Steal for the Stags!
With offers in hand from Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Boston College, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Alabama, Majok Majok has committed to the University of Fairfield.
Seriously.
The six-foot-eight big man who spent this season at Northfield Mount Hermon committed to Stags head coach Ed Cooley early Tuesday evening.
The commitment is a huge one for the Stags, not just because of who they beat out to land Majok, but because of his potential impact in the MAAC over the next four years.
Despite the plethora of opportunities to play at the high major level, Majok’s longtime coach and advisor Ed Smith says that almost every deciding factor pointed in the Stags favor.
“The thing is, he is going to be near his family and his friends and he’s going to have an opportunity to play through his mistakes and learn on the job from day one,” Smith said.
“Having played with CBC and establishing relationships there he’s almost a Connecticut kid now,” Smith said. “He’ll have [CBC director] J.R. [Hargreaves] nearby to lean on, he has family in Queens, and friends at nearby schools.”
While a variety of factors obviously contributed to Majok’s decision, including Fairfield academic reputation and programs, the deciding factor certainly seems to be the opportunity to learn under Stags head coach Ed Cooley while seeing significant playing time for four years on a contending team.
“Coach Cooley is going to do a great job with him. He did a great job at B.C. with undersized bigs like Craig Smith,” Smith said. “With Anthony Johnson leaving, Majok can be the man in the middle there like he was at NMH this year.”
NMH head coach John Carroll agreed, saying a big reason for Majok’s dominance late this season was because he was given the freedom to play through mistakes early in the year, and that they were looking for a similar situation at the next level.
Carroll also credited Cooley, attributing Majok’s decision to the fact that Cooley dedicated the time to recruit the big man himself.
Cooley’s hard-work has certainly paid off as Majok gives Fairfield a big man who was absolutely dominant in the NEPSAC this season, has all the tools to step right in and start from day one in the MAAC, and the potential to blossom into one of the league’s top players.
Majok Majok