Former University of Maine Black Bear and NBA championship head coach Rick Carlisle added to his distinguished resume last week, earning a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract extension with his Indiana Pacers.
Carlisle — 1986 NBA champion with the Celtics, Coach of the Year with the 2002 Detroit Pistons and head coach of the 2011 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks — has been an NBA player or coach since 1984, and already had two years remaining on his current contract with the Pacers.
But none of those accomplishments would have been possible had a mid-major school in Orono, Maine, not taken a chance on Carlisle back in the 1970s.
“Skip [Chappelle] was the only Division I coach to believe in my abilities,” Carlisle said. “He was one the best coaches I’ve ever had, and I’m very grateful for everything he did for me.”
Maine Basketball Hall of Famer Skip Chappelle was the UMaine men’s basketball head coach from 1971 to 1988. The Old Town native also won the 1957 Class A state championship as a senior, played at UMaine from 1959 to 1962 and was part of the 1960s Celtics’ practice squad for years.
Chappelle accidentally stumbled upon Carlisle in 1978, during Carlisle’s days at Worcester Academy in Massachusetts. Chappelle initially made the trip to scout the Hilltoppers’ center, but ended up recruiting their less athletic — and incredibly intelligent — guard from Lisbon, New York, instead.
“He couldn’t jump, but he just knew how to play,” Chappelle said of Carlisle. “When he was on the floor, I didn’t have to coach. He was that kind of player.”
Carlisle quickly developed his game under Chappelle, transferring to the University of Virginia in 1981 after two years in Orono. He went on to be selected by the Celtics in the 1984 NBA draft.
“I had an amazing experience at UMaine,” Carlisle said. “Skip’s been a trusted friend for 40 years, and he gave me his full blessing to go to Virginia.”
At the NBA level, Chappelle’s original leap of faith and Carlisle’s uncanny basketball IQ continued to pay dividends, with the former Black Bear becoming one of only 14 people to ever win a championship as both a player and a coach.
Flash forward to today, and Carlisle is in his 22nd season as an NBA head coach, and has fellow Black Bear Jim Boylen (class of 1987) as his assistant coach and former Celtic teammate Larry Bird as a front office consultant. All three had been part of the Pacers’ organization at separate times this century, until Bird returned to the team this past year, and Carlisle hired Boylen to coach alongside him.
To celebrate Carlisle’s extension — and this full circle moment for UMaine basketball — Chappelle paid his two former players a visit during their game versus the Celtics at the TD Garden in Boston last week.
“He’s a living legend,” Carlisle said of Chappelle.