Felician University

Steve Fagan was named Felician's head women's basketball coach in September 2008. He has led Felician to seven Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference playoff berths. He has coached 10 all-conference players, six All-Met honorees, and two all-region performers, as well as an Academic All-America® and 23 Academic all-CACC selections. In July 2019, he was promoted to full-time head coach with no other duties.

Fagan's 2021-22 squad finished second in the CACC North Division, allowing the Golden Falcons to host a playoff game for the first time in a decade. During the 2017-18 campaign, he and the Golden Falcons achieved several milestones. Fagan became Felician's career leader in coaching victories with an early-season neutral-site triumph over New York Institute of Technology. A short time later, he earned his 100th NCAA victory. Felician finished the season in fourth place in the CACC North Division, returning to the conference tournament for the first time in four years. The Golden Falcons again played in the CACC Championship event in 2019, bowing out both seasons in the quarterfinals to the nationally-ranked University of the Sciences.

After an initial rebuilding year, Fagan posted three consecutive winning seasons from 2009-12 -- the first time that had happened in program history. In 2011-12, Fagan guided the Golden Falcons to the CACC North Division regular-season title, another team first. For his efforts, he was named the CACC Coach of the Year. 

Community service has been a hallmark of Fagan's Felician tenure. The Golden Falcons annually hold a "Shoot for Hunger" holiday food drive at a November or December home game, and for more than a decade acted as chaperones and costume contest judges at the Rutherford Ragamuffin Parade. More recently, Felician team members and coaches have volunteered at the Tunnel 2 Towers 5K Walk and Run, a fundraiser for 9/11 first responders.

Fagan was named the chair of the CACC Women's Basketball Coaches' Committee prior to the 2017-18 season, and is a former member of the NCAA Division II East Regional Advisory Committee. He was selected by the conference to attend the 2019 NCAA Division II Identity Workshop in Indianapolis, Ind.

Fagan came to Felician after one season as the head coach at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. From 2002-07, he was the head coach and assistant director of athletics at Globe Institute of Technology. He posted an 89-43 record in five seasons at Globe, guiding the Knights to four NJCAA Division 1 regional championship games.

Fagan began his coaching career at St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School in Staten Island, N.Y. - his alma mater – while also teaching physical education for three years. In 1996, he became the lead assistant at Division-I St. Francis College of Brooklyn. Fagan served as the interim head coach of the Terriers for the 1999-2000 campaign. He went on to work for the basketball instruction organization The Hoop Group for two years.

Fagan played collegiately at Brooklyn College and Pace University before receiving his bachelor of arts degree in mass media/communications from Pace in 1993. As a junior, he set Pace's single-season assist record with 148 (currently fifth). His 14 assists against Medgar Evers College that season stood as the Setters' single-game mark for nearly 30 years.

Fagan was the coordinator of internal operations for the Felician athletics department from 2008-19. He and his wife, Larissa, reside in Howell. They have four children -- Nathaniel and Natasha Gonel, and Patrick and Mark Fagan. Natasha completed a bachelor's degree in psychology at Felician in 2017.

Last updated 3/15/24