Bears pick ex-Duke standout as assistant coach

The University of Maine men’s basketball program has filled the void left by the departure of assistant coach Andy Bedard.

Billy McCaffrey, who was Duke University’s second-leading scorer during their 1991 NCAA championship season, has been chosen to replace Bedard.

McCaffrey, who transferred to Vanderbilt University and was a two-time All-American for the Commodores, has come to Maine after coaching at St. Bonaventure.

“The two great qualities that I see in Billy are that he has been successful at everything he has ever done and he is an honest and hard-working person,” said Maine head coach John Giannini in a press release. “He was a great player who dedicated himself to being highly-skilled and highly-conditioned and I think he can help our players reach their full potential.

“He will also impact our program in recruiting and be part of a close staff,” added Giannini.

McCaffrey said “I am extremely excited and grateful for the opportunity to join Coach Giannini’s staff. Working with them will be a tremendous learning experience and developmental process for me as a young coach. I can’t wait to get started. I have known ‘Coach G’ for a long time and have a great deal of respect for him not only as a coach, but also as a person.”

McCaffrey and Giannini have known each other for several years. McCaffrey would work out and practice at Rowan College’s (N.J.) Esby Gym during college breaks. Giannini spent seven years as the head coach at Rowan College before coming to Maine.

McCaffrey, an Allentown, Pa. native, is from an athletic family. His older brother, Ed, is an All-Pro wide receiver for the Denver Broncos and his younger brother, Mike, played basketball at Bangor’s Husson College.

Perron is happy to be back

Guy Perron is looking forward to the upcoming season with the University of Maine’s hockey team.

Perron, a former Black Bear captain in 1988-89 and 1989-90 who also became an assistant coach at Maine, will be the volunteer assistant coach for the hockey team.

“I’m definitely glad to be back,” said Perron during Maine’s alumni weekend activities. “Coming back after eight years, a lot has changed. I think it’s going to be a fun year.”

Perron, who graduated from Maine in 1990 and was an assistant at Maine during the 1991-92 and 1994-95 seasons, will work on his master’s degree in educational administration.

“Being able to coach and finish my schooling will be a great opportunity for me,” said Perron, who had coached the Chicago Freeze of the North American Hockey League for the past six seasons.

His teams went 167-150-19 and made the playoffs every year. He said the franchise is going to “shut down.”

Prior to his time in Chicago, Perron was an assistant coach at Dartmouth College for two years. And he spent two years coaching Bangor High School and was the Class A coach of the year in his rookie season.

He said one of the nice things about returning to the college ranks is “it’s an opportunity to work with guys who will be here at least three or four years.”

With the Freeze, he was coaching 16-17 year-olds “and the turnover every year was 17-20 guys.”

He said coach Tim Whitehead “has been doing a good job as well as [assistants] Grant [Standbrook] and Campbell [Blair].”

Perron also pointed out that his wife, Renee, is from Bangor and they are expecting their second child at the end of August.

He said he knows the team will have a lot of new faces this coming season and he is looking forward to the challenge.

“It’s good to be back in college hockey. We’ll see what happens,” added Perron.