‘The best of the best’: 10 legends enter Maine Sports Hall of Fame

By Matt Junker, Bangor Daily News Sports Editor

The stage at Husson University’s Gracie Theatre in Bangor was the center of the Maine sports universe on Sunday, Sept. 20.

That’s because 10 of the state’s prominent sporting figures became the newest inductees into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame. 

“I think these are the best of the best,” Hall of Fame Executive Director Bill Green said before the ceremony. 

This year’s inductees are former Falmouth High School soccer and basketball player Bryant Barr, paracyclist Clara Brown of Cumberland, Husson University men’s basketball coach Warren Caruso, multi-sport standout Jamie Cook of Kennebunk, Maine Celtics President Dajuan Eubanks, basketball player and coach Kelly Flagg, Smith College women’s basketball coach and Dexter Regional High School graduate Lynn Hersey, Maine track star and American Ninja Warrior Jesse Labreck, longtime Bangor Daily News sportswriter Larry Mahoney and Portland High School and Northeastern runner Danny Paul who went on to be a prolific road race winner and coach. 

Each of the honorees provided remarks at the ceremony, with Mahoney up first to start the program. Green noted that Mahoney had written about many of the people there over the course of his 52-year (and counting) career at the BDN. 

“I can’t tell you how much of an honor this is because these people I’m being inducted with — and congrats to all of you — their accomplishments are off the charts,” Mahoney said. 

The veteran sportswriter said his fellow inductees have “done so much to put Maine on the map” in their impressive careers. 

Barr went on to play basketball at Davidson University, where the Wildcats embarked on a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight of the 2008 NCAA tournament with future NBA star Steph Curry at the forefront. Barr and Curry were roommates and remain friends and business partners. 

Curry provided a video message congratulating Barr at Sunday’s event. 

“I never would have thought I would beat him to the hall of fame,” Barr joked after the message from Curry, who will surely find a place in the Basketball Hall of Fame after his NBA career. 

Fellow Falmouth inductee Brown has won 11 world championship medals and competed in two Paralympic games, including a Bronze medal showing in Paris. 

Brown explained how a spinal injury at age 12 during gymnastics practice changed the trajectory of her athletic career. She spoke about the community support she received after the injury and how it allowed her to chart a different path to athletic success as a Paralympian. 

“I didn’t just grow up here. I was carried through some of the hardest and most formative moments of my life by this community,” Brown said. “And that foundation has never left me as I got a second chance at pursuing my athletic dreams.”

Brown also credited fellow inductee Paul, a teacher and coach at Falmouth High School, for his positive influence. 

Caruso is nearing 600 wins at Husson and like many of the honorees, spent much of his speech crediting those who have helped him along the way. 

“Without others, I would not have achieved this success,” Caruso said.

Flagg — who was then Kelly Bowman — was a standout at Nokomis Regional High School and a key player on the only University of Maine team to win an NCAA basketball tournament game. She also is the mother of two of Maine’s most prominent current players, Ace and Cooper Flagg. 

The twin brothers helped Nokomis win a state championship in 2022 alongside older brother Hunter Flagg. Cooper Flagg is now starting his NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks, and Ace Flagg is a freshman on the UMaine men’s team. 

“My most rewarding role in sports has been that of mom,” Kelly Flagg said with all three of her sons in attendance. 

Labreck, who was a track star at Messalonskee High School and UMaine before having national success on the TV show “American Ninja Warrior,” said sports have shaped her into who she is today. 

“Being recognized for that journey today is truly an honor,” she said at the ceremony. 

Cook, who went on to be a three-time All-American in the Decathlon at Penn State after his time at Kennebunk High School, issued a challenge to the young people in the audience. 

“Try to do better than we’ve done,” Cook said, noting that his favorite athlete in the room was his son. 

Eubanks, who played college basketball at Rice University before becoming a Harlem Globetrotter, spoke about coming to Maine nearly 20 years ago and the way basketball in the state is fueled by a strong community. 

“I feel very fortunate to be in a state where, obviously, the game of basketball has been elevated thanks to one Flagg family,” Eubanks said. 

And though Eubanks isn’t from Maine originally, he hoped that his induction into the state’s sports hall of fame will mean he can finally be considered a Mainer.