New Basketball Coach Named At Fairfield Prep

FAIRFIELD, CT — Former Sheehan standout and Quinnipiac graduate Mike Papale III has been named the new boys’ basketball coach at Fairfield Pre. Papale replaces Leo Redgate, who was informed at the end of this past season that he wouldn’t be back for a ninth year as head coach. Papale, a Wallingford resident, was a McDonald’s All-American nominee and an All-State and All-SCC basketball player at Sheehan. He is a 2011 graduate of Quinnipiac University.

Since graduating from Quinnipiac, Papale has worked as an assistant coach at the college level, most recently as the top assistant for the Southern Connecticut State University men’s basketball program under head coach Scott Burrell.

Papale’s playing career at Sheehan was cut short just before his senior season when he went into cardiac arrest in August of 2006. Papale, who has lived with an implanted defibrillator since he was 17, had open heart surgery in 2014 and has had no physical issues since then, according to Joe Morelli of the New Haven Register / GameTimeCT.

Papale founded the "In a Heartbeat Foundation" in 2016 and is currently the president. Papale’s father, Mike, is a former head coach at Sheehan, Lyman Hall and Albertus Magnus, and will join his son’s staff at Fairfield Prep, according to Morelli.

After graduating from Quinnipiac, Papale started out his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at UMass Lowell where he was tasked with scouting reports, practice plans, recruiting and individual player workouts, according to a press release from Fairfield Prep. During his year as assistant coach, the team reached the NCAA Division II tournament and recorded a 19-11 overall record. Read more from Fairfield Prep below:

Following a year at UMass, Papale returned to Quinnipiac University to assume the role of Director of Basketball Operations for the men's program. In that role, Papale was the team liaison for compliance, academic advisement, admissions and financial aid. Papale was also responsible for on-campus recruiting, video breakdown, travel accommodations and was the director of the Tom Moore Basketball Camp. Papale served in that role for three years before being named the top assistant for the Southern Connecticut State University Men's Basketball program by Head Coach Scott Burrell.

At Southern, Papale managed recruiting, scouting, student-athlete progress in the classroom, practice plans, individual player workouts and coordinating community service activities. During his two years at Southern, Papale recruited the 2017-18 Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Year (Ulyen Coleman) as well as assisted in the development of the 2015-16 Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year (Desmond Williams). Papale also assisted in the development of two 2015-16 Northeast-10 All-Conference First Team players, the Defensive Player of the Year and an All-Rookie Team member. In his two years at Southern, the Owls were 22-8 in 2015-16 and 17-12 in 2016-17, while reaching the NCAA Division II Tournament in both seasons.

In addition to his college coaching career, Papale has coached AAU with the Central Connecticut Hoop Stars and the New England Playaz. Papale was the head coach for Central Connecticut's U-17 team, which finished in fifth-place at the AAU National Championship in 2010.

In January 2016, Papale founded the "In a Heartbeat Foundation" and is currently the president. The mission of In a Heartbeat is "to prevent death from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and sudden cardiac arrest by raising awareness, enabling research, and donating automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to places that need them." As president, Papale is in charge of creating strategic plans, generating a yearly budget and business plan, developing fundraising, marketing and spreading awareness of the foundation's mission.

Personal: Papale's father Mike served as Head Coach for Sheehan High School, Lyman Hall and Albertus Magnus. His brother John is a 2016 graduate of Boston University, where he scored 1,289 points during his four years on the basketball team and owns the single-season record for 3-pointers (95) and program record for games played (129). Papale's mother Joan is a Department Head for Special Education in the Wallingford Elementary School System.

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