Hall of Fame honors MCI, UM star Chappelle

ORONO – Former University of Maine basketball coach Thomas “Skip” Chappelle of Veazie will be inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday in ceremonies at the Ryan Center at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston.

Chappelle qualified for the honor under three categories, according to Hall of Fame director Gregg Burke, but he’s being inducted based on his play at Maine Central Institute, a prep school in Pittsfield. The team was the New England champion in 1958.

Chappelle also was chosen for All-State and All-New England teams at Old Town High School, where he graduated in 1957.

He went on to set 15 basketball records at the University of Maine, and is one of only four players in the 27 years of the conference to make first team All-Conference three years, 1960-1962.

Chappelle coached men’s basketball at the University of Maine from 1968 to 1988, with a record of 270 wins and 229 losses. He was Coach of the Year in 1972 and 1988, and UMaine retired his uniform in 1988.

The coach has started receiving good wishes from fellow coaches and UMaine former players, including Amadou “Coco” Barry.

Chappelle went to Senegal in 1985 to recruit the 6-foot, 8-inch forward for the Black Bears. Barry played successfully for the team, and earned a bachelor’s degree from UM in political science. He wrote recently:

It is with pride and joy that I have learned that coach Skip Chappelle has been inducted in the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. Upon hearing this news, I reflected back to some fond memories of my life at the University of Maine.

I was 19 years old when I met Coach Skip Chappelle through a most wonderful man by the name of John Benoit. In 1985, I was studying and playing pro circuit when Coach Chappelle took an interest in me, and showed up in Senegal with Burt Batty of the University of Maine, to recruit me.

It was, at the time, the biggest event that had ever hit the sports community in my country. The fact that an American coach came to Senegal to recruit a local kid was unheard of and was met with national pride. The whole country cheered and sent me off to America to be part of the Black Bears family at the University of Maine.

When I set foot in America, I was met with a culture shock that only coach Chappelle, his wife, Carolyn, and the Benoit family understood. They knew where I came from. I did not speak any English and I was lost.

But luckily, my coach stood by me, nurturing me, loving me, encouraging me, pushing me to my outer limits without ever losing patience. He surrounded me with good people who looked after me. He took on the role of a father and guided me through my whole experience at Maine. He introduced me to the communities in various localities, from Bangor to upstate Maine, where the many wonderful people I have met adopted me as one of their own.

The whole experience in community relations made me appreciate and love America, the land of the free. I was born a Muslim in Dakar and my family and friends and most of our country highly respect what my adopted homeland is doing in the Middle East. I assure them of the great resolve the Americans have and that they will win the battles for peace.

Coach Chappelle taught me about accountability and about fairness. He showed me how to fend off adversity. He challenged me every day to be the best of the best, on and off the court. He defied me to jump over the many hurdles along my way, without losing strength. He promised my mother that I would never leave the university without a degree, and he kept his promise. He made sure that I did my work, and he insisted on me being a student first and an athlete second.

Today, because of his support and the opportunity he afforded me to get educated at the University of Maine, I lead a very good life. When I think of a role model, a community leader, I think of only one person – my hero, Skip Chappelle, who epitomizes good citizenry in every sense of the term.

Congratulations, Coach, for your induction into the New England Sports Hall of Fame.

I love you!

Coco Barry now lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Other Mainers who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday include Rachel Bouchard, who had an outstanding career for the University of Maine women’s basketball team.

For information on the Hall of Fame dinner, call (401) 874-2375.