STANDISH, ME - Former Saint Joseph's College men's basketball greats Stephen Schuler '94 and John Wassenbergh '96 will be inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, June 22nd. Schuler and Wassenbergh, two of the finest players in the 42-year history of the Monks Basketball program, will join other honorees representing a variety of categories including coaches, players, teams and special contributors at a major ceremony held at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Schuler, a two-time All-America honoree, scored 1,457 points and shot 57.1% (548-960) from the field during his career and is the only player in program history to have never lost a home contest. He recorded the Monks' first triple-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 91-74 victory over Thomas College at "The Chamber of Horrors" on December 12th, 1992. Schuler went on to play professionally for the Connecticut Skyhawks of the United States Basketball League (USBL) and was inducted into the Saint Joseph's College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002. He is currently the head women's basketball coach at NCAA DII Post University.
Wassenbergh, earned All-America honors as well as Conference Player of the Year accolades following his junior and senior seasons and on three occasions claimed All-State and All-Conference awards during his outstanding college career. With 2,095 career points, "Wass" is one of just three Saint Joseph's players to net more than 2,000 and his stellar 63.6% (815-1281) field goal percentage remains as the Monks' top shooting rate from the floor by a wide margin. Following graduation, he proceeded to play professionally for six years with highly-successful stints in the USBL and the International Basketball League as well as in England and Korea.
There are now five members of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame who have ties to Saint Joseph's College. Former Head Men's Basketball Coach Rick Simonds and women's basketball all-time great Neile (Joler) Nelson '95 were inducted in 2009, as was Linda (Johnson) Freeman '81, who was enshrined into the Hall's Girls High School category.
The June 22 event will include a series of afternoon panel discussions featuring a number of former NBA and WNBA players who will be inducted that evening, as well as famed coaches, such as John Caliperi of Kentucky. Renowned novelist, Harlan Coben, who was an outstanding player at Amherst, will be among the inductees and will serve as an afternoon panelist.
The panel discussions will be followed by dinner and the ceremony, which begins at 6:00 PM.
The event -- as much reunion as ceremony -- has become one of the largest sports dinners in America. At the last ceremony, the event welcomed over 1,600 people and was a sellout. The 2013 event is expected to be a sellout.
The entire 2013 New England Basketball Hall of Fame Class, along with several other important updates, including additional celebrity attendees, will be announced on the event website – nebasketballhalloffame.com – in the coming weeks.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.