRECTOR PAUL SCHLICKMANN HOME ARENA LEO D. MAHONEY ARENA (3,500)

No.

Name

Cl. Gr. Sr. Sr.

Pos.

Ht.

Wt.

Hometown/High School/Previous School

Pos. Ht.

Hometown/High School/Previous School

0 1 2 3 4 5

Caleb Fields

G

6-2 195 Cape May Court House, N.J./Wildwood Catholic/Bowling Green

1 2 3

Anna Eng

So.

G 5-5 Croton, N.Y./Croton-Harmon

Chris Maidoh

F

6-10 220 New Carrollton, Md./Scotland Campus (Pa.)

Mimi Rubino

Jr. Jr.

G 5-7 Pequannock, N.J./Morris Catholic

Brycen Goodine

G G G

6-4 180 New Bedford, Mass./St. Andrew’s School (R.I.)/Providence

Janelle Brown

G 5-6 Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood

Jalen Leach Jake Wojcik

Jr.

6-4 200 Nyack, N.Y./Tilton School (N.H.)

10 12 15 22 23 25 33 34

Izabela Nicoletti Leite R-Jr.

G 5-10 Americana Sao Paulo, Brazil/Neuse Christian Academy/Florida St.

PLAYER TO WATCH Graduate Callie Cavanaugh has had a career year for the Stags as she has led the MAAC in scoring most of the campaign. The graduate forward was a Preseason All-MAAC Second Team pick after coming into the year as the Stag’s leading scorer. She net ted her 1,000th career point earlier this year with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer against Manhattan. She started the year with a career-high 36 points in the season opener at Brown, tying for the second-most ever scored in a game in Fairfield program history. NOTABLE ALUMNI Lou Lopez-Senechal graduated from Fairfield in the top-5 in program history in scoring with 1,596 career points. The 2021-22 MAAC Player of the Year led the Stags to their first MAAC title in a decade after being named the 2022 MAAC Tournament MVP. She led the Stags and finished in the top-30 nationally in scoring last year. Lopez-Senechal is now a member of the nationally-ranked UConn Huskies and has started every game while being towards the top on the team in every offensive category.

R-Sr.

6-5 190 San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine College Prep/Richmond

Kate Peek

Fr.

G 5-9 Poughkeepsie, N.Y./The Millbrook School

Supreme Cook

Jr.

F F F

6-9 220 East Orange, N.J./The Peddie School

Lauren Beach

So.

F

6-1 Medway, Mass./Medway

10 11 12 13 14 15 20 21 25 33

Allan Jeanne-Rose

Sr.

6-7 200 Saint Joseph, Martinique/St. John Paul II

Jocelyn Polansky

Sr.

G 5-10 Wallingford, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall/Utah State

Makai Willis

So. Sr. Fr. Fr.

6-9 240 Tallahassee, Fla./Florida State University H.S.

Callie Cavanaugh MacKenzie Daleba

Gr.

F F

6-1 Holyoke, Mass./Holyoke/Florida International

Jack Mullally

G G G

5-10 170 Belle Harbor, N.Y./Xavier H.S.

Jr.

5-11 Dorchester, Mass./Cathedral

Anthony Davis Jr.

6-5 180 Stephens City, Va./Miller School

Brooke Tatarian

So.

G 5-10 Yonkers, N.Y./The Master’s School

James Johns Jr.

6-6 185 Claymont, Del./Long Island (N.Y.) Lutheran

Dayna Tirado

Jr.

F F

6-1 Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest

Jack Brown

Jr.

F F

6-6 200 Greenville, Del./Brewster Academy

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Andrea Hernangomez Gr.

