There have been a lot of incredible and historic sports seasons at Fairfield University over the years. The 1977-78 men's basketball season was one of them.
 
By Chris Elsberry

Practice was over for the day. Fairfield head coach Fred Barakat had blown his whistle and signaled it was time to hit the showers. It was a warm October afternoon and inside an oven-like Alumni Hall, senior forward Steve Balkun made his way over to the sidelines and plopped himself down on a bleacher, towel in hand, wiping away the sweat from what had been a typical grueling workout.
 
The start of the season was still a couple of weeks away and Balkun was basking in the afterglow of being named captain of the Stags for a second straight season.
 
Last year, as a junior, it was Barakat who named him the team's leader. This season, his teammates had voted him the honor and that was special.
 
Some players wandered toward the locker room, others like junior guard Joe DeSantis, and sophomore guard Flip Williams, continued to shoot. As Balkun sat and started to relax, senior guard Kim Fisher came over and sat down next to him. The two had played together last season at Fairfield – Fisher coming over as a junior college transfer -- and during that time, had formed a tight bond. Together for a few moments, they sat in silence. Finally, Balkun spoke.
 
"You know what, Kim?" he told Fisher, putting his arm around his shoulder. "We're really good."
 
As it turns out, Balkun was right.
 
Under the watchful recruiting eye of assistant coach Brendan Suhr and the button pushing Barakat, Fairfield headed into the 1977-78 season poised to make a major impact on college basketball in the Northeast. First with seniors Balkun, Fisher and Mark Plefka, then with juniors DeSantis and Mark Young, sophomores Williams and Steve Huzer and freshmen Mike Palazzi, Rich Broggini and Joe Nelson, Fairfield was coming off a 16-win season and was ready to take the next step – a step that would take them into the postseason for the third time in the last six years.
 
"I think we definitely knew we were going to be good. We had good balance," DeSantis said. "My freshman year, we started two freshmen, Mark Young and myself along with two sophomores, Steve Balkun and Mark Plefka and we won 12 games. The following year, we won 16 games, so things were set up for us to be really good, especially with our schedule, we had like, 18 home games, so we all felt like this was going to be our best year."
 
College basketball in the Northeast in the mid- to late-1970s could arguably be called a 'golden age.' That season, Fairfield played against coaches Jim Valvano at Iona, Bill Raftery at Seton Hall, George Blaney at Holy Cross, Frank McGuire at South Carolina, Dom Perno at UConn, Don Donoher at Dayton and Dr. Tom Davis at Boston College. The year before, the Stags faced John Thompson at Georgetown, Lou Carnesecca at St. John's, Dave Gavitt at Providence and Mike Krzyzewski at Army.
 
And the players … Ronnie Perry at Holy Cross, Jeff Ruland at Iona, Ernie Cobb at BC, Greg Sanders at St. Bonaventure, Boo Williams at St. Joseph, Sly Williams at Rhode Island, Jim Paxson at Dayton, Nick Galis at Seton Hall, Gary Winton at Army, Derrick Jackson at Georgetown, Joe Hassett at Providence and Glen Williams at St. John's.
 
"It was an amazing time," Balkun said. "I still have all my recruiting letters … the people and coaches that came to see you play. Jim Valvano came to my high school, just a great guy. It was the golden age of the 'big east' before the Big East (Conference). We played against Iona and Jimmy V, we played against Boston University with Rick Pitino, Seton Hall had Bill Raftery … you look at the coaches we went against and where they are now, it was great. That was an awesome year."
 
Added Suhr, "You don't see that kind of basketball anymore. It was a great age of coaches and players in the northeast, incredible."
 
Chemistry 101
 
Heading into the 1977-78 campaign, Balkun, Plefka, Fisher, Young, DeSantis and Williams had all played together for at least one season, learning each other's moves, understanding each other's strengths and weaknesses, becoming a cohesive unit, eager to hit the ground running.
 
"We knew it was a special group because it was a team comprised of solid people," Suhr said. "That team was complete. We had two incredible guards (DeSantis and Fisher) that could score. Flip Williams was an amazing guy. Big, strong, he could drive to the basket. Mark Young and Steve Balkun were great. To have two really good, big men that could have played for any team in the country, that was amazing … Joey and Mark, we beat out Duke to get them and Mark's father went to Duke, so that really ticked him off. Those guys were the perfect fit. They all knew how to battle, coming from competitive high school programs."

