Fairfield University Men's Basketball

Taj Benning returned to Fairfield Men's Basketball as an assistant coach prior to the 2023-24 season and has completed two seasons on the sidelines. As a student-athlete, Benning played 145 games in five seasons as a Stag – the second-most appearances in Fairfield Basketball history. He scored 1,175 points to rank 28th all-time and also recorded over 500 rebounds and 200 assists. He helped guide the Stags to the MAAC Championship Game in both 2018 and 2021.   A 2021 Fairfield graduate, Benning began his professional career with Cockburn of the Australian NBL1 league this past season. He averaged 16.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in his first campaign as a pro.  

Matt Knezovic joined the Fairfield Basketball staff as the Director of Basketball Operations in July of 2023 and was elevated to an Assistant Coach role in the summer of 2024. Knezovic brings five seasons of coaching experience to the sidelines, most recently serving as an assistant coach at Oberlin College.   Knezovic came to Fairfield after one season at Oberlin, where he recruited a class that helped to improve the Yeomen's win total by eight games from 2022-23 to 2023-24.. He has also spent time as an assistant at Clarendon College and Daytona State College, where he coached two NJCAA All-Americans and recruited and/or coached a total of 10 players who continued their careers as NCAA Division I scholarship players. Knezovic's coaching career began in the Division I ranks as a graduate assistant at Central Michigan under 2008 AP National Coach of the Year Keno Davis. Knezovic also coached scholastically at The MacDuffie School and spent three seasons working with the nationally prominent Albany City Rocks Nike EYBL program, where he won a 16U National Championship in 2017. During Knezovic's time at the MacDuffie School and City Rocks, he coached more than 30 players who went on to play Division I basketball, including at UConn, Kansas State, Marquette and Yale. He also coached four future NBA Draft selections.   As a student-athlete, Knezovic played 93 games between one season at Division II Mansfield University, where he was a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete, followed by three campaigns at Division III Hartwick College. He played in 26 games in the Hawks’ 2016 Empire 8 Championship season and was named to the Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year team as a senior in 2018.   Knezovic earned a degree in Business Administration from Hartwick in 2018 and a Master’s degree in Leadership at Central Michigan in 2020. He played scholastically at Albany Academy, winning a New York state championship in 2013 and earning all-state honors as a senior in 2014.

Matt Scott joined the Fairfield Men's Basketball coaching staff in the summer of 2024, completing his first season as a collegiate assistant coach in 2024-25. Scott was coached by Chris Casey at Niagara University from 2014-18, where he was an All-MAAC performer for the Purple Eagles.   Scott played in 122 games over four years led by Coach Casey at Niagara. He was a three-time All-MAAC selection, garnering Third Team laurels in 2015-16 and 2016-17 before capping his career as an All-MAAC Second Team and NABC All-District First Team honoree in 2017-18. Scott ranks seventh all-time in scoring for the Purple Eagles with 1,726 career points.   After earning a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management from Niagara, Scott went on to play professionally for Niners Chemnitz in the German ProA League followed by a stint with the London City Royals in the British Basketball League. Since returning stateside, the Brooklyn native has served as a youth basketball coach and physical education teacher in New York City.  

Chuck Asetta joined the Fairfield Men's Basketball staff as a graduate assistant in 2023 and was promoted to Director of Operations in the summer of 2024. Asetta joined the staff after three seasons as a team manager, including a stint as head manager for his senior year. Asetta was best known to Stags' fans as an occasional performer of the National Anthem prior to home games during his senior campaign. Asetta graduate cum laude from Fairfield in 2023 with a degree in Economics. He is currently pursuing an M.B.A. from the Dolan School of Business.