The Class of 2022

Kim Condon Lane, a New England Basketball Hall of Fame and Presque Isle Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, was an Honorable Mention All-American at Colby College, where she scored 1,094 points. In 2001, the captain led the Mules to the ECAC Championship. At Presque Isle High School, Lane was an All-State player and 1,000-point scorer. In 1997, she was named Miss Basketball, U.S.A. Today State of Maine Player of the Year, and Maine Gatorade Player of the Year. Lane led the Wildcats to a state title her senior year and set a Class A record for most points scored in a state final, with 41. She will join her father, Steve in the MBHoF.

Lauree Gott, a two-time captain at the University of Maine, notched 1,387 points and 781 rebounds and was a 1987 Seaboard Conference First Team All-Conference selection. At Old Town High School, Gott made the All-State First Team her senior year. As a coach, she led the 1998-99 Husson College women’s basketball team to a 26-2 record, and WMAC and NAIA District V championships. Gott also coached the Brewer High School girls’ varsity squad and was an assistant with Northeastern University women’s team. She currently assists MBHoF member Kissy Walker at Husson University.

Mark Karter’s nearly 448 career coaching victories include a 65-game win streak. His Mountain Valley team captured a state championship in 1991. And at Westbrook High School, Karter led the Blazers to Western Maine championships in ’94 and ’96. The 1978 graduate of Waterville High School played for Maine Basketball Hall of Fame coach Tom Maines. He currently coaches at Gorham High School.

Steve LeVasseur compiled 333 victories and won five state championships coaching at Schenck High School — three with girls’ teams and two with boys’ squads. The girls earned a 72-15 record over four seasons and won Class C state titles in 1987, 1988, and 1989. The boys won the Class C state championship in 1994 and the Class D state championship season in 2010. LeVasseur also had an outstanding playing career. He was an All-State player at Schenck and scored 1,000 points at Husson College.

Rick McAvoy graduated in 1967 from Sherman High School, where he led the squad to an undefeated season and a state championship over Strong High School. McAvoy averaged more than 20 points and 15 rebounds a game as a senior. He was named All-Tourney and Honorable Mention All-State in ’67. At Fort Kent State College (now the University of Maine at Fort Kent), he was a four-time All-Maine selection. 

Neile Joler Nelson earned Maine NCAA Woman of the Year honors at St. Joseph’s College and was a Scholar-Athlete All-American. She’s in the Monks Hall of Fame for softball and basketball. Her career hoop totals: 814 points, 313 assists, 279 rebounds, and 143 steals. She also was inducted with the 1991-92 women’s basketball team, which posted a 23-8 record and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament. At Fort Kent High School, Nelson was an All-Tourney selection and a 1991 McDonald’s Senior All-Star. She’s the varsity girls’ assistant at Gorham High School, which won state titles in 2016 and 2017.

Crystal Pazdziorko Proulx was a first-year player on the 1975-76 University of Maine women’s basketball team, which had been reinstated because of Title IX. Proulx paced the Black Bears in scoring (198 points) and rebounding (180). In 1976-77, she again was the leading scorer, with 255 points. Proulx, who captained the 1979 squad, is still the No. 10 all-time rebounder, with 709. She led Gardiner High School to the first-ever girls’ Class A state championship, scoring 102 points in four games. 

Jim Ray represented Cape Elizabeth High School as a player and coach for 30 years. As a coach for 26 seasons, his Capers won 350 games, including five regional championships, and a gold ball in 2015. He was an All-League player at Cape and a standout at the University of Southern Maine, where he was a captain his senior year. Ray also was an assistant coach for the Huskies before taking over at Cape Elizabeth in 1994.

Adrienne Shibles, the winningest coach in Bowdoin College women’s basketball history, is in her first season at Dartmouth College. Shibles guided the Polar Bears to a 281-65 (.805) record, two New England Small College Athletic Conference championships, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, and back-to-back NCAA Division III title game appearances. Shibles, who has more than 400 college coaching wins, was the 2019 WBCA Division III Coach of the Year. She scored more than 1,000 points at Bates College and played on Mount View’s 1987 Eastern Maine Class B runner-up team.

Sharon Siebert scored 1,000 points and grabbed 1,000 rebounds at Husson and was a four-time all-conference player and three-time All–American Honorable Mention. When inducted into the Husson's Sports Hall of Fame, she was the Eagles’ all-time leader in points (1,882), scoring average (17.1), field goals made (698), free throws made (484), and rebounds (1,031). Her numerous honors include Conference Rookie of the Year and NAIA All-District selection. Sibert was an All-State and All-Tourney player at Deer Isle-Stonington, and led the Mariners to the 1987 state title. 

