FARMINGDALE — Looking nearly as fit and trim as his playing days 38 years ago, former Hall-Dale High School basketball star Cam Brown accepted the applause of friends Monday night as he had his No. 34 playing jersey retired.
Brown led the Bulldogs in scoring and rebounding for three straight seasons, culminating with the Class C state championship his senior year. He finished his career with 1,215 points and more than 1,000 rebounds while leading Hall-Dale to a 48-13 record. Brown’s accomplishments were apparently overlooked for a number of years but his legacy was resurrected by Tim and Linda Leet.
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“I started looking into it and it’s something that should have been done,” Tim Leet said. “I don’t know why, but when I started looking into his statistics it was pretty obvious he was right up there. He truly deserved it.”
Brown’s jersey will take its place in the trophy case alongside those of Brad Moore, Rachel Bouchard and Caitlin Laflin.
“A lot of these people sitting here with me are friends from Hall-Dale and the University of Maine at Farmington,” Brown said. “I guess probably more than anything I’m enjoying the reunion.”
Brown set scoring records at Farmington as well and was the subject of a Sports Illustrated article his senior year when he was the leading Division III scorer in the nation. Written by Peter Gammons, the article was reprinted in a brochure listing Brown’s accomplishments and handed out to fans before the game.
Former Hall-Dale athletic director and coach Colin Roy read a speech from Brown’s former coach, Gary Barrett, prior to the presentation. Barrett was unable to attend because he is recovering from surgery. He mentioned that Brown, a 6-foot-4 shooter and rebounder, also was second on the team in assists in his three years on the varsity.
Brown was also a standout baseball player at Hall-Dale, who as a pitcher went 9-1 his junior year and led the Bulldogs to the Class C state championship.
“I recall there being a lot of enthusiasm and the following was great,” Brown said of his Hall-Dale days.
Barrett noted Brown was recognized as the outstanding player/sportsman in the 1974 Western Maine tournament, an award he called fitting for such a humble and accomplished player. Brown settled in Rockland where he raised two sons who are now grown. He recently retired from a 27-year career with the Maine Department of Transportation and today lives in Vassalboro.
A deadly outside shooter, he paraphrased Gen. Douglas MacArthur with his parting words to the crowd: “Old shooters never die, they just fade away,” he said, as he mimicked his trademark fallaway jump shot.
Gary Hawkins — 621-5638
ghawkins@centralmaine.com
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