#Fairfield Team Capsule#

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Nickname: Stags
Record and Conference Finish: 11-18, 8th place in Metro Atlantic Athletic



Seed, Region and Bid: 16, East, Automatic
Total NCAA Tournament Bids: 3, First since 1987
NCAA Tournament Record: 0-2



Final Associated Press Ranking:     NR -- No Votes Received
Final CNN/USA Today Ranking:        NR -- No Votes Received
Final RPI Ranking:                  231st as of March 1st
Final Sagarin Computer Ranking:     211th as of March 7th



Coach: Paul Cormier (13th year, 161-190)
Record at Fairfield: 74-95, 8 years



Record in Last 10 games: 5-5



Record vs. 1997 NCAA Tournament teams: 0-1
Lost to Boston College on January 15th, 81-79 (OT)      (Neutral)



Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 1987, Sixteenth seed in Midwest Region
Lost to Indiana, 92-58



Last Two NCAA Tournament Appearances:
1987--Lost in first round            (Indiana)
1986--Lost in first round            (Illinois)



Best NCAA Tournament Finish: 1986 and 1987, First Round



Starters:
F-Didier Boucard     (6-4,  So.,  7.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg)
F-Shannon Bowman     (6-4,  Sr.,  9.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
C-Darren Phillip     (6-6,  Fr.,  5.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
G-Greg Francis       (6-3,  Sr., 14.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 32.0 3pt%)
G-Kyle Commodore     (5-11, So.,  5.7 ppg, 2.6 apg)



Reserves:
F/C-Sunday Eniojukan (6-6,  Fr.,  5.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
F-Andy Buzbee        (6-6,  Fr.,  3.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg)
G-Brent Wall         (6-2,  Jr.,  3.7 ppg, 1.3 apg)



Outlook: And the reward for beating three of the top four teams in 
the conference is... a date with North Carolina.  Just the 12th team 
in NCAA history to enter the Tournament with a losing record, 
Fairfield enters the "Big Dance" with dreams and lots of freshmen.  
The Stags were the pre-season favorite to win the MAAC, but injuries 
devastated the team.  But as the season wore on, the four freshmen 
gelled together.  Francis is the only scorer in double figures and 
along with Wall, are the primary long-range threats.  A very small 
team that will have to play a zone against the Tar Heels 
frontline.  One of the things that makes Fairfield intriguing is that
the one NCAA Tournament team it played this season -- Boston College --
it pushed to overtime.  But North Carolina has better athletes than
the Eagles.  The Stags will be hard-pressed to be the first 16th seed 
to upset a top seed.