Sports Reporter
PRESQUE ISLE – Tim Prescott joined an exclusive group of high school basketball coaches Saturday when he picked up the 300th victory of his varsity coaching career.
The Wildcats’ 43-36 victory over John Bapst at the Bangor Auditorium put Prescott at the milestone. He joined some Maine coaching legends, including Ordie Alley, Dick Barstow, Gerry Duffy, John Donato, Ed Guiski, Phil Faulkner and Bob Brown, in reaching the impressive win total.
“When they gave me the job in 1985, my biggest fear was being the one who let things slip because Presque Isle had such a great tradition,” said the 49-year-old Prescott, whose only job has been at PIHS. “I was terrified about not letting it be an average program.”
That has definitely not been the case during Prescott’s 25-year coaching career. The Wildcats have averaged 12 victories per season during his tenure, qualifying for the post-season 20 times. His teams have won six Big East Conference titles, three while in Class A and three in Class B.
Presque Isle has not won a regional championship under Prescott, but the team did reach the EM Class A finals in 1988, 1989 and 1998 and the Class B finals in 2006.
Chris Casavant was part of two of those teams (1988 and 1989), and now squares off against Prescott at least twice a year as head coach at Caribou High School. He calls Prescott “one of my closest friends” and said the recent honor was very special from a personal standpoint.
“I called Tim Sunday and joked that I wanted some credit because I’m responsible for around 50 of those wins between my playing days and coaching against him,” Casavant said. “On a serious note, for him to be as successful as he has been for as long as he has been is quite an achievement.”
Mike Fogarty, the coach of the Houlton Shiretowners, said Prescott was very welcoming when he joined the Aroostook County coaching ranks a few years back and has nothing but praise for his counterpart.
“His teams are always well prepared and ready to play at tip-off time,” Fogarty said. “He has established a very well respected program over the past 25 years, and the time and commitment he has put into the program has paid off.”
Prescott said he has been fortunate to have been able to work with two fine assistant coaches – Ralph Michaud for the first 21 years and former Wildcat player Scott Young the last four.
“I couldn’t have had a better situation than to have Ralph from the very beginning,” Prescott said, “and then when he decided to get done, Scott came aboard and I consider him one of the best young coaches in the state.
“They should get as much credit as anybody.”
The veteran was also quick to deflect praise to the many players he has coached over the years.
“You don’t win the Kentucky Derby riding a donkey,” Prescott said. “I’ve been lucky to have had some great kids come through here. It’s really about them, because you can’t win games without good players.”
Prescott was honored for the achievement prior to Monday’s home game against Fort Kent.
He is a physical education teacher at Presque Isle High School, and also had lengthy coaching stints with the school’s varsity softball team and the junior varsity soccer team.
Prescott graduated from Southern Aroostook Community High School in 1978, received a B.S. from the University of Maine at Orono in 1982 and a master’s degree in educational admininstration from UMaine in 1999.
Contributed photo/PIHS Athletics Department
300 CLUB – Tim Prescott, center, became a member of the 300-win club after his Presque Isle Wildcats defeated John Bapst Saturday. With Prescott are the two assistant coaches durng his 25-year tenure, Ralph Michaud, left, and Scott Young.
