UMM men’s coach adds second job Lee takes women’s post; Preston called to duty

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Randy Lee is getting a little more than he bargained for during his first season as the men’s basketball coach at the University of Maine-Machias.

Most notably, a twist of fate also has left the Clippers’ first-year boss heading the UMM women’s program.

Lee was barely starting to settle in with the UMM men when women’s coach Dean Preston found out he had been called to duty by the Maine Army National Guard.

“We talked about it in the past, but obviously it was one of those things you hope that it’s never going to happen,” Lee said during UM-Machias’ appearance last weekend in the Paul Bunyan Invitational at Husson College in Bangor.

Preston, in his second season at UMM, coached the Clippers in their first four games. When he got the call from the Guard, assistant coach Angela Robb, a former four-year player who is finishing up her studies, directed the team during a recent tournament at Colby-Sawyer.

“It was the first weekend of the transition. She stepped in and did an admirable job,” said Lee, who was appointed as the women’s coach by UMM athletic director Bob Hepler.

Preston did come back and lead the team during a Nov. 29 home game against King’s College. He is expected to head to Fort Drum (N.Y.) in the near future.

Lee has relied on Robb to help him get acclimated to the women’s squad and the challenges of taking on a second team this winter.

“Her role has expanded a little bit more because now she’s taking a more hands-on approach to daily activities,” Lee said of Robb. “She’s got a pretty good handle on the team and the different personalities, but also the system, having played under coach Preston.”

Lee is now responsible for setting up and running practices for both UM-Machias ballclubs. He knows it will take some time to learn what works best for each team.

Lee plans to build off what the women’s team has done in the past while incorporating some of his philosophies. He said he was fortunate to inherit a women’s program that is in good shape.

“The girls have been terrific to work with,” Lee said. “Coach Preston has established a terrific program.”

That hardest part may be learning players’ personalities and giving them a chance to get used to him.

“Obviously, it’s tough on them, but I’m trying to make the transition as easy as possible on everybody,” Lee said. “Coach Preston has tremendous rapport and it was initially extremely difficult on the ladies who played for him and had gotten close to him.”

Everyone at UMM wishes Preston well during his stint with the National Guard.

Now that the Clippers are moving into conference play, the men’s and women’s teams usually play back-to-back on the same night. While grueling, that makes it logistically possible for Lee to coach both teams.

He simply wants both squads to reach their potential.

“The situation has worked out very well,” Lee said.

Husson men making progress

Despite a rapidly revamped lineup and upheaval brought about by injuries, transfers, ineligibility and/or graduation losses, there’s still plenty of bounce in Husson College’s men’s basketball program.

The 3-2 Braves picked up their third win Tuesday night to start off a tough week leading up to the Christmas holiday break.

“I think we’ve taken some steps and gained some momentum heading into a week where we play three conference games on the road,” said coach Warren Caruso. “If we can win all three, we have a successful first semester and we’re in really good shape.”

The Braves were able to dress only 10 of 14 players last weekend during the 38th annual Paul Bunyan Invitational, but managed to go 1-1 and finish third in the tourney.

“When things aren’t going well, you have to stay with it,” Caruso said. “The pieces of our puzzle are starting to fit a little better now. We’ll see how they come together this week.”

Caruso gets Matt Mulligan back from a broken ankle injury this week.

“Yeah, we have another player back next week and in the meantime, we’ve had some good things from some of our younger and inexperienced guys,” Caruso said.

Two of them, freshmen Micah Grant of Skowhegan and Bill Beauregard of Ware, Mass., have made the most of their increased playing time.

“Micah’s played pretty well and Bill has stepped in and taken to his role really well. He does a lot of little things,” Caruso said.