Thomas Chappelle

Tom "Skip" Chappelle has earned distinction as one of the State's all-time basketball standouts who gained national stature and added a lengthy and more than respectable coaching career at his University of Maine alma mater. His list of accomplishments stands alone.

The classy sharpshooter won All State and All New England honors for Old Town High's 1957 state champions under Coach John Killilea, later to become an assistant coach in the NBA.

In Old Town's New England tournament appearance, Chappelle set a single game scoring record of 38 points that held up as long as the event was held in the Boston Garden and earned him a first team All New England selection.

Next stop was another stellar season of play for Maine Central Institute's New England prep champions and another All New England pick. Then came three years of stardom for the University of Maine where Skip set 12 scoring records, some of which still stand, with the University's strongest teams under Coach Brian McCall. Chappelle made All State and All Yankee Conference all three of his varsity seasons. He was Yankee Conference scoring leader in two seasons.

To top it all off, he became Maine's only Little All America, one of the top five in the country at that level. He was drafted by the NBA's St. Louis Hawks and later had a tryout with the Celtics.

After building Fort Fairfield High's hoop program back to a highly competitive level, Chappelle embarked on a 17-year career as the University of Maine's longest-term mentor. Despite severe handicaps in personnel, in comparison with most opponents, Skip produced some of Maine's stronger teams and developed some of its brightest stars. He was an easy choice for the University of Maine's Hall of Fame. Skip's coaching record at Maine was 217-226, and was named North Atlantic Conference coach of the year for the past season.

Skip is married to the former Carolyn Dorsey of Fort Fairfield. They have 2 daughters, Cathra and Kara.