Fairfield removes the interim tag from men's basketball coach Chris Casey's title

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Fairfield has removed the interim tag from men's basketball coach Chris Casey's title, the school announced Tuesday.

Casey was named the Stags interim coach in October after Jay Young resigned. He has led the Stags (20-11, 14-6 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) to their first 20-win season since 2011-12.

The team swarmed Casey after being given the news in the locker room that he would be their permanent head coach by Paul Schlickmann, the school's vice president for athletics.

“I am extremely excited for this opportunity," Casey said in a statement. "Fairfield is an outstanding university on an exceptional trajectory.“

Casey served for four seasons as an assistant coach at Fairfield, after being head coach at Niagara from 2013 to 2019, where his teams were 64-129.

Fairfield is the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Tournament and will face either No. 7 seed Iona or No. 10 seed Manhattan on Wednesday night.