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The guy could flat-out coach. Even his detractors admitted that.
Until the arrival of the Big East, he was able to attract some high-profile players to Fairfield University, notably All-New York City guard Joe DeSantis, 6-foot-10 Mark Young and a pair of Connecticut All-Staters, Steve Balkun and Mark Plefka. Together, they helped transform the low-budget Stags into an Eastern heavyweight that competed in three National Invitation Tournaments in a six-year span and played before capacity crowds in Alumni Hallbefore the tiny campus gym had a name.
Yes, Fred Barakat made an indelible mark during his 11 seasons (1970-81) as Fairfield's head basketball coach. On Monday, he suffered a fatal heart attack at a hospital in Greensboro, N.C. He was 71.
For several years, Fred and I were as close as a coach and media type can be. As sports editor, and then executive sports editor, of the Waterbury Republican-American, I chronicled his entire career at Fairfield. I witnessed many of the highs and some of the lows during this period.
At times, he could be charming and funny. His wife, Florence, was a sweetheart, and it was Flo who introduced me to the woman who would become my wife and the mother of our three children.
That auspicious meeting is embedded in my consciousness ... March 18, 1973. That afternoon, Fairfield had upset Marshall, 80-76, in the tournament's opening round. The Stags' coaches, athletic administrators and guests went to celebrate at the NIT dinner at Mama Leone's. For Patti and me, it was love at first sight, or at least second glance. Some six months later, Fred was among the speakers at my bachelor dinner in Waterbury.
Patti and I were married in October.
The highlights of Barakat's coaching career would fill volumes. The three NITs. The landmark 123-103 rout of 14th-in-the-nation Holy Cross en route to a 22-5 record in 1978. Back-to-back victories over UConnwhich prompted the Huskies to drop Fairfield from their schedule for two seasons. A double-overtime win over Detroit in Madison Square Garden. Noteworthy road victories over Georgetown, Boston College, Holy Cross, Villanova, St. Bonaventure and other Eastern teams of stature. A record 160 wins against 128 losses on a nickel-and-dime budget.
John Ryan, who was the point guard on the Stags' first two NIT teams, in 1973 and '74, had a chance meeting with his former coach in Hartford this past winter. Barakat was there as an invited guest for the 40th anniversary of Dee Rowe's first UConn squad, which won the Yankee Conference title. Fred had spent the 1969-70 season as a Rowe assistant prior to joining Fairfield.
"He looked terrific. He was the picture of health," Ryan said. "He invited me to play golf with him in North Carolina. We talked about having a reunion for our 1973 (NIT) team."
Ryan, who lives in Fairfield with his family and is a media buyer with Gaskell Media Management in Guilford, called Barakat "a player's coach. If you were a point guard, he'd listen to you. I'd always come off the court and talk to him. Who doesn't like to be empowered?"
Don Cook, now the executive director of athletics at neighboring Sacred Heart, was hired as Fairfield's athletic director in 1971, shortly after Fred had completed his first year as coach. Their relationship was strained at times, but Cook always respected Barakat the coach.
"I thought he was well-prepared, had a great knowledge of the game's X's and O's, and never did I see him get out-coached by anyone, even some of the greats we faced like Dave Gavitt," Cook said. (John Thompson and Tom Davis belong in that group, too.)
"He brought the Fairfield program to a national level with the NITs and the Holiday Festival. We got tremendous publicity because of it."
After leaving Fairfield, there was a trace of irony in Barakat's next position. The coach who once harassed referees was appointed coordinator of officials for the Atlantic Coast Conference. He retired in 2007 as the ACC's associate commissioner.
Fred, rest in peace.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, June 25 at Greensboro War Memorial Auditorium, 1921 W. Lee St., Greensboro, N.C. Arrangements have been entrusted to Forbis & Dick North Elm Chapel.
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