6-1 Madrid, Spain/Carmen Conde

PLAYER TO WATCH One of the Stags’ leading scorers and among the top rebounders in the MAAC, Supreme Cook has had a breakout campaign in 2022-23. Highlights to the campaign include back-to-back double-doubles in wins over Saint Peter’s and local rival Sacred Heart in December as well as a massive 17-point, 17-re bound showing against Niagara on Jan. 6. Cook’s scoring is aided by earning regular trips to the free throw line with his work in the post, ranking among the conference’s best in conversions and attempts from the charity stripe. Cook was a Preseason All-MAAC First Team selec tion by the conference’s head coaches and also garnered preseason recognition from independent outlets including Blue Ribbon, The Almanac and Daly Dose of Hoops. NOTABLE ALUMNI Fairfield Basketball’s all-time leading scorer, Tyler Nelson is currently playing professionally with Rostock Seawolves of the ProA league in Germany, where he rates among the club’s offensive leaders. The two-time All-MAAC First Team honoree started his professional career with an invitation to the Minnesota Timberwolves’ NBA Summer League team in 2018 and was subsequently selected with the third overall pick of the 2018 NBA G League draft by the Greensboro Swarm. He completed his G League tenure with the Texas Legends before embarking overseas. At Fairfield, Nelson racked up a program record 2,172 points from 2014-18. In addition to his scoring total, Nelson’s 17.1 points per game in his career were the best for a Stag in over three decades, and his 315 made three-pointers are also a school record.

Zach Crisler

Sr. Sr.

6-9 215 North Wales, Pa./LaSalle College HS/Rice

42

Mackenzie Martin

Sr.

G 5-10 Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill

Mark Henry

G

5-11 170 Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg

Head Coach: Carly Thibault-DuDonis (Monmouth, 2013) – First Season Assistant Coaches: Erik Johnson (California San Diego, 1994) – First Season , Erika Brown (Delaware, 2017) – First Season, Blake DuDonis (Gardner Webb, 2011) – First Season Dir. of Basketball Operations: Alex McKinnon (Montclair State, 2020) – First Season

Michael Rogan

Fr.

G/F 6-7 195 Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs/South Kent (Conn.)

TJ Long

So.

G

6-4 195 Rockville Centre, N.Y./Canterbury School

Head Coach: Jay Young (Marist ’86) – Fourth Season Assistant Coaches: Chris Casey (Western Connecticut State ’86) – Fourth Season , James Johns (West Chester ’01) – Second Season, Bryan Dougher (Stony Brook ’12) – Fourth Season Director of Operations: Jesus Cruz (first season, Fairfield ’21)

HEAD COACH CARLY THIBAULT-DUDONIS

HEAD COACH JAY YOUNG A respected 30-year veteran within college basketball, Jay Young is in his fourth season leading the Stags. Young came to Fairfield after helping to engineer nationally-recognized turnarounds at both Rutgers and Stony Brook as an assistant. In 2021-22, the Stags finished 15-18 overall and 8-12 in the MAAC. The non-conference slate featured a win over Sacred Heart in the first-ever meeting played on the SHU campus, as well as a comeback victory over Stony Brook. During the MAAC schedule, the Stags swept the "Buffalo trip" for just the sixth time in history. Fairfield also swept the home-and-home from Rider and earned road victories at Marist and Manhattan. In the postseason, the Stags reached the quarterfinals, falling to eventual MAAC Champion and NCAA Elite Eight squad Saint Peter's. In the 2020-21 campaign, Young guided the Stags to three postseason wins to reach the MAAC Championship Game. Before his arrival at Fairfield, Young was an assistant at Rutgers, Stony Brook and Northeastern. He was also the head coach of Division II New Haven from 2000-05, leading the Chargers to two NCAA tournament appearances.

A veteran of two Final Fours and one of the nation’s top recruiters, Carly Thibault-DuDonis was named the Head Coach of the Fairfield University Women’s Basketball program on April 11, 2022. Thibault DuDonis most recently served as the Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at the University of Minnesota. In four seasons at Minnesota, Thibault-DuDonis brought three nationally-ranked recruiting classes to Williams Arena – including a current incoming class that ranks 10th in the nation – and the first two five-star recruits in program history. Thibault-DuDonis was the team’s defensive coordinator and assumed the role of Interim Head Coach in 2022 while Whalen was on medical leave. Her first foray into the Power 5 world brought Thibault-DuDonis to Mississippi State University, where the Bulldogs made back-to back appearances in the NCAA National Championship Games. Thibault-DuDonis was the recruiting coordinator that secured the top two classes in MSU history. A standout at East Lyme High School in Connecticut, Thibault DuDonis played collegiately at Monmouth University. Thibault DuDonis was the valedictorian of the Class of 2013 at Monmouth, graduating with a 4.0 GPA as a Psychology major with a double minor in Spanish and Health Studies.

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2023 | HERCULES TIRES MAAC MEN’S & WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 45