Fairfield University men’s basketball coach Sydney Johnson announced two additions to his coaching staff for the 2017-18 season. The Stags coaching staff will welcome Stephen Elmore as the director of basketball operations and Andrew Leone as assistant director of basketball operations.
Elmore comes to Fairfield after serving the director of basketball operations at Manhattan College, joining the Jaspers’ staff for the 2014-15 campaign. He stayed in Riverdale for three seasons, overseeing the program’s operations and day-to-day activities. Prior to his time with Manhattan, Elmore served as a graduate assistant at the Citadel where he earned a master’s degree in Sports Management,
He played baseball for four years at Princeton University and earned a bachelor’s degree in History. After finishing his academic and athletic career with the Tigers, he played one year of basketball at the Citadel as a graduate senior. Elmore graduated from Horace Mann High School where he was a member of the basketball and baseball teams.
“I was fortunate to meet Stephen as a student when I was coaching at Princeton,” Johnson said. “Immediately I was impressed with his work ethic and maturity. I’ve watched Stephen grow throughout his various influences in basketball and believe he’ll contribute a great deal to the winning culture we have here at Fairfield.”
Basketball runs in Elmore’s family as his father Len was an All-American at the University of Maryland. He went on to play in the NBA with the Pacers, Nets, Bucks, and Knicks before embarking on a career as a lawyer and a television college basketball analyst.
Leone joins the coaching staff after being part of the Fairfield University men’s basketball team for the past four seasons and earning his bachelor’s degree. The New York City native was a Dean’s List student and earned multiple berths to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) honor roll. He received the Best Teammate Award two times as selected by his teammates and coaches.
“Andrew is a natural born leader. His sincerity, passion and commitment have made a believer out of me, our staff and his teammates. It’s an honor to have a long list of former players of mine who are pursuing coaching and I’m grateful that Andrew will get his start with us.”
The Fairfield University basketball will open the 2017-18 season by hosting the University of Pennsylvania on November 11 at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. The Stags are seeking their third straight postseason berth in 2017-18 and the fifth in seven seasons under Coach Johnson.