"We had great chemistry," Williams said. "I didn't have a problem playing with anyone. I knew my role and everyone else knew theirs. We all fit in together. Everyone that came to Fairfield had come from a winning program and when we got together on campus, we just had a great attitude that season. Everything fell into place. We worked hard, we had a great preseason and coming off last season (16 wins) we believed that this would be our time."
 
According to Suhr, who was an assistant coach under Barakat for five seasons from 1974-75 to 1978-79 before leaving to become Hubie Brown's assistant with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, the key factor to Fairfield's success that season wasn't just chemistry, it was culture.
 
"What Fred was really good at was recruiting for need. Today, teams recruit for numbers, but back then, we recruited a culture. We had a great identity and culture that we could play anyone, anywhere in the country and compete. We had a great blend of guys. That's what made us so special. We had one heartbeat. Usually at that age, kids aren't that mature, but this team was all that and more. All they wanted to do was compete and win."
 
And it started with DeSantis. Coming out of Tolentine Catholic in the Bronx, N.Y., the 6-foot-2 guard brought deceptive speed and a deadly long range jump shot to Fairfield, along with the tenacity that made him the Stags third all-time leading scorer – playing without a 3-point line – and of course, that New York City toughness.
 
"Joey D was arguably one of the best players I've ever coached," Suhr said. "He was incredibly special because I watched him dominate the New York City Catholic League, which at the time was as good any league in the country. In the summer, he would play for the Riverside Hawks, a travel team based out of Harlem.
 
"He was a guy that knew how to change speed, change pace, he was very clever. As great as shooter as he was, he was also a great passer. If Joey had played in a pick and roll offense like today, no one would have had any idea how to defend him."
 
Said Balkun, "Joey was just so consistent. There were times when you were on the court and you just took him for granted. You'd get him the ball in an open area and bang. It was great to see but I was also on the end of a lot of nice passes from him too."
 
Standing at 6-foot-10 and weighing in at 240 pounds, Young was the true definition of a 'big man.' Graduating from Brookline High School in Newton, Mass., he dominated down low, shooting 63 percent from the floor as a junior and could get up and down the floor with guard-like speed.
 
"To be as strong as he was," Suhr said of Young, "To be able to run the floor, to have a great back-to-the-basket game, you just didn't see that. Maybe in the Big Ten or the ACC but you didn't see that in the Northeast."
 
"If Mark Young was coming out right now, he'd be a 10-year NBA pro," DeSantis said. "He was 6-foot-10, 240, 250 (pounds). He could run, he could shoot. He would dominate the MAAC right now. He was a stud, a horse that you couldn't stop."
 
Next to Young was Balkun, the Stags two-time captain. Coming from Northwest Catholic in West Hartford, the 6-foot-8 forward was just as quick as Young and that made for some serious dunks at the end of a fast break run – which were numerous that season.
 
Kim Fisher came from East Orange, N.J., and playing alongside DeSantis, brought solid ball-handling and quickness to go along with a shooting eye just as deadly and deep as DeSantis' was. 
 
"Kim was so fast and quick with the ball and he could score," said Suhr. "It made for a backcourt that I can only dream about having at the college level now. Kim and Joey coming off picks and screens today would be frightening to watch."
 
Said Flip Williams, "I don't think a lot of teams were prepared to play Kim. He wasn't really tall, but he was super-fast and when he got a rebound, he would break and race down either side of the floor and drive to the hoop. You couldn't stop him. I don't remember any defensive player or scheme being able to stop Kim."
 
Williams was a 6-foot-4 guard from Neptune, N.J., and like all the other Stags that season, could run, shoot and defend.
 
"He was a 'glue' guy. He could score and drive to the basket," Suhr said. "If we got him a good mismatch, he could really score. He could be a great player in a game where you wouldn't have to call a bunch of plays for him, he could make things happen. He was such a competitive player, so good with the guys' chemistry wise."
 
And along with the chemistry came the inevitable … nicknames.
 
"Balkun was 'Balk' " said Young. "Mark Plefka was 'Space' I mean, this guy, 6-foot-9 whatever, he'd come down the floor and just fire it up. From anywhere. He had the perfect nickname because you never knew what he was going to do. We had Joey D (DeSantis), Kim Fisher, he was 'Silk' because he was just so smooth and he got things done. Me? I was 'Goob.'
 
Goob?
 
