Thomas Nelson "Skip" Chappelle is an American former college basketball player and coach at the University of Maine.

Playing career

After starring at Old Town High School and leading the school to the 1957 Maine state championship, Chappelle spent a

post-graduate year A postgraduate (PG) year is an extra year of secondary coursework at a boarding school following high school graduation, but before entering college. It is a gap year option intended for students who either have not applied or were not admitted ...

at Maine Central Institute where he was part of its New England Prep Championship squad. He played his college basketball with Maine where he was a three-time All- Yankee Conference selection, and the school's first player to be selected as a Little All-American. He was the first Black Bear men's basketball player to have his jersey number retired by the university. Chappelle was selected by the St. Louis Hawks in the 11th round of the

1962 NBA draft The 1962 NBA draft was the 16th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 26, 1962, before the 1962–63 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball playe ...

, becoming the school's first-ever NBA Draft selection. He tried out for the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

in 1962, but left the team to return to his job as a teacher and coach in Fort Fairfield, Maine.

Coaching career

Chappelle returned to Maine in 1968 as assistant varsity and head freshman basketball coach. He took over as head coach in 1971, guiding the Black Bears to a 217–226 record over 17 seasons. During that time, Chappelle coached seven future NBA draft selections, including Rufus Harris, Jeff Cross and Rick Carlisle. He also coached Maine's golf team.

Head coaching record

Post-coaching career

After leaving Maine, Chappelle was the director of community relations for the '' Bangor Daily News'' and director of the Paul Bunyan Amateur Golf Tournament (formerly the ''Bangor Daily News'' Amateur Golf Tournament).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chappelle, Skip Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American men's basketball players American newspaper people Basketball coaches from Maine Basketball players from Maine Maine Black Bears men's golf coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Maine Black Bears men's basketball coaches Maine Black Bears men's basketball players Maine Central Institute alumni People from Old Town, Maine St. Louis Hawks draft picks High school basketball coaches in Maine