After a season in which the only thing to get bounced was the entire season, Eastern Maine Community College men’s basketball coach Bill Tracy had realistic and lower expectations for his team’s 2008-09 campaign.
“One of my biggest goals was to retain the majority of my team and keep as many people academically eligible,” said the third-year coach. “This is beyond where I thought we’d be at this point. I like the way things have progressed so everything from this point on is the icing on top.”
The Eagles entered their last week of the regular season with a 7-13 record — unimpressive before you consider their 1-9 start. Throw in the fact they had to rebound from a season lost due to the closing of EMCC’s Johnston Gym due to broken water pipe damage AND started the current season two weeks late for the same rea-son, and you can understand why Tracy has a smile on his face.
“As competitive a person as I am and as much as I like to win, the big goal was to set a foundation for the program,” he explained. “It’s not a joke. It’s a serious thing.”
All 13 team members seem to appreciate that fact.
“It’s so much fun with this group. They enjoy being and playing together,” said Tracy, a former player at Sumner High School in East Sullivan and the University of Maine-Farmington. “Even with all the new faces on the team, it’s helped rather than hurt our chemistry.”
The start of the second semester brought five additions to the team, two of them starters in point guard Brandon Tomah of Indian Township and small forward Billy Smith of Princeton.
“We’ve played some good basketball lately with Tomah being a real sparkplug and Billy Smith being a force in the paint,” said Tracy, a social studies teacher at Bucksport High School. “We haven’t even been together a month yet, and we’re poised to make a run even though we’re in the sixth or seventh spot in the league.”
The rest of the starting lineup includes shooting guard Adam Knowles of Alexander, power forward Ben Maloney of Perry, and center Brandon Smith, Billy’s brother. The rest of the regular rotation involves guards Chris Irish of Wytopitlock and Derek Helms of Hermon, forwards John Knowles (Adam’s brother) and Rogan Rowe of Hermon, and center Colby Clark of Oakfield.
“I think the reason for the improvement after we added players is most of these guys, old and new, are Downeast guys who already knew each other from high school,” Tracy said.
Tracy says the Eagles’ recent win flurry is a bit misleading since EMCC picked up four of their six wins from forfeits — two from Hesser College for use of an ineligible player and two from Unity College, which forfeited its season. Still, he says it shouldn’t take away from the team’s overall improvement or ability.
“We just beat SMCC [Southern Maine Community College] down there and that’s huge. We haven’t done that in at least five years,” he said. “We’ve shown we can compete with any team, especially now that we’re more consistent and cohesive.”
Regardless of how the season ends, Tracy remains committed to making sure there’s no end in sight to the program. To that end, he pays just as much attention to off-court details.
“We do grade checks and guided study halls that are monitored once a week on Tuesdays 4-5:30,” Tracy said. “We want to stress academics and make sure these guys know what’s expected of them in practice and on the court.
“A chance to play college basketball is a significant thing.”
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