Ken Stone was a high-scoring machine for Deering High School and a First Team All-State selection in 1959. An adept ball handler with size and strength to score inside, Stone was the best player in the tough S.M.A.A. He played at Colby College for legendary coach Lee Williams. When Stone graduated in 1964, he was the Mules’ career scoring leader with 1,500 points in just 74 games (20.3 point per game). He’s currently ninth on the scoring leaderboard.

Jeff Sturgeon was a captain and an All-America East selection in 1984 at the University of Maine. During his career in Orono, he averaged 9 points and 4 assists a contest. At Old Town High School, Sturgeon was a First Team All-State selection in 1980. The lanky, crafty left-hander averaged nearly 22 points and 10 rebounds per contest and, as a senior, led Old Town to the state title game with South Portland.

Julie Treadwell was an all-conference player for the three-time MAIAW champion University of Maine women’s basketball team. The 1984 team captain is sixth all-time in career assists, with 387, and is tied for most assists in a game with Dor Saar, with 14. At Orono High School, Treadwell scored 944 points and was All-State honorable mention. She was an inaugural inductee in Orono’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Treadwell earned 126 wins as girls’ basketball coach at Maine Central Institute and is in the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Lee Williams’ Colby College men’s basketball teams won 252 games from 1946 to 1965, and 10 Maine State Championships, including eight straight. Williams put Colby basketball on par with the best college teams in the East, regardless of school size. He also was executive director of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, member of the Olympic Men’s Basketball Committee, and member of the NIT Selection Committee. Williams, a member of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame, died in 1997. 

Legends of the Game

Joni Averill had an impactful career as a sports reporter and columnist at the Bangor Daily News. She was a tireless advocate for equitable sports coverage, including in her column “The Other Half.” Averill met and interviewed hundreds of girls and young women whose lives were changed as a result of Title IX. By sharing stories of their successes and challenges, Averill educated, connected, and inspired readers. 

Ron Cote was a First Team All-State selection his senior season at St. Louis High School in Biddeford. His quickness, ball handling wizardly, and shooting ability gave opponents fits. At St. Thomas More Academy, Cote started in the backcourt with Ernie DiGregorio of Providence fame, Then, in 1969-70, he started on the undefeated freshman basketball team at the University of Maine. Cote has coached for 47 years and he’s now an assistant at Biddeford High School. 

Dale Duff has been the voice of Eastern Maine basketball for nearly 50 years. The Houlton native began his career at WHOU while in high school. The Ricker College graduate has earned Maine Sportscaster of The Year honors multiple times and won numerous other radio and TV awards. Duff is an adjunct instructor at Husson University's New England School of Communications. His enthusiasm and support for basketball have benefited countless high school and college players and fans.

Mark Rosebush, a dentist in Montana, is one of the best players to come out of the greater Millinocket area. At Schenck High School, the All-State player led the Wolverines to the 1971 state championship. He was nearly unguardable due to his strength, quickness, and a deft shooting touch. At Princeton University, Rosebush played freshman basketball. 

Malaka “Tookie” Russell was a pioneer in Maine girls sports. The Pennsylvania native, who attended Bryn Mawr and played softball in Miami, moved to Pittsfield and coached three generations of girls in field hockey, basketball and softball at Maine Central Institute. Russell guided the basketball team from 1959 to 1981 (for several years, Legend Harry “Pinky” True was her assistant). The former president of the Maine Women’s State Golf Association is in the MCI Athletic Hall of Fame and Maine Field Hockey Hall of Fame.

John Shaw’s Rumford High School teams of the mid-late 70s are considered some of the best to play in Maine. Shaw’s teams never had a losing season and his regular season record was 127-37. The Panthers were seeded No. 1 in Western Maine Class A five straight seasons, were Western Maine champions four consecutive years, and were state champs in 1974, ’76 and ’77. Rumford won the 1976 New England Championship.  

Harry “Pinky” True excelled in basketball and baseball at Gorham High School, where he played on a state champion hoop squad. At Gorham State Teachers College (now the University of Southern Maine), he earned All-New England baseball honors in 1952 and captained the basketball team. True coached basketball for nearly 40 years at Porter High School, Gardiner High School, Fryeburg Academy, Maine Central Institute, and Skowhegan Area High School, positively impacting thousands of young people. True is in USM’s Husky Hall of Fame.