Sports Editor
PRESQUE ISLE — Basketball is a passion many in Maine hold in their hearts, but few have the devotion to the sport to spend years tracking the history of a single team.
Jim Carter, an author in Presque Isle, is one such person and his new book “Six Decades of Wildcat Basketball: A History of Boys and Girls Basketball at Presque Isle High School 1950-2009,” bears the fruits of his labor of love.
Carter’s book, which was printed locally at Northeast Publishing in Presque Isle, tells the storied history of Presque Isle basketball, from its early beginnings in the 1950s to 2009.
The 92-page publication features a look back at Wildcat basketball teams by decade, including team rosters and photos, and also includes a section featuring action photos of players. There are also parts of the book that highlight coaching records and thousand point scorers, as well as student-athletes over the years who earned such distinctions as All-State, All-Tourney and All-Conference honors.
Carter, a 1964 graduate of PIHS, is a retired teacher and coach. He coached basketball for 21 years in the Caribou school system, serving as varsity boys basketball coach from 1997-2001.
To date, Carter has sold 150 copies of the book, far exceeding his original expectations.
The decision to pen a book flowed from historical sports articles he had written for The Star-Herald newspaper. He received positive feedback from his writing and decided the time was right to compile a history of Presque Isle basketball.
“I had so many people in the community that took a great deal of interest in my articles and they thought I should write them down in a book,” Carter said. “My first thought was ‘No, I don’t think so.’ I figured it would be a lot of time spent doing research. But as I kept working on my articles for the paper, I realized I had already done a great deal of my research.”
Carter chose to focus solely on PIHS teams since a similar book — “Fifty-One years of Basketball Playing in Aroostook County, Maine: 1900-1950,” by Nathan W. White — was already in existence.
“Presque Isle High School can be proud of its rich basketball tradition,” said Carter. “ So many teams have provided memorable sporting entertainment during the cold winter months that define Aroostook County. Over the years, players, coaches, officials, scoring table personnel and administrators have put their hearts and souls into providing a program of which everyone can be proud.”
Originally, his plan was to focus solely on boys basketball teams, but he changed his mind and added girls basketball to the mix, starting with 1975, as that was the year the Maine Principals’ Association officially sanctioned girls basketball in the state.
While he never kept track of the amount of time spent researching and writing the book, Carter estimated he spent between 1,200-1,500 hours working on the book.
One of the more interesting tidbits from Carter’s book is that the Presque Isle boys hoop team has not won a gold ball since 1931. The Wildcats have come close, appearing in the state championship 1961, 1971, and 1979.
“That fact is something that sticks into people’s minds,” Carter said. “But their win-loss record and the number of times that Presque Isle has appeared in the tournament is impressive. You can be well prepared and play well, but something unavoidable happens.”
Carter relied heavily on former players to provide photos from their scrapbooks to be used in his publication. Additionally, Carter himself is featured in one of the team photos as he played for the Wildcats in the 1960’s and is featured in team photos from that era.
“While completing this research, I was reminded of the times during the 1960’s and 1970’s when the local gymnasium was filled to capacity for every home game,” he said. “One former coach reminded me that he remembers the gym being full by the end of the first quarter of the junior varsity game. School basketball passion was truly present, and I am very pleased to have been a participant in the passion that defined Aroostook County basketball.”
Carter’s book cost $22 plus tax and is available at Star City IGA, Graves Shop N’ Save in Presque Isle, or directly from Carter. To reach him, call 764-1217 or email Jcarter001@maine.rr.com.
Carter
