Hampden Academy boys basketball coach Russ Bartlett got his 343th career win this week, and it was also his last on the Broncos’ home court.
After 23 years on the bench for the varsity Hampden squad, the legendary coach will be retiring once this season is over. He and his 9-9 Broncos team have earned the No. 7 seed in Class A North and will be heading to Augusta for the upcoming high school basketball tournament.
Bartlett and the Broncos got a senior night win over Brewer on Tuesday, giving him and the team’s seniors one last victory at the Stable in Hampden Academy’s gym.
“It was a great environment here tonight,” Bartlett said after the win. “It’s the best crowd we’ve had all year, and they’re vocal and they’re playing a rival, so those are the things I’ll miss on the sidelines for sure.”
Bartlett has spent 23 of his 30 years as a coach in charge of the Hampden varsity team, and has led the Broncos to four state championships during that time. He also played at Hampden Academy during his own high school career under coach Earl Anderson, who has returned to Hampden Academy in recent years to serve as Bartlett’s assistant.
“I know I’m biased, but I’ve said for quite a while now, I think he’s the best coach in the state,” Anderson said this week. “I couldn’t do this with anybody else because of the culture that he’s built here. That doesn’t just happen.”
The two coaches have stayed close for 30 years, and have built a strong bond both on and off the court.
“People don’t realize how difficult it is to build the kind of culture that he has here at Hampden,” Anderson added about Bartlett. “He’s an outstanding Xs and Os coach. He’s an outstanding teacher. But none of that can really make a great program.”
It all starts with a positive culture, according to Anderson. And he knows as well as anyone what it takes to win. Before rejoining Bartlett in Hampden, he was the head coach of the state champion Nokomis team that featured Cooper, Ace and Hunter Flagg.
“He’s like a second dad to me,” Bartlett said about Anderson. “He has been since the first day I met him as a coach, and our relationship is fabulous. He listens to me. I listen to him, and I feel like the kids are really fortunate because they get coached all the time.”
Bartlett said the Hampden basketball culture is based around working hard every day, holding the kids accountable and caring about them as people.
“I think that’s why we’re successful,” Bartlett said. “So, it’s been a great run.”
In addition to his multiple state championships, Bartlett will finish his career among the top 50 all-time winningest boys basketball coaches in Maine with those 343 wins and counting. And that 343th was meaningful this week.
“I said to the kids after the win, it meant a lot just because it was the last time I get to do it here,” Bartlett said. “And if we lost, I still would be fine with that, but it has meant a lot.”
He said that both he and a couple of the seniors teared up after their last home game. And he’s hoping the team can start with another win during the postseason tournament.
Hampden senior Sawyer Worcester has played for Bartlett for four years, but has known him much longer than that.
“He’s a mentor to everybody,” Worcester said. “He’s also my uncle, so it really meant a lot to me that I could get his last win here.”
Fellow senior Miles Shain said the Broncos weren’t satisfied after the first half of Bartlett’s last game, which was a back-and-forth contest most of the way. Then Hampden poured it on in the fourth quarter to run away from Brewer and get the win.
“We knew that it’s his last game here. We wanted to end on a good note,” Shain said. “So it just fueled us up even more.”
Hampden will have at least one more game with Bartlett at the helm. The Broncos will face off against Edward Little of Auburn, the No. 2 team in Class A North, on Feb. 14 at the Augusta Civic Center.
“I wouldn’t say anything if I didn’t believe this,” Anderson added about Bartlett. “He’s the best coach in the state.”