After coming up short in last year’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships, the Fairfield University men’s basketball team is gearing up for another season of competition. While their 2025 debut exhibition at Virginia Commonwealth University ended in a disappointing 64-82 loss, the Stags will turn their attention to their first official matchup against Penn State this coming week.
Looking to reinforce the athleticism and physicality of the overall team, the program has added nine new players to the roster.
Five of the new additions are first-years Nasir Rodriguez, Tony Williams, Halon Rawlins, Brandon Benjamin and Declan Wucherpfennig. The entirety of this group is fairly local to Fairfield University, with Wucherpgennig having the furthest commute to Teaneck, N.J.
Mirroring the goals of the entire team, the new Stags have their eyes set on the biggest prize. Their goal is to “Win the championship. Win it all,” according to Williams.
The other four first-time Stags include graduate student Deuce Turner, junior Cam Estevez, redshirt junior Ryan Zan and sophomore Eric Mejia.
“The new guys are adjusting well,” said head coach Chris Casey. “They got accustomed to what college practices are like, what’s expected and what the standards are. They’ve done a good job of that.”
Of the reinforcements called in by Fairfield, there has been a strong sense of leadership and prowess brewing in the Walsh Athletic Center.
Turner has been named a tri-captain alongside senior guards Braden Sparks and Luke Davidson; the guard from Pennsylvania is one of the all-time leading scorers in the state’s high school history, with 2,452 career points. During his career, he has tallied up 1,099 points with a 10.4 points per game average. His career high in a single game is 50 points while he was at South Plains College, with an impressive 13-for-19 outing from outside the arc. He was also selected to the Preseason All-MAAC Third Team.
Mejia, a guard from Washington Heights, N.Y., is fresh off an All-American season in the National Junior College Association. At Monroe University, he helped the Mustangs win the East District Championship and make it to the second round of the NJCAA National Tournament. Mejia will be a threat from the third-point range with a .432 shooting percentage from deep; he was also the Mustangs’ assist leader with 4.5 assists per game.
Of the seasoned Stags, there are a lot of positives coming back to play for Fairfield.
Sparks is the top scorer of the returners, with an average of 9.5 points per game and a team-high 47 three-pointers. Davidson is starting his second season as tri-captain after appearing in 12 games over the last two seasons with just one rebound and one assist; he is an esteemed leader off the court with titles of co-president of Fairfield’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, secretary of the MAAC SAAC and a representative of the conference to the NCAA Division I SAAC.
“The decision process [for team captains] unfolds throughout the summer and preseason,” Casey noted. “Those three were picked by the team and approved by the coaching staff,” he added.
New improvements are at the forefront of this year’s team. “We had a lot of conversation during the course of the year and during the offseason as to what they can do to improve,” Casey stated.
Isaac Munkadi, a sophomore from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been working through the offseason to prepare for this season. “Unfortunately, he kind of got tossed into the fire [last season], but this summer, he was on campus,” Casey reflected. “We had a full summer with him, so he’s made some great improvements.”
Sparks was another notable name in terms of improvements made. “Sparks has done a great job this summer with getting himself in condition to be ready to play senior year,” Casey noted. Redshirt junior guard Noah Best, who is recovering from injuries from last season, is also a Stag to look out for this season.
With their entire schedule ahead of them, the sense of optimism for what’s to come is palpable among the program. The Stags are hoping to cash in on all the work they’ve put in this offseason.
“Our guys work very, very hard,” Casey noted. “Most people don’t know they’re here on campus for eight weeks in the summer, practicing and working out, lifting weights, taking classes.”
All that preparation continues into the start of the academic year. “You almost immediately start up with practices, so you’re going a good portion of the month in September, and all of October, before you play.”
After “finally getting to November”, the Stags are anxious to get the season started.
The Stags begin the year on the road against Penn State at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3. Going into the first game, the Stags are motivating themselves with the mantra of, “Just kill. Just be ourselves. Be together. Just win,” according to Williams.
Following their season-opener, Fairfield is set to face New Jersey Institute of Technology and Seton Hall within the next two weeks.
The Stags will make their long-awaited return to Stag Country and the Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Nov. 14 for a 7:00 p.m. contest against Stonehill College.
Looking for redemption in the MAAC Championship, the Stags are going in with the mindset of “paying attention to the day-to-day,” according to Casey. “Like every team, you always have the goal of winning a championship. We get better, we get closer as a team.”
John Malizia contributed to the reporting included in this story.
