RICKY GREEN (No. 12)

Vital stats: Guard, junior, 6-1; Louisville, Ky.

Career highlights: Averaged 22 ppg at Shawnee Junior College last season and shot 46 percent from 3-point range

Coach’s comment: “Ricky is a complete guard who can defend, penetrate, and shoot. He’s strong and quick. He should do a good job for us.”

Personal: Green joins some elite company as a junior college transfer at Maine. The last three junior college guards to wear the blue and white have been Marcus Wills, Fred Meeks, and Errick Greene, each of whom has excelled in Orono. Brother Bobby played basketball at Mississippi Valley State.

FREDDY PETKUS

(No. 14)

Vital stats: Guard, freshman, 6-5; Plunge, Lithuania

Career highlights: MVP of his summer league team in Lithuania

Coach’s comment: “Freddy is an excellent shooter who brings size to the guard position. If healthy, we think he can contribute this year and he should have an excellent career.”

Personal: Petkus is a 20-year-old freshman who averaged 10 ppg at New Hampton Prep last season. He shot 47 percent from the field. Petkus is noted as a long-range sniper who could soften up defenses around Rowe.

MARK FLAVIN (No. 20)

Vital stats: Forward, freshman, 6-10; Weymouth, Mass.

Career highlights: Averaged 20 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists as a senior at Weymouth High

Coach’s comment: “Mark has excellent size and he plays big. He’s not a high jumper, but he’s a big body with long arms and he ends up getting a lot of rebounds and blocked shots. He’s very good defensively around the basket, but offensively he’s better away from the basket.”

Personal: Sat out the 2000-2001 season while attending UMaine and meeting NCAA eligibility requirements. Flavin is another skilled big man in the Nate Fox-Julian Dunkley mold.

TODD TIBBETTS (No. 21)

Vital stats: Forward, senior, 6-7; Windsor

Career highlights: Grabbed 12 rebounds in his collegiate debut against UM-Presque Isle

2000-2001 averages: 1.7 ppg, 0.6 rpg

Coach’s comment: “I think Todd has worked long enough and hard enough and become a good enough player to be a contributor on a winning team. He’s played behind some very good players and done well in practice. I look forward to him seeing a bigger role this year.”

Personal: Missed most of the preseason pickup sessions after breaking his wrist during the offseason while mountain biking. He played at Erskine Academy and Bridgton Academy before heading to Orono.

DAVID DUBOIS (No. 23)

Vital stats: Forward, freshman, 6-9; St. Gabriel, Quebec

Career highlights: Led his team to a bronze medal at the 1999 Canadian national college championships

Coach’s comment: “I am extremely impressed with David’s athleticism and work ethic. He almost works too hard right now and has too much to learn. Once he settles down and gets comfortable, he will be a very good player for us.”

Personal: Dubois came to basketball later than most after forming a team at his high school; averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds at CEGEP Montmorency in Laval, Quebec

ERRICK GREENE

(No. 30)

Vital stats: Guard/forward, senior, 6-3; Killeen, Texas

Career highlights: Scored in double figures in 15 of the final 19 games last year

2000-2001 averages: 10.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg

Coach’s comment: “Errick is better than he was last year, and I though he was awfully good last year. He is truly a leader on and off the floor for us. I think he’s going to be a dominant defender, a good point guard, and put up good offensive numbers for us.”

Personal: National Junior College newcomer of the year as a freshman and an NJCAA All-American as a sophomore; able to play four positions for the Black Bears

JOE CAMPBELL (No. 32)

Vital stats: Forward, freshman, 6-6; Bangor

Career highlights: Led Bangor to state Class A title as a senior when he tipped in a teammate’s shot at the buzzer against Deering High

Coach’s comment: “Joe has remarkable intangibles. He really knows how to play the game and he just helps his team win. He does need to get stronger and to improve his shooting range. He has a good chance to be a good player for us.”

Personal: A likely redshirt for the Black Bears, Campbell may be pressed into action this season if his team needs another perimeter player; averaged 20 ppg, 12 rpg, and 3 bpg for Bangor last season

JAMAR CROOM (No. 33)

Vital stats: Forward/center, senior, 6-8; Reading, Pa.

