The Maine Basketball Rankings Podcast

The King of Foxcroft Academy — with Toby Nelson

If you've been following Maine high school basketball for the last 30 years, you've no doubt seen Toby Nelson. Whether it's promoting Foxcroft Academy, doing radio, or broadcasting as part of Maine Public's state championship coverage, Toby has done it all. He joins the podcast to talk about the 50th anniversary of Foxcroft's title, the legacy of Monson Academy, digging into video archives, and so much more. Also: Rhys reviews *The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act*. *Toby Nelson** has been broadcasting Maine high school sports for 30 years, including 20 years with Maine Public Television calling state championship games. He got his start at the Bangor Auditorium in 2007 — literally walking past the broadcast table, hearing a producer say someone had called out sick, and running home to grab a shirt and tie. The rest is history. Beyond broadcasting, Toby is Foxcroft Academy's unofficial historian, spearheading the **50th anniversary celebration of the 1975 state championship** — the school's only basketball gold ball. He tracked down the coach's original scorebook, game-by-game newspaper clippings, photos, and artifacts, then posted daily historical updates aligned to the exact anniversary dates of each game. His deeper passion project: **Monson Academy**, the small-town school that closed in 1969 and sent its students to Foxcroft. In 1968, just one year before closing, Monson's eight-player squad won the Class S state championship. Toby found a reel-to-reel audio recording of the title game, digitized it at a radio station, and put it online — where it's since drawn hundreds of thousands of views. He also tracked down actual game footage through Northeast Historic Films in Bucksport. Now he's planning a **Monson Academy Slaters merchandise line** — t-shirts, stickers, and more — with proceeds going toward a new roof on the Monson gymnasium, the last remaining piece of the old academy. --- ### Links & Resources - **Maine Basketball Rankings:** mainebasketballrankings.com - **Gold Ball Odds (tournament simulator):** mainebasketballrankings.com - **Northeast Historic Films:** [oldfilms.org](https://oldfilms.org) - **Monson Academy Slaters Facebook Page:** search "Monson Academy Slater" on Facebook - **Eastern Maine Sports:** follow on Facebook/YouTube for live streams and coverage - *Last One Out of Town, Turn Out the Lights* — Dave Albee's book on Foxcroft/Monson basketball history

Why Cliff Urquhart left Southern Aroostook After 5 Titles

Cliff Urquhart built a dynasty in Dyer Brook with a Southern Aroostook girls team he led to 5 state titles and one of the more dominant runs any program in the state has seen over the last decade. But earlier this spring, he stepped off the sidelines to take an administrative job even further north at Fort Fairfield. He joined the podcast to talk about that, his time at Southern Aroostook, an unforgettable closed scrimmage with Caribou, and so much more. Subscribe to Maine Basketball Rankings: https://www.mainebasketballrankings.com/#/portal Gear (affiliate links) Green Screen: https://amzn.to/3Iiodki Lighting: https://amzn.to/4n7cNzc Microphone: https://amzn.to/47ekYEa Webcam: https://amzn.to/464U4y0

The Baseball and Softball Stretch Run with Ethan Snow

There's only 2 weeks left in the Spring Sports season, which means it's time to check in with WHOU's Ethan Snow on which baseball teams are contenders for a Gold Ball in late June. Subscribe to Maine Basketball Rankings: https://www.mainebasketballrankings.com/#/portal Gear (affiliate links) Green Screen: https://amzn.to/3Iiodki Lighting: https://amzn.to/4n7cNzc Microphone: https://amzn.to/47ekYEa Webcam: https://amzn.to/464U4y0

Travis Magnusson

Travis Magnusson scored over 2,000 points at Georges Valley and has become one of the best coaches in the state of Maine. He joins me on the podcast to talk about coaching both in high school and his son's AAU team, the state game against Fort Kent, the Regional Final win over Spruce Mountain, coaching soccer, and so much more. Get the Ballers shirt: https://maine-basketball-rankings.printify.me/product/19201165/maine-ballers-unisex-softstyle-t-shirt Subscribe to Maine Basketball Rankings: https://www.mainebasketballrankings.com/#/portal ————————— Vertical Raise contact information Chris Christie - Maine ChrisC@VerticalRaise.com 207-975-4072 Calendly link: https://calendly.com/chrisc-verticalraise/30min Dave Chase - Southern Maine DChase@VerticalRaise.com 603-545-2960 —————————— Gear (affiliate links) Green Screen: https://amzn.to/3Iiodki Lighting: https://amzn.to/4n7cNzc Microphone: https://amzn.to/47ekYEa Webcam: https://amzn.to/464U4y0

Andrew Morong Goes Out on Top

Four national championships. 87.2% winning percentage. Retirement on his terms. Lucas sits down with retiring CMCC women's basketball coach Andrew Morong fresh off his fourth national title to talk about what it actually takes to build a dynasty in central Maine. Topics this episode: How Andrew evaluates recruits in the first 5 minutes of warm-ups Why parents are now a bigger red flag than the players themselves The "Junkyard Dog" role and building a blue-collar culture Josie Friend — the Australian freshman he knew would transcend the program The case for a high school shot clock Why the mid-range jumper might be a D1 scholarship hiding in plain sight What retirement looks like when basketball has been your life for 15 years Plus Lucas's son Rhys reviews Hoppers and the Mario Galaxy movie. Maine Basketball Rankings: mainebasketballrankings.com