Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

September 27, 2012

Greely's new coach can step right in

Travis Seaver not only played basketball with the Rangers, but has been an assistant for seven years.

By Tom Chard tchard@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

CUMBERLAND - Travis Seaver, the new Greely High boys' basketball coach, said he doesn't plan to change much from what his predecessor, Ken Marks, did for more than 20 years.

Why would he? The Rangers won three Class B state titles under Marks and were perennial contenders. But Seaver, 31, an assistant coach for the past seven years with the Rangers, won't be a carbon copy of Marks.

"A lot of what I do will be overlapping what Ken did, but I will provide a couple of new tweaks," Seaver said. "Greely has been a really successful program for a long time. There's not a whole lot that needs to be changed."

Marks called the selection of Seaver "an awesome choice. Travis knows the program and the players."

Seaver played for Marks at Greely, graduating in 1999, and was on two state title teams. He played four years at St. Joseph's College in Standish, graduating with a degree in business administration. He and his wife, Jennifer, have twin daughters and live in Cumberland. Seaver works at Point Capital Partners, a Portland investment company.

Seaver holds the Greely school record for 3-pointers and also was a standout at St. Joseph's. During his playing career, Seaver's goal was to become a head coach. It just happened sooner than expected.

"It was a huge surprise when (Marks) stepped down," said Seaver. "We had gone through the summer program and had wrapped up basketball."

Marks had a chance to become the assistant principal of Greely Middle School, which he considered "an opportunity I couldn't pass up."

Seaver said his teams will look to play an uptempo style at both ends of the floor.

"I'll bring my passion for the game. My intensity comes from my passion," he said.

Seaver inherits a potentially strong group of players that he knows very well, The core of the team, with Michael McDevitt, Bailey Train, Connor Hanley and Jonah Normandeau, returns from a team that had a 13-6 record last season, losing to Lincoln Academy in a preliminary-round tournament game.

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be reached at 791-6419 or at:

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH

 

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