Career highlights: Went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the regular-season finale of his sophomore year against BU

2000-2001 averages: 0.0 ppg, 0.2 rpg

Coach’s comment: “Jamar is as good an example of what college basketball should be about as there is. He’s a remarkable person, a great student, and an unselfish, good player who has accepted his role.”

Personal: Croom has been a true Bear in the weight room and is one of the strongest players in the league. He received a bronze medallion as part of UM’s scholar-athlete recognition ceremony last year after maintaining a 3.0 GPA over the previous year.

DERRICK JACKSON

(No. 35)

Vital stats: Guard, junior, 6-2; Columbia, S.C.

Career highlights: Helped hold Hofstra star Norman Richardson to four points and zero field goals in last year’s AE semifinal

2000-2001 averages: 6.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg

Coach’s comment: “Derrick is the whole package as a player, a leader, and as a person. He’s going to be improved and he’s going to continue to be the consistent winner that we’ve seen over the past couple of years.”

Personal: Black Bears’ defensive stopper for two years. His strength and quickness allow him to match up on a variety of players; averaged 13.5 points for Winchendon School team that won the 1998-99 National Invitational Prep School Tournament

CLAYTON BROWN

(No. 40)

Vital stats: Forward, junior, 6-7; Palmyra, N.J.

Career highlights: Scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds against BU last season

2000-2001 averages: 3.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg

Coach’s comment: “Clayton is an excellent offensive player. He is going to do a lot of good things for us. The important thing for Clayton is to make less mistakes. As he cuts down on his turnovers and fouls, he’ll stay on the court more and truly be one of the best offensive players in the league.”

Personal: Transferred to Maine after sustaining a stress fracture in his spine while at James Madison, then broke a leg in his first year with the Bears; ranks 17th on the all-time New Jersey high school scoring list with 2,446 points

RICKEY WHITE (No. 43)

Vital stats: Forward, junior, 6-4; Topsham

Career highlights: Shot 73 percent from the floor (24 of 33) in games against Prairie View A&M, Alaska-Fairbanks, Norfolk State, and Sacred Heart

2000-2001 averages: 2.8 ppg, 1.2 rpg

Coach’s comment: “This year he’s truly flourishing and becoming the player that we envisioned. He’s much more comfortable and confident, he knows what he’s doing, and he will be one of the best if not the best athlete in America East.”

Personal: One of UMaine’s most crowd-pleasing players due to his ability to play above the rim and finish with thunderous dunks; paid his own way to UM in 1999-2000 while meeting NCAA academic requirements

JUSTIN ROWE (No. 44)

Vital stats: Center, junior, 7-0; Springfield, Mass.

Career highlights: Single-game highs of 29 points, 21 rebounds, 11 blocks at Clear-water (Fla.) Christian College

Coach’s comment: “Justin needs to improve his consistency, and needs to continue to improve his back-to-the-basket skills. But he does have the ability to dominate both offensively and defensively. He can be a good player or a great one with continued improvement.”

Personal: The 7-foot Black Bear blocked 23 shots in a high school game and grabbed 20 rebounds in another. He sat out last year after transferring from Clearwater Christian College.

JON WALLINGFORD

(No. 10)

Vital stats: Guard, sophomore, 5-10; Auburn

Career highlights: Scored a school-record 41 points – and hit 12 3-pointers – against rival Lewiston as a senior at Edward Little

Coach’s comment: “Jon is an ideal walk-on. He is a tough, competitive, smart player that is able to contribute in practice and push our top players. He’s unselfish enough to know his role and want us to have a winning program.”

Personal: Joined the Black Bears as walk-on after a chance meeting with UMaine assistant coach Ed Jones while playing against Jones’ intramural team last year; a chemical engineering major

BUDDY LEAVITT (No. 11)

Vital stats: Forward, freshman, 6-6; Guilford

Career highlights: Led Piscataquis Community High to the Eastern Maine Class C championship as a senior.

Personal: Averaged 21.1 ppg and 9.5 rpg while being named a NEWS All-Maine third-team selection last year.