It wasn’t the senior season Mark Socoby envisioned.

A torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee suffered during a preseason league game, and the surgery that followed Dec. 7, prematurely ended a stellar high school basketball career in which the 6-foot-5 guard led Houlton to its first state championship as a sophomore, then transferred to Bangor as a junior and starred in the Class A ranks.

But as Socoby continues his rehabilitation, he also is set to embark on the next stage of his basketball career – likely at the University of Maine.

The 19-year-old Socoby said this week he has applied for admission to the university, and is waiting to be accepted.

“I’m leaning heavily toward going to Maine,” he said. “I’m not sure if I would play next year or not, I might go and redshirt next year, but we’ve got until November to make that decision.”

Socoby said he also considered attending prep school after offers from other colleges that had recruited him abated in the wake of his injury.

“I had a lot of offers before I hurt my knee, but that was it,” he said. “Those are big schools that have a lot of guys who want to play for them, so they can just go to the next name on the list.”

Maine coach Ted Woodward couldn’t comment on Socoby’s potential enrollment at the university because of NCAA regulations, other than to confirm that he has recruited him.

But certainly Woodward would welcome Socoby to the program this fall as part of an incoming freshman class that also includes 6-10 center Jordan Cook of Hampden Academy and 6-7 forward Sean Costigan of Cheverus of Portland, both 2006 Mr. Maine Basketball finalists.

In addition, 6-8 junior Sean McNally of Gardiner already has made a verbal commitment to attend the Orono campus beginning in the fall of 2007, former Valley of Bingham center Brian Andre is set to be eligible on the first day after the end of the fall 2006 semester after transferring to Maine from the University of Buffalo, and redshirt freshman swingman Junior Bernal, who played at the Hyde School in Bath, is expected to be eligible for next season.

Socoby is a two-time Bangor Daily News All-Maine first-team choice.

As a sophomore, he led Houlton to a 20-2 record and the Class C state championship by averaging 20.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. As a junior, he was named Big East Conference Class A Player of the Year after averaging 13.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in leading Bangor to a 17-1 regular-season record and the No. 1 seed in Eastern Maine Class A. He also surpassed 1,000 career points as a junior.

He was poised to help put Bangor in position to challenge for regional and state honors last winter before he injured his knee Nov. 1 in a noncontact incident.

“After I found out, I had a day or two when I didn’t know what to do,” Socoby said. “But then I just had to think about what I had to do to get better.”

Socoby underwent surgery in Portland five weeks later. Now, five months after surgery, he said his rehabilitation is on schedule, and another followup checkup with his doctor in Portland is set for next week.

“It’s been a long haul, but it’s been worth it,” said Socoby, who said it likely will be six to eight more weeks before the recovery process is completed. “Right now, I can shoot around, but I can’t play in games and I can’t cut hard yet.”

Socoby said in addition to the physical side of the recuperative process, there’s also a mental component to coping with his repaired knee.

“It’s not so much leg strength, but it’s more a confidence thing,” he said. “I feel like I can do more now than I could a month ago. “I’m just trying to get back to 100 percent.”

Ironically, if Socoby joins the Maine program this fall, one of his teammates would be his brother-in-law, senior guard Kevin Reed – who sat out last season as a medical redshirt due to a stress fracture in his left foot.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the rehabilitation process for Socoby was the inability to compete on the court last winter. Bangor finished the regular season with a 12-6 record and won a preliminary- round game before being eliminated in the regional quarterfinals by two-time Eastern A champion Hampden Academy.

“It was definitely frustrating,” he said. “”I just tried to stay upbeat, and teach some of the younger guys.

“But I think I learned a lot about myself from sitting out. I know I appreciate the game that much more.”