Peter Wolley, who coached high school basketball for several years during the 1980s and ’90s, has been hired as the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Maine-Machias.

The announcement was made Friday by UMM athletic director Rich Fabri.

Wolley replaces Dean Preston, who took a leave of absence the past two seasons while serving with the national guard in Iraq and then relinquished the UMM post to become the girls varsity basketball coach at Washington Academy in East Machias.

Randy Lee, who directed both the UMM men’s and women’s squads the past two years, on Thursday was named the men’s basketball coach at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

Wolley, a 1983 graduate of UMM, returns to the Clipper sideline after having spent the last eight years owning his own business in Washington County.

“I’m excited to be part of UMM basketball again and I can’t wait to get started,” Wolley said in a press release. “I watched all the Clipper women’s basketball home games last season and was very impressed with the way they played and how hard they played.”

Wolley has been out of coaching since 1997, when he ended a seven-year stint as the boys coach at Bucksport High School. He guided the Golden Bucks to a 52-74 overall record and four straight trips to the Eastern Maine Class B tournament from 1994-97.

Previously, he spent two years at Machias High, leading the Bulldogs boys team to a 20-16 mark, including the Class D state championship in 1988.

I’m pleased to be able to welcome Peter back to campus,” Fabri said. “He has been part of some great Clipper athletic successes in the past and we all look forward to seeing him build on that tradition in his new role as head coach.”

Wolley, a Searsport native, played for UMM from 1980-82 and was a member of the Clippers’ 1981 Maine Athletic Conference championship team. He earned a B.S. in marketing in 1983.

Wolley also did assistant coaching stints at Swarthmore College, Ellsworth High and Rumford High.

UM-Nebraska tickets on sale

Tickets for the University of Maine’s Sept. 3 football opener at traditional Division I-A power Nebraska are on sale, but only through Monday.

Fans have until the close of business Monday (4:30 p.m.) to purchase tickets for the 6 p.m. game in Lincoln, Neb. Tickets are $55 and can be obtained by calling 581-2327 or 1-800-756-8326.