Veteran coach Wally Covell resigns Orono football post

Orono High School is in search of a new varsity football coach after the recent resignation of Wally Covell from the post.

Covell, who commuted to Orono from his home in Waterville, guided the Red Riots to an 11-25 record during his most recent four-year stint in charge of the Red Riots, including a 3-6 finish last fall.

“It was time for me to go,” said the 71-year-old Covell. “I don’t think there was one reason entirely, but I’ve got to have a hip replacement during the summer, it’s a long ride from Waterville to Orono, and I’d like to spend some time watching the Red Sox this fall.”

Orono currently is advertising to fill the vacancy, and likely will accept applications for the next couple of weeks before determining Covell’s successor.

“We’d like to hire somebody pretty soon so the new coach can get together with the kids and get something going in terms of the summer,” said Orono athletic director Mike Archer.

Covell also coached football at Orono during the 1960s, guiding the program to two state championships, five LTC titles and a 52-11 record during a tenure that ended in 1968.

He went on to coach baseball and football at Colby College in Waterville, eventually replacing Dr. John Winkin as head baseball coach when Winkin left Colby to become head coach at the University of Maine.

Covell later served as athletic director and baseball coach at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield.

Covell currently coaches varsity baseball at Lawrence High in Fairfield, and was a 2003 inductee into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.

“I’m going to miss it,” Covell said. “I enjoy football, and Orono has always been a special place to me. My family is basically from there, my daughter lives there now and I have a grandson growing up there.”

Covell doesn’t rule out a return to the sport, but said if he did it probably would be as an assistant at one the Greater Waterville high schools.”

Maine team to play in Shootout

Some of the state’s top schoolboy basketball players will have the chance to participate in one of the nation’s premier amateur tournaments in early June.

Maine Select, a 17-and-under AAU squad consisting of players from throughout the state, has been invited to participate in the prestigious Boston Shootout to be held June 5-6 at Matthews Arena on the campus of Northeastern University in Boston.

The invitation stems from a longstanding relationship between Maine AAU officials including Maine Select coach Carl Parker and Leo Papile, founder of the Shootout-hosting Boston Amateur Basketball Club and director of player personnel for the Boston Celtics.

“We go back quite a way through our involvement in AAU basketball,” said Parker, also the athletic director at Nokomis Regional High School in Newport. “Leo’s done a lot for our program.”

The Boston Shootout is one of the oldest tournaments of its kind nationally, its origin dating back to 1971. During its history, the Shootout has served as an amateur showcase for a number of basketball stars who went on to NBA careers, including such current standouts as Paul Pierce, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Kerry Kittles as well as former stars Patrick Ewing, Wayne “Tree” Rollins, Chris Mullin and Doc Rivers, recently named as the new coach of the Boston Celtics.

Members of the Maine Select 17-and-under squad are Jordan Heath and Aaron Gallant of Bangor, Tim Stammen and Nick Tedford of Camden Hills of Rockport, Matt Carey of Foxcroft Academy, Brock Bradford of Calvary Chapel of Orrington, Eric Sobey of Bangor Christian, Corey Dewitt of Ellsworth, Jared Brownlee of Portland, Conrad Griffin of Wiscasset, Jarod Oldham of Mountain Valley of Rumford, Kyle Robbins of Falmouth, Jon Lezneck of Poland and Lance Callender of Waynflete of Portland.

Joining Parker as coaches are Josh Tardy of Newport and Ed Coffin of Augusta.

Several of the Maine Select players may have conflicts with high school playoffs in their spring sports, and Parker said if that happened the high school playoffs would take priority.

Other teams in the Shootout field will represent Albany, N.Y., Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York City, Arizona, New Jersey and the host Boston Amateur Basketball Club.

This is not the first time a Maine team has been invited to the Shootout. In 1999, a Maine Hoops squad that included former Hampden Academy and Franklin Pierce College standout Derek Rodgerson and South Portland High star and University of Maine guard Chris Markwood was selected.

Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net