Thomas ‘Skip’ Chappelle said being honored at Sunday’s University of Maine basketball doubleheader at the Memorial Gym is going to be special to him.
The former UMaine basketball standout, the only Black Bear to be selected as a Little All-American in 1961, went on to coach the men’s team at his alma mater for 17 seasons and was inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.
“It’s like going back in history,” said Chappelle, who is 86 years old.
At one time, Chappelle held 12 school individual records.
He led the Yankee Conference in scoring three straight seasons and was a first team All-YC selection (1960-62) all three years.
He led UMaine to a 19-4 record in 1959-60 and an 18-5 mark the next season, two of the most successful campaigns in program history.
He was the first men’s basketball player to have his number retired (34).
He became the school’s first-ever National Basketball Association draft pick in 1962 when the St. Louis Hawks drafted him in the 11th round (89th overall).
He wound up trying out for the Boston Celtics and his roommate at training camp was John Havlicek, who had a terrific NBA career with the Celts and earned induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Chappelle was cut by the Celtics and began his coaching career in Fort Fairfield at the high school level.
He returned to UMaine as an assistant coach and head freshman basketball coach in 1968 and became the head coach in 1971.
In his 17 years on the UMaine bench he posted a record of 217-226. He was named the ECAC Coach of the Year in 1988.
Chappelle said playing and coaching in the Yankee Conference against other New England land grant institutions was special.
“It was a great conference. Those were great times,” said Chappelle.
He captained the team his senior year and, even though they finished 11-13 after being hit hard by graduation losses, he pointed out that “we were the only team to beat UConn twice that year.”
Nine of the 12 players went on to become coaches.
One of the highlights of his coaching career came on Jan. 6, 1981 when DePaul University came to the Bangor Auditorium to play his Black Bears.
DePaul was 12-1 at the time and was ranked No. 1 in the country.
DePaul featured Mark Aguirre and Terry Cummings, who went on to have long and productive NBA careers. Aguirre averaged 20 points per game over 929 NBA regular season games and Cummings averaged 16.4 points and 7.3 rebounds during his 1,183 NBA regular season games.
The Black Bears put up a great battle before losing 85-77.
Aguirre, playing on a sprained ankle, poured in a career-high 47 points.
Two of the UMaine players on that team were current NBA head coach Rick Carlisle (Indiana Pacers) and Jeff Sturgeon, son of Chappelle’s former Old Town High School and University of Maine teammate Don Sturgeon.
During the game, Chappelle decided to put freshman Sturgeon on Aguirre and “he did a great job” guarding him.
Chappelle played on UMaine teams with the likes of UMaine Sports Hall of Famer Wayne Champeon from Greenville and Sturgeon along with Laddy Demer.
“We considered Wayne Champeon to be the best athlete to ever play at Maine,” said Chappelle.
Two of Chappelle’s contemporaries were star football players Dave Cloutier and Manch Wheeler, who went on to play for the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills, respectively.
And two of the others at UMaine during Chappelle’s time as a player were football player Pierre Labat and baseball player Phil Morse, who have become big-time donors to the school.
Labat and wife Catherine’s recent $16 million gift is the largest from one donor while Phil and Susan Morse have donated $1.8 million to the football program and $10 million for the naming rights for the new multipurpose/basketball facility.
“They may not have been big sports names when they were here, but that time was special to them,” said Chappelle, who has been married for 56 years to wife Carolyn.
Between the men’s and women’s games, fans will have an opportunity to stop by the New Balance Field House to greet Chappelle and partake in light refreshments.
The UMaine men’s team will take on Holy Cross at noon on Sunday with the women facing Quinnipiac at 2:30 p.m.
