Oxford Hills head coach Scott Graffam and assistant coach Joe Oufiero, seated, watch the action late in the Class AA boys basketball state championship game at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Saturday, March 5, 2022. Graffam will be inducted into the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame in August. Brewster Burns photo
The Maine Basketball Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2023 Tuesday. The induction class includes 17 members, along with six individuals and two teams to the hall’s Legends of the Game category.
The induction ceremony will be held Aug. 20 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. The Class of 2023 includes:
Margo Arnold: A 1,000-point scorer at Waterville Senior High in the early 1980s, Arnold played collegiately at the University of New Hampshire.
Joanna Brown: In 1998, Brown became the fourth women’s basketball player at the University of Southern Maine to earn Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division III All-American honors. Brown was the ECAC Division III Player of the Year in 1998, and led the Huskies to four consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament.
Paul Burnell: A standout at 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 has worked as a referee for 20 years.
Warren Caruso: The men’s basketball coach at Husson University since 1999, Caruso has 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.
Larry Gardner: A 1972 graduate of Fort Fairfield High, Gardner is the winningest coach in school history, guiding the boys and girls basketball teams at Fort Fairfield to a combined 425 wins. Gardner coached the Fort Fairfield girls to the state title in 2010.
Scott Graffam: A graduate of Medomak Valley High, Graffam has 413 wins over his 39-year coaching career at Scarborough, Medomak Valley and Oxford Hills.
Todd Hanson: As a player, Hanson helped lead Waterville to the 1985 Class A state title. After a playing career at the University of Maine, Hanson coached the boys basketball team at Brunswick for 25 years, winning 309 games and the 2002 Class A state title.
Randy Harris: In 39 years coaching at Lee Academy, his alma mater, Harris has 411 wins. His Pandas won the 2011 Class C boys basketball state title.
Jeff Hudson: In 28 years coaching girls basketball at Limestone and Presque Isle, Hudson won 436 games. His Wildcats won state titles in 2006, 2012 and 2013.
Mike McDevitt: As a player at St. Joseph’s College, McDevitt scored 1,381 points and grabbed 674 rebounds. In more than 30 years as a college coach, the current St. Joe’s women’s coach has a record of 602-210, and is among the top 10 in wins by active coaches.
Mike Murphy: A standout player at Cheverus, Murphy had coached high school basketball for 40 years. Murphy spent 26 years at Westbrook and the last 14 at Deering, winning 339 games.
Jamie Russell: In 38 years of coaching both boys and girls 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.
Jonathan Stovall: A 1985 graduate of Cheverus, Stovall played two seasons at Penn and one at Boston College, before a career-ending injury.
Brud Stover: A 1953 graduate of Morse, Stover went on to star at Bowdoin, where he became the first Polar Bear to score 1,000 career points. Stover finished his career with 1,144, playing in an era in which freshmen were not allowed to play at the varsity level.
Christina Strong: The Miss Maine Basketball winner as a senior at Georges Valley in 1990, Strong was the 1990 Press Herald Athlete of the Year. Strong went on to play college basketball at the University of Maine.
Angie Suffridge: A 1987 graduate of York, Suffridge went on to play at Central Connecticut, where she finished her career ninth all time with the Blue Devils in assists.
Al Veneziano: girls basketball coach at Madison since 1987, Veneziano has 405 wins and four regional championships. In 2019, Madison’s gymnasium was renamed in Veneziano’s honor.
Also selected for induction are six individuals and two teams in the Legends of the Game category:
Byron Bean: In 14 years as girls basketball coach at Livermore Falls, Bean went 179-25, winning seven Mountain Valley Conference titles, two Western Maine championships and the 1976 Class B state championship.
Jack Cashman: 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 grow youth basketball in Old Town in the 1950s.
Bill Fiske: After a standout playing career at Schenck, Fiske scored 1,250 points at Southern Connecticut State, As co-head coach at West Virginia for three seasons in the 1980s, Fiske guided the Mountaineers to a 49-39 record.
Jim Graffam: Graffam’s 40-year career in basketball 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.
Arthur “Skip” Hanson: As coach at Foxcroft Academy, Hanson guided the Ponies to an undefeated season in 1975, winning the Class B state title. He and his son, 2023 Hall inductee Todd Hanson, were the first father-son coaching duo to win state titles in Maine.
Bruce MacKinnon: MacKinnon helped Morse win the 1962 Class A state title before playing at the University of Maine. MacKinnon coached the Sanford High boys from 1973 to 1985, winning 125 games.
The 1975 Foxcroft Academy boys basketball team: The Ponies went 22-0, beating Medomak Valley 56-53 for the school’s only Class B basketball state title.
The 1989 University of Southern Maine men’s basketball team: Led by coach Bob Brown, the Huskies went 24-7 and won the school’s only Little East Conference championship. The team advanced to the NCAA Division III final four.
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