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WILKES-BARRE — When King’s basketball coach J.P. Andrejko was recruiting Crestwood senior Chris Fazzini prior to the 2014-15 season, he got a surprise near the end of the process.
John Fazzini, Chris’ older brother, was looking to come back home.
“We recruited Chris very heavily. We really like Chris and we wanted him here,” Andrejko said. “John, at the time, was at East Stroudsburg and was not playing, and I think he was just getting the itch that he wanted to play and stuff. John was just the bonus, which we gladly accepted and we’re thrilled that we have them both.
“When Chris was at the point of making the decision and really wanting to come, his father mentioned that John may be interested in coming as well. I talked to (John) a little bit about it. What was great was I think the academic part of it was really why John actually came.”
Growing up, basketball was always there for the Fazzinis. Whether it was playing together in elementary school, playing in their driveway with their older brother Adam or on the Crestwood varsity team, basketball has almost always taken center stage.
“We have another older brother, and he played collegiate basketball as well, and he told us that he’d pay us five bucks if we could steal the ball from him, and I think the desire all started then,” Chris said. “We’d be running around trying to foul him and he’d be working on his ball handling, and then the next thing you know, John wants to pay us five bucks to steal the ball off of him. It didn’t stop there. I started doing it as well.”
After wanting to move closer to home prior to his junior year, King’s provided John everything he was looking for.
“King’s was a great fit, both academically and having the opportunity to not only play basketball, but with my brother as well,” John said. “J.P. has built a great program here and the academics side, we’re both business majors and the business school here is phenomenal. It was the perfect fit for us.”
In three years on the team together, the Fazzini brothers have turned into two of the Monarchs’ top players. Both start and John is a captain this year. Chris started all 25 games last year, while recording career-bests of 12.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. John is coming off of an injury-riddled season where he still averaged 10.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
“It’s been fun to see our relationship, both on and off the court, grow, and the friendship that we’ve developed through that,” John said. “As the older brother, I like seeing him grow up and do good things, both on the floor and off the floor. One of the things I like best is that whenever there’s any adversity, we’re the first ones to come to each other and help him push through it and pick each other up.”
“It’s nice to have an older sibling there, not only for guidance, but someone there to push you,” Chris added. “Somebody there to pick you up when you fall and somebody that’s there right beside you when you’re having a good game or bad game.”
This year, with John in his senior season and Chris enjoying his junior campaign, the Monarchs look primed for success. They return three starters, their top five scorers and were picked to finish third in the Freedom Conference by the coaches.
After a 3-1 start following Tuesday’s win over Drew — John scored a team-high 18 points — the Fazzini brothers believe the sky’s the limit.
“I think we’re the most experienced that we’ve been, the most experienced and most I think we’ve grown as a team, knowing what we have to do,” Chris said. “I think we all fit into our roles now, we’re kind of understanding things. Each year, there’s a new team that comes into that locker room.”
With all of the pieces falling into place, the Fazzinis understand this season presents one last opportunity to win a championship together. After missing out while at Crestwood, and appearing once in the Freedom Conference tournament at King’s so far, the time for them is now.
Last year, King’s lost to Wilkes in the final game of the year and finished 12-13 overall and 6-8 in conference play. They finished tied for fifth in the league.
“Over the last couple seasons that we’ve been here at King’s, we’ve been so close,” John said. “To be that close and have it taken away from us at the end of the season — having it come down to one game or needing another team to lose to be able to get that feeling — we really want to make sure it’s in our hands this year and we do everything in our power that we have control of our own destiny and we get the taste of the NCAA tournament and a championship title.”
