Orono, Maine -- Jim Boylen would be the first to tell you that coming out of high school, he was a better football player than he was a basketball player. But there was something about basketball that really excited the young man from East Grand Rapids, Michigan.

 

So when assistant coach Jim Hutnik recognized Boylen's potential and the University of Maine offered him a scholarship — the only Division I school to do so — Boylen knew what he wanted to do.

 

"Jim saw before I did what I wanted. I love playing hoops," he said. "It meant the world to me. I was so thankful."

 

Boylen elevated his game and became a star during his four seasons in Orono. The heady point guard scored 1,244 career points and earned America East All-Conference first-team recognition in 1986-87.

 

The helpful people he met helped prepare him for a career that has included jobs as a head coach and an assistant coach in the National Basketball Association and as a college coach.

 

That impressive resume of success on the court and on the sidelines has landed Boylen in the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame.

 

"That's where my career, my life, kind of took off," Boylen said of UMaine. "I wouldn't be in the NBA if I hadn't gone there."

 

Earlier this summer, after spending one season as a consultant with Indiana, Boylen was named an assistant coach for the Pacers under former UMaine and Virginia star Rick Carlisle.

 

Boylen was the playmaker, the go-to guy, for coach Skip Chappelle's Black Bears. As a senior, he tallied 21.1 points per game and led the squad in assists for the second straight year.

 

"He was just a jewel in the program. He could do everything," said Chappelle, himself a former UMaine star and a Hall of Famer.

 

Over 103 games, Boylen averaged 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.1 steals while shooting 45 percent from the field. He registered three consecutive seasons with 100-plus assists (1985-87) and finished his career with 1,244 points, 370 assists, 320 rebounds and 176 steals.

 

"It was his attitude. He was a tough kid," Chappelle said, noting Boylen's competitiveness and desire to win. "And he was emotional. He could get fired up big time."

 

The 592 points Boylen scored as a senior put him second in program history, while he still ranks in the top 10 in career assists and steals. He views his personal accomplishments at UMaine as a function of team chemistry and commitment.

 

"You don't get into this thing on your own, people help you get there," Boylen said of the Hall of Fame.

 

Boylen rattled off the names of numerous UMaine teammates with whom he had shared the experience of moving away from home and learning to be independent.

 

"I loved it there. I grew a lot there," he said.

 

Boylen praised the coaching and guidance of Chappelle and assistant coach Paul Cook, with whom he became good friends.

 

"I learned a lot from Skip. He taught me how to play and I just got better and better and better, and bigger and stronger."

 

Boylen's coaching epiphany came prior to his junior year at UMaine, while he was working at the Five-Star Basketball Camp in New York. He was doing shooting demonstrations for the station leader, future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach John Calipari.

 

He told Boylen to pay close attention to how he was leading the drills. And after the first rotation Calipari departed.

 

"He grabs the ball and throws it at me and says, "you got it from here. I'm going back to bed," Boylen said.

 

Howard Garfinkle, co-founder of the camp, later commented on Boylen's aptitude and enthusiasm for teaching the game.

 

"In that moment, it kind of hit me, this is what I want to do. This is what I'm going to do," Boylen said.

 

Boylen has been a part of three NBA championships as an assistant coach, two with the Houston Rockets (1993-94 and 1994-95) and another with the San Antonio Spurs (2013-14). His NBA career spans 16 seasons, including a two-year stint as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls (2018-20) after three seasons as their associate head coach.

 

Boylen also has made a handful of college stops as the head coach at Utah (2007-11) and as an assistant at Michigan State (1987-92 and 2005-07). His first NBA job came while at Michigan State the first time, when Boylen met with John Killelea, Chappelle's former coach at Old Town High School, a longtime NBA assistant who was working with the Rockets.

 

Boylen expressed gratitude for the support of his parents, his family and his former wife, Chris. He has enjoyed having his daughters, Ashlen, 18, and Layla, 17, along for the ride.

 

"I'm so thankful for the opportunity the University of Maine gave me."

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The 2023 UMaine Sports Hall of Fame class will be officially inducted at a banquet held at Jeff's Catering on Friday, Sept. 29. For more details on this year's class, please click here.