Former University of Maine guard Anne Simon was named an America East scholar athlete this past season. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

For the seventh time in the last 10 years, the University of Maine women’s basketball team was among the top academic programs in the nation, earning the third-highest grade point average in Division I for a spot on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Honor Roll.

The Black Bears’ cumulative GPA for the 2023-24 academic year was 3.856 on a 4.0 scale.

This was the fourth consecutive year the Black Bears finished in the top five for overall team GPA. Maine led the nation in 2020-21 with a 3.9 cumulative GPA.

“It’s something that we talk about when we’re recruiting kids. Not necessarily the GPA, but the emphasis we put on academics and how our standard is we want to be excellent in everything we do,” Maine Coach Amy Vachon said. “On the court. In the classroom. In the community. Our girls really take it to heart. They’re really competitive, and they want to do well in everything they do.”

Guard Anne Simon, who led Maine to the American East Conference title and a spot in the NCAA Division I tournament last season, was named the conference’s scholar athlete for women’s basketball. A native of Luxembourg, Simon signed a professional contract with Lupe Basket of the Italian Serie A1 in May. Simon was the America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

Vachon said her team is as competitive in the classroom as it is on the court.

“It’s just the expectation. It’s the standard. No team wants to be the team that doesn’t do it. It’s like winning a championship. No team wants to be the one to not make the NCAA tournament,” Vachon said. “It’s a pretty high standard. To get the GPA our young women are getting is pretty ridiculous.”

MUFFET MCGRAW, who coached the Notre Dame women’s basketball team to a pair of national titles, will be the keynote speaker at the fourth annual Pass it Forward women’s coaching clinic on Sept. 14 at Cony High in Augusta.

“We reached out to her and explained what we’ve been doing the last four years. She’s just been great. She’s really excited to come,” said Vachon, who has helped organize the clinic since its inception four years ago. “Anyone who knows her knows she’s a huge advocate for women coaching young girls and having girls coached by people who look like them. When we told her what we’re doing, she was enthusiastic about coming up. We’re so excited to have her.”

The clinic run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, McGraw won 936 games as a college coach, including 848 in her 33 seasons at Notre Dame. Her Fighting Irish won the national championship in 2001 and 2018.

Former Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw will be the keynote speaker at the Pass it Forward women’s coaching clinic on Sept. 14 at Cony High in Augusta. AP photo

The morning session is open to female coaches in any sport, while the afternoon session will focus on basketball, Vachon said. Along with McGraw, morning speakers include Adrienne Shibles, the former women’s basketball coach at Bowdoin and Dartmouth. Now the associate director of athletics at Bates, Shibles will talk about building team culture and chemistry. Also speaking will be Dr. Anne Beethe, the director of Colby’s peak performance program, who will discuss holistic development of student athletes.

The cost is $40 to attend the morning session, $80 for the full day (including lunch), and $25 for female college student athletes. Visit https://form.jotform.com/211436688699171 to register.

GRACE WILSON, a freshman goalie with the Black Bears women’s soccer team, was selected to Australia’s U20 national team for the upcoming 2024 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup tournament in Columbia.

A native of Adelaide, Australia, Wilson and Australia are in Group A for the tournament and begin play Aug. 31 against host Columbia. They’ll take on Mexico on Sept. 3, and Cameroon Sept. 6. The Round of 16 begins Sept. 11, with the finals Sept. 22.

Wilson was a member of the Young Matilda’s team that won the bronze medal at the 2024 Asian Cup to qualify for the U20 Women’s World Cup.

Former University of Maine women’s basketball player Tanesha Sutton is returning to Orono to join the program’s coaching staff. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

TANESHA SUTTON, a two-time America East women’s basketball all-conference selection at Maine, has returned to Orono as an assistant coach on Vachon’s staff.

A 2018 graduate of Maine, Sutton played three seasons with the Black Bears after transferring from Duquesne. Sutton was a key player on the 2018 team that won the America East title and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

“Tanesha was, honestly, one of my first favorite recruits when I saw her play. We had to have her. I was thrilled when she made the decision to come here, and she proved it on the court. She was such a hard worker,” Vachon said. “We’re just ecstatic to have her here.”

Sutton averaged 11.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 98 career games at Maine. Sutton currently ranked 21st on Maine’s all-time scoring list with 1,124 points and 20th in assists with 268. Following her college career, Sutton played professionally for three seasons in Sweden, Romania, and Portugal. Sutton began her coaching career as an assistant coach at the Community College of Philadelphia in 2020.