STANDISH, Maine – Former Saint Joseph's College men's basketball coach Rick Simonds will be inducted into the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame, as announced by the organization on Wednesday.
Simonds is one of 16 individuals and two teams who will be honored with an induction ceremony held at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on August 18th. Former SJC women's basketball standout Stephanie Carter '92 is also a member of the 2019 Maine Basketball Hall of Fame Class.
Simonds, who coached the Monks for 23 seasons, compiled a 466-176 (.726) record and guided the Royal Blue to 11 conference titles and six appearances in the NAIA National Championship Tournament. He won 15 Coach of the Year awards and left the College in 2003 as the winningest head coach in St. Joe's Athletics history.
Simonds also served as the Director of Athletics at Saint Joseph's for 20 years and oversaw tremendous departmental growth during his two-plus decades at the helm, including the planning and development of the Harold Alfond Center.
Nine of his players accounted for 16 All-America honors during his tenure and he never suffered a losing season while winning at least 20 games 13 times. His career winning percentage is ranked as the 14th-highest in the history of NCAA DIII Men's Basketball.
Simonds put the College on the national stage in 1987, when his unseeded Monks stunned third-seeded Biola University (CA), 78-66, in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament. The thrilling victory was the first national tourney triumph in Saint Joseph's College history.
Currently the color commentator for Maine Red Claws radio broadcasts, Simonds played at Waldoboro High, Maine Central Institute and the University of Southern Maine, then coached at Bristol Consolidated School and Ellsworth High before landing in Standish in 1979.
Simonds is also a member of the SJC Athletics Hall of Fame, the University of Southern Maine Athletic Hall of Fame, the Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame, and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. A 1972 USM graduate, Simonds was a standout point guard, pitcher, and goalkeeper for the Huskies' basketball, baseball, and soccer teams, respectively.
In 2014, Simonds founded Maine Renegades, a youth basketball program that is one of the largest of its kind in the State of Maine.