"My freshman year, Leo Nolan is on the team and he's asking us about nicknames and I told him that mine in high school was 'goob.' He thought I meant goofy but I told him that I liked those chocolate covered peanuts – Goobers – and once Leo heard that, every time I went to the free throw line, he would yell, 'Goob!' and if I made the shot, everyone in the building would go 'Yes!' It was pretty cool."
 
Barakat and Balkun
 
Tough? Yes. Taskmaster? Yes. Intense? Are you kidding? Fred Barakat was all of that and more as the 1977-78 season got underway. He had arrived at Fairfield in 1970-71, taking over from Jim Lynam. That season, the Stags won just nine games. The next year, they won 12. The third season, Fairfield went 18-9 and defeated Marshall in the National Invitation Tournament before losing by one point in the second round to the eventual NIT champs, Virginia Tech.
 
In 1974-75, the Stags won 17 games and went to the NIT again, losing by a point to Hawaii. Three seasons and 41 more wins later, Fairfield was locked and loaded for another breakout season.
 
"Barakat was a tough coach but he always had us prepared," said Fisher. "We practiced every day and we practiced hard. Our chemistry was really good. Barakat had all the X's and O's and as a result of that, the chemistry worked. Fred put the blueprint out but we built the house."
 
According to Mike Palazzi, a freshman on that 1977-78 team, Barakat was a coach that lived and breathed basketball.
 
"He was part of that 'Massachusetts Mafia' of coaches back in the day. Guys like Dee Rowe (UConn) and Frank McLaughlin (Holy Cross) and all those guys that came through there. He was a great basketball mind … and he hated to lose."
 
"Fred had a great temper. He was so intense, but I think that's what made us such good partners, because I was the opposite," Suhr said. "I was the calming influence. One of the great things about coaching is knowing when to push people's buttons and when Mark or Flip or anyone needed to have their buttons pushed, Fred would do that and then I'd go over, pat him on the back and tell him that Fred was just trying to get him going. That's what good coaching staffs do."
 
With Brendan Suhr the Ying to Barakat's Yang, the Stags also received much needed guidance and leadership from Balkun, their captain.
 
"Steve was a phenomenal captain," said Palazzi. 'He kept the team together. He was a motivator in his own way and got things done. He was a great player."
 
Added Suhr, "Steve's leadership came very naturally. This team really liked each other … I can't emphasize that enough. They didn't just like each other, they loved each other. They understood there was a pecking order and Steve, being a senior, took it upon himself to lead."
 
The season before, 1976-77, Barakat was "having some issues" according to Balkun, with some players on the team and not wanting "certain people" in that role, he threw the job in Balkun's lap. The next season, the team voted him captain.
 
"Fred and I had a close relationship, I was in his office every day and we would talk about a lot of things," Balkun said. "My senior year, I think what made him an even better coach was that he backed off a bit. My first two years, he was tough and it really wasn't a happy place to be but then he let me take more of a leadership role, he just let us go play."
 
One story of how Balkun's leadership role paid some dividends came early in the season in a game at Stonehill.
 
"We should have killed those guys, they were not a good team," Balkun remembers. "And we're tied with them going into halftime. So, Fred laces into us but before we went back out onto the court, I gathered the guys together and said, 'You know what? He's right, we're stinking this place up, so let's go back out there and play like we know how to play.' And we went out and beat them by 30 (actually, 20, 85-65)."

After the game, as the Stags were making their way onto the bus, Barakat drew Balkun aside.
 
"He said, 'Great job at halftime,' " Balkun said. "Go sit with your girlfriend."
 
What?
 
"It was one of those things that would never happen today," Balkun said. "She (Anita) was captain of the cheerleaders and they usually didn't travel with us, but they were also going to Boston like we were (for the Boston College game), so they were there. I had met Anita at Fairfield and in fact, we got married."
 
The win over Stonehill pushed Fairfield's early mark to 3-0 (wins against Loyola of Maryland and Bridgeport had started the season). Boston College handed the Stags their first loss, 79-76 but then Fairfield reeled off six straight wins, beating Duquense, Vermont, Montclair State, Canisius, Catholic and American before traveling to Columbia, South Carolina and dropping a close 75-69 decision to the Gamecocks.
 
From there, Fairfield ripped off another big winning streak, this one an eight-game surge, to stand a lofty 17-2 heading into the final month of the season. Included in that run was possibly the biggest victory in Stags history.
 
End of Part One. Check back tomorrow for Part Two that retells one of the most memorable wins in school history – a 123-103 decision over Holy Cross.