Rick Simonds, who guided the St. Joseph’s College men’s basketball team to a 23-year run without a losing season, is among the Class of 2019 inductees announced Wednesday by the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame.

Simonds is among 11 men and five women – along with seven “Legends of the Game” and two high school teams – scheduled to be honored at an induction ceremony scheduled for Aug. 18 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

Simonds is the color commentator for Maine Red Claws radio broadcasts. He played at Waldoboro High, Maine Central Institute and the University of Southern Maine, then coached at Bristol Consolidated School and Ellsworth High before landing in Standish, where he guided St. Joseph’s to a 466-176 record that included 11 conference titles, six NAIA tournament appearances and 15 Coach of the Year awards.

In 1987, the unseeded Monks knocked off No. 3 Biola University of California 78-66 in a first-round NAIA game before falling to No. 14 Auburn-Montgomery of Alabama.

Also being inducted:

Jim Beattie, a 6-foot-5 forward who led South Portland to the 1971 Class A title and later played two years at Dartmouth before concentrating on baseball. He went on to a nine-year major league pitching career with the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners.

Advertisement

Jeff Bowers, a South Portland native who led the University of Southern Maine to its only Little East Conference championship, in 1989, and a berth in the NCAA Division III final four. He remains among USM’s leaders in several scoring categories.

Stephanie Carter-Thompson, who led Schenck High in East Millinocket to three consecutive Class C state titles and scored 2,167 points. A 5-foot-11 center, she went on to play at the University of Maine and St. Joseph’s.

John Conley, who led Morse High of Bath to consecutive Class A state titles in 1987, 1988 and 1989. He went on to a four-year career at Dartmouth.

John Donato, a native of Massachusetts who has won more than 500 games as a girls’ coach at six high schools in Maine. Currently the coach at Orono, he has guided teams to 11 regional titles and five state championships, most recently in 2015 at Lawrence.

Matt Gaudet, named Mr. Basketball in 1991 at Mountain Valley High in Rumford. As a point guard, he led Colby College in assists from 1992-95 and scored 1,487 points as the Mules went 85-16 and made two NCAA tournament appearances.

Max Good, who coached at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield for 10 seasons that included five conference championships and a .902 winning percentage. He also coached at Eastern Kentucky, Nevada-Las Vegas, Bryant, Loyola Marymount and Pratt Community College, and amassed more than 600 victories.

Advertisement

Gail Jackson, who led Westbrook High to three straight Class A state titles from 1978 to 1980 and later played at the University of New Hampshire, where she led the Wildcats in rebounds four straight seasons. She is fifth on the UNH career rebounding list.

Doug Lisherness, who scored more than 2,000 points for Strong High and set Class D tournament records for free throws in a game (19) and tournament (33). He later coached the Mt. Abram girls for 26 years and won Class C state titles in 1991 and 2007 and was runner-up in 1992.

Becky Moholland Ireland, a 1,000-point scorer at Calais High who played two seasons each at Maine-Machias and Husson, finishing her college career with 1,221 points and 946 rebounds. She led all NAIA players with 19.3 rebounds per game for Machias in 1992-93.

Mark Reed, who played for his father, Roger, and helped Bangor win the 1993 Class A championship. At Liberty University, he played in 121 games and scored 846 points. Now coach at Hermon High, Reed led his team to the 2018 Class B title.

Scott Saft, who led Waterville High’s 1985 Class A championship team and later played at Amherst College, where he scored 1,004 points.

Derek Vogel, a native of Cumberland who scored a program-record 3,050 points in four seasons at Westbrook College (now the University of New England). Vogel played professionally for nine seasons in Europe and is a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

Advertisement

Mari Warner, a Thornton Academy grad who played four years at the University of Maine. Warner coached for two decades at the University of Albany, compiling a 289-203 record as the program rose from Division III to Division I. She also coached Falmouth High from 2010-16.

Linda Whitney, who coached Lake Region to the Class B championship in 1975, the first year the sport was sanctioned by the Maine Principals’ Association. She coached at Lake Region from 1969-2000, compiling 315 victories.

THE LEGENDS

Mike Bouchard, a 6-foot-8 center who led Katahdin High of Stacyville to the Class C championship in 1977.

Bill Burney, who scored 53 points for Cony against Presque Isle in a Class LL quarterfinal game at the Bangor Auditorium in 1969.

Leigh Campbell, the official scorer at Bates College for nearly 50 years and at the high school state tournament for decades.

Advertisement

Hank Madore, a 1948 graduate of Stearns High who played 20 years for the semi-pro Millinocket Pills.

John “Jeddy” Newman, who helped Cheverus win the 1961 Class A state title and later coached at Bonny Eagle (winning the 1970 Class B crown) and Thornton Academy.

Jay Ramsdell, a Bar Harbor native who was general manager of the Continental Basketball Association’s Maine Windjammers of Bangor in 1985-86. Ramsdell became league commissioner in 1988 but died in a plane crash in 1989 at age 25.

Dick Sturgeon, an all-Yankee Conference selection from the University of Maine in 1959 after playing for Old Town High. Sturgeon coached at high schools in Madison and Augusta (Cony) and at the University of Southern Maine.

TEAMS

In 1963, Morse of Bath and Stearns of Millinocket met for the Class LL boys’ state championship, and Morse won 61-60 in double overtime. They met again at Boston Garden for the New England title, and Stearns won, 56-54. Both teams will be enshrined.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.