Feb. 7 – The Maine Basketball Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2023 on Tuesday. The initiation class has 17 members, along with six individuals and two teams in the room’s Legends of the Game category.
The induction ceremony will take place on August 20 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. The class of 2023 includes:
A 1,000-point scorer at Waterville Senior High in the early 1980s, Arnold played collegiately at the University of New Hampshire.
In 1998, Brown became the fourth University of Southern Maine women’s basketball player to earn Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division III All-American honors. Brown was the 1998 ECAC Division III Player of the Year and led the Huskies to four straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.
A standout in South Portland, Burnell led the Red Riots to back-to-back Class A state titles in 1979 and 1980. Burnell played college basketball at Bentley and USM, and worked as an umpire for 20 years.
Coaching men’s basketball at Husson University since 1999, Caruso led the Eagles to 14 conference championships. He has a career record of 525-249 and is the winningest coach in North Atlantic Conference history.
A 1972 graduate of Fort Fairfield High, Gardner is the winningest coach in school history, guiding the Fort Fairfield boys’ and girls’ basketball teams to a total of 425 wins. Gardner coached the Fort Fairfield girls to the state title in 2010.
A graduate of Medomak Valley High, Graffam has 413 wins during his 39-year coaching career at Scarborough, Medomak Valley and Oxford Hills.
As a player, Hanson helped Waterville win the Class A state title in 1985. After a playing career at the University of Maine, Hanson coached the Brunswick men’s basketball team for 25 years , winning 309 games and the Class A state title in 2002.
In 39 years of training at Lee Academy, his alma mater, Harris has 411 wins. His Pandas won the Class C men’s basketball state title in 2011.
In 28 years of coaching women’s basketball in Limestone and Almost Isle, Hudson has won 436 games. His Wildcats won state titles in 2006, 2012 and 2013.
As a St. Joseph’s College player, McDevitt scored 1,381 points and grabbed 674 rebounds. In more than 30 years as a varsity coach, the current St. Joe’s women’s coach has a 602-210 record and is in the top 10 wins of active coaches.
A standout player at Cheverus, Murphy coached high school basketball for 40 years. Murphy spent 26 years at Westbrook and the last 14 at Deering, winning 339 games.
In 38 years of coaching men’s and women’s basketball, Russell has amassed 422 wins at Piscataquis, Penobscot Valley and Central. He has written two books on the history of high school basketball in Maine.
A 1985 Cheverus graduate, Stovall played two seasons at Penn and one at Boston College before a career-ending injury.
After graduating from Morse in 1953, Stover went on to play at Bowdoin, where he became the first polar bear to score 1,000 career points. Stover ended his career with 1144, playing at a time when freshmen were not allowed to play at the college level.
The winner of Miss Maine Basketball as a senior at Georges Valley in 1990, Strong was the 1990 Press Herald Athlete of the Year. Strong then played college basketball at the University of Maine.
A 1987 York graduate, Suffridge went on to play at Central Connecticut, where she finished her career ninth all-time with the Blue Devils in assists.
Coaching women’s basketball at Madison since 1987, Veneziano has 405 wins and four regional championships. In 2019, Madison’s gymnasium was renamed in Veneziano’s honor.
Six individuals and two teams are also selected for induction into the Legends of the Game category:
In 14 years as a women’s basketball coach in Livermore Falls, Bean went 179-25, winning seven Mountain Valley Conference titles, two Western Maine championships and the 1976 Class B state championship. .
The founder of the semi-pro team, Jack’s 5, Cashman was an original member of the UMaine booster club. Cashman was an official in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and helped develop youth basketball in the Old Town in the 1950s.
After a stellar playing career at Schenck, Fiske scored 1,250 points at Southern Connecticut State. As a co-coach at West Virginia for three seasons in the 1980s, Fiske guided the Mountaineers to a 49-39 record.
Graffam’s 40-year basketball career includes stints as an assistant coach at St. Joe’s and head coach at Westbrook College. Graffam was named Maine’s Collegiate Coach of the Year twice.
As a trainer at Foxcroft Academy, Hanson guided the Ponies to an undefeated season in 1975, winning the Class B state title. He and his son, Todd Hanson, a 2023 Hall inductee, were the first father-son coaching duo to win state titles in Maine.
MacKinnon helped Morse win the Class A state title in 1962 before playing at the University of Maine. MacKinnon coached the boys at Sanford High from 1973 to 1985, winning 125 games.
The Ponies went 22-0, beating Medomak Valley 56-53 for the school’s only Class B basketball state title.
Led by coach Bob Brown, the Huskies went 24-7 and captured the school’s only Little East Conference championship. The team qualified for the last four of NCAA Division III.
