# Maine Black Bears men's basketball

The Maine Black Bears men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents University of Maine in Orono, Maine, United States. The school's team currently competes in the America East Conference, which they joined upon its founding in 1979. Their current head coach is Chris Markwood, who took over in March 2022.
The Black Bears are one of 35 eligible Division I programs to have never appeared in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament; their 78 seasons without a postseason bid is sixth most all-time among the teams in the drought. They have never been invited to a postseason tournament of any kind while having made the America East men's basketball tournament final four times; they competed for the championship in 2025.

## Coaches

| | | Overall | Overall | Conference | Conference | |
| Coach | Years | Record | Pct. | Record | Pct. | Notes |
| George Huntington | 1903–05 | 15–11 | .577 | | | |
| George Owen | 1905–06 | 10–4 | .714 | | | |
| John Phelan | 1906–08 | 12–9 | .571 | | | |
| John Neary | 1908–10 | 13–7 | .650 | | | |
| William C. Kenyon | 1937–42; 1944–45 | 30–45 | .413 | 9–31 | .225 | |
| Samuel Sezak | 1942–44 | 8–14 | .364 | 4–4 | .500 | |
| Eck Allen | 1945–49 | 34–33 | .507 | 8–20 | .286 | |
| Rome Rankin | 1949–54 | 38–53 | .418 | 11–27 | .289 | |
| Russell DeVette | 1954–55 | 4–13 | .235 | 1–7 | .125 | |
| Harold Woodbury | 1955–58 | 20–38 | .345 | 9–17 | .346 | |
| Brian McCall | 1958–68 | 38–53 | .418 | 11–27 | .289 | |
| Gil Philbrick | 1968–71 | 25–21 | .543 | 9–21 | .300 | |
| Skip Chappelle | 1971–88 | 217–226 | .490 | 89–124 | .418 | |
| Rudy Keeling | 1988–96 | 106–122 | .465 | 60–56 | .517 | |
| John Giannini | 1997–04 | 125–111 | .530 | 75–65 | .536 | |
| Ted Woodward | 2004–14 | 117–178 | .397 | 65–97 | .401 | |
| Bob Walsh | 2014–18 | 24–100 | .194 | 12–52 | .188 | |
| Richard Barron | 2018–22 | 21–76 | .216 | 12–42 | .222 | |
| Jai Steadman | 2022 | 1–3 | .250 | 1–3 | .250 | |
| Chris Markwood | 2022–present | 13–17 | .433 | 7–9 | .438 | |

## Rivalries

* University of New Hampshire Wildcats – Maine's rivalry with UNH is the longest continuous rivalry between two non-Ivy League schools, lasting 116 seasons as of 2020.

## Team records
### Single Season records

| | Player | Record | Season |
| MIN | Errick Greene | 1135 | 2001–02 |
| PT | Rufus Harris | 718 | 1979–80 |
| PPG | Rufus Harris | 25.6 | 1979–80 |
| FG | Rufus Harris | 271 | 1979–80 |
| FG% | John Rupert | .660 | 2010–11 |
| 3PT | John Rupert | 107 | 2010–11 |
| 3PT% | John Rupert | .447 | 2010–11 |
| FT | Rufus Harris | 176 | 1979–80 |
| FT% | John Rupert | .902 | 2010–11 |
| REB | Robert Warner | 352 | 1974–75 |
| AST | Andy Bedard | 193 | 1999–00 |
| STL | Marty Higgins | 95 | 1991–92 |
| BLK | Justin Rowe | 121 | 2001–02 |

### Career records

| | Player | Record | Season |
| MIN | Gerald McLemore | 3856 | 2008–12 |
| PT | Rufus Harris | 2206 | 1976–80 |
| PPG | Jim Stephenon | 22.7 | 1966–69 |
| FG | Rufus Harris | 834 | 1976–80 |
| FG% | Kevin Nelson | .545 | 1975–79 |
| 3PT | Gerald McLemore | 323 | 2008–12 |
| 3PT% | Gerald McLemore | .382 | 2008–12 |
| FT | Rufus Harris | 538 | 1976–80 |
| FT% | Rufus Harris | .791 | 1976–80 |
| REB | Allen Ledbetter | 1017 | 1995–99 |
| AST | Marty Higgins | 619 | 1988–92 |
| STL | Marty Higgins | 243 | 1988–92 |
| BLK | Justin Rowe | 226 | 2001–03 |

## Notable players

Maine has had two players go on to play in the National Basketball Association: Rick Carlisle (who transferred to Virginia before being drafted) and Jeff Cross.
Other notable players include:
* John Rupert, Accomplished 17 shooting records in a single season
* Rufus Harris, 1979–80 America East Conference Player of the Year
* Noam Laish (born 1993), Israeli basketball player