Q&A With Coach Frager
What is the key to your coaching success? To surround yourself with
good, loyal, dependable people – players, coaches, athletic trainers,
etc. I’ve always tried to recruit talented athletic student-athletes who
are quality people. Personally, I’d like to think that I was raised with a
strong work ethic by my father and my coaches. I am very detail orient-
ed and try to never allow anyone to outwork the teams I have been
associated with. When you are competitive and hate to lose, you try to
do anything within the rules to prevent that from happening.
Ultimately, without the support I receive from my wife, Shirley, and
sons, Brendan and Kevin, nothing is possible.
What does Fairfield University offer to student-athletes? Fairfield
University offers student-athletes a tremendous opportunity. It offers
them an opportunity to grow, an opportunity to learn, and an opportu-
nity to compete at an outstanding University. Fairfield’s mission is not
to educate just the mind, but to nurture our students’ growth as com-
plete human beings. If a student-athlete is looking for a beautiful cam-
pus, great facilities and an outstanding supportive faculty and campus
community, Fairfield is home.
What are your goals for the women’s basketball program at Fairfield?
We want our program to compete in the upper tier of the MAAC and put
ourselves in a position to compete for and win MAAC Championships,
which equates to NCAA Tournament appearances. We also want to be
respected for doing things the right way. It is important that we repre-
sent Fairfield University in the proper fashion in all aspects.
What is your coaching philosophy? I believe in building the foundation
of a team around solid half-court team defense. To create a sense of
interdependence on the team where a player does not want to let
down her teammate or coaches. The teamwork that we build on the
defensive end, we want to carry over to offense. Offensively, we want
to be opportunistic, unselfish, and be a team that executes extremely
well.
What type of student-athlete are you looking to recruit? We are look-
ing to recruit talented student-athletes that want to be part of con-
tributing to and building something special. We are also looking for
student-athletes who are serious about their academic commitment.
We will recruit highly competitive, team-oriented individuals who hate
to lose.
What has been your most memorable coaching moment? Winning the
Division II National Championship at Southern Connecticut. That was
a special group of young women who did everything that our staff
asked of them. They focused on their goal and really performed with
great poise throughout the NCAA Tournament. I also know what that
championship meant to all the former players and coaches at
Southern.
8 2012-13
Stags Women’s Basketball
HeadCoach JoeFrager
Frager’s Players In The Pros
Tara Flaherty (Fairfield)
Croatia
Stephanie Geehan (Fairfield)
Luxembourg
Baendu Lowenthal (Fairfield)
Spain
Meka Werts (Fairfield)
Finland
Sabra Wrice (Fairfield)
England
Anabel Perdomo (SCSU)
Iceland
Maria Conlon (Seymour HS)
Germany, Iceland
Aliya Cox (AAU)
Puerto Rico
Nadine Domond (AAU)
WNBA, France, Israel
Coach Frager at Fairfield Year-By-Year
Year
Overall
Pct.
MAAC
Pct.
2007-08
22-9 .710
11-7 .611
2008-09
18-13 .580
12-6 .667
2009-10
20-14 .588
11-7 .611
2010-11
17-13 .567
10-8 .556
2011-12
24-9 .727
15-3 .833
Total
101-58 .635 59-31 .656
