New England Basketball Hall of Fame Honors Hounds Men's Basketball Program

January 20, 2009

WORCESTER, Mass. --- The Assumption College men's basketball program, in particular, the years coached by Greyhound legendary mentors Andy Laska H69 and Joe O'Brien '57, has been selected as the New England Basketball Hall of Fame "Intercollegiate Men's Scholar-Athlete Honor Program."

The Scholar-Athlete Honor Program Award, considered to be the foremost New England Basketball Hall of Fame recognition, is presented at each honors ceremony to the intercollegiate men and women's programs which have combined excellence on-the-court with distinguished undergraduate academic achievement, and postgraduate career success.

Both programs will be honored at the Hall of Fame honors ceremony October 9, 2009 at the International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame at the University of Rhode Island. Hounds' standouts TED PAULAUSKAS '67 and DAVID HANKINS '79 are pictured to the right.

"We consider this to be the most important award given by the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. The Assumption men's basketball program embodies the best of intercollegiate athletics. Assumption faculty, administrators and alumni should be very proud of what the men's basketball program has meant to the College. It is a privilege to honor this great program," said Dan Doyle, Founder and Director of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

Under former coaches Laska and O'Brien, the Greyhounds achieved national prominence. Laska served as head coach from 1951-1967 and compiled a record of 224-92. His teams competed in 10 post-season tournaments. O'Brien served as head coach from 1967-1986, compiled a 321-195 record while his teams competed in 13 post-season tournaments.

"Assumption College has a long, proud tradition of combining an excellent educational experience with outstanding athletic programs," said Dr. Francesco Cesareo, President of Assumption College. "We are very proud to receive this award in recognition of our men's basketball program and the dedication of Andy Laska and Joe O'Brien."

The New England Basketball Hall of Fame Executive Committee has made note of the remarkable accomplishments of the players who competed under these two outstanding coaches, both as undergraduate student-athletes and in career accomplishments following graduation.

"This recognition speaks volumes to the decades of coaching success of two legendary coaches and the quality of student-athletes who have represented Assumption College on the hardwood and in their communities after graduation," said Ted Paulauskas '67, Director of Athletics. Paulauskas was a Hall of Fame performer for Laska in the mid 60s.

LASKA/OBRIEN YEARS ALUMNI: Where Are They Now?

EDUCATION

Charles ALEKSIEWICZ '65 Dir. Alumni Relations, Bancroft Sch., Worcester

Ed BALLO '63 Ret. Social Studies Supv., Old Bridge, NJ Schools

J. Brian BENESTAD '63 Professor, University of Scranton, Scranton, PA

Charlie BIBAUD '55 Ret. Teacher/Coach/Admin, Saint John's High School, Shrewsbury

Joey BOUCHARD '58 Ret. Dir., Exp. Education, U. Southern Maine, Gorham

Bob BOULE '69 Principal, Burrillville, RI High School

Bob BOURQUE '73 Teacher, Turkey Hill Middle School, Lunenburg, MA

Neal BURGESS '72 Ret. Guidance Counselor/Coach, Gardner, MA High

Roger COULOMBE '60 Ret. Headmaster, Steward School, Richmond, VA

Chris ERALI '75 Teacher/Coach, Spencer/E. Brookfield, MA School Dept.

Ron GOBA '58 Ret. Chairman, English Dept., Hingham, MA High

Ed HIPPERT '62 Teacher/Coach, Saint John's High School, Shrewsbury

Mike KEARNEY '84 Teacher/Coach, Msgr. Donovan High, Tom's River, NJ

Chris KIERNAN '65 Professor, Salve Regina University, Newport, RI

Joe LANE '60 Ret. Alumni Dir./Coach, Saint John's High Shrewsbury

Don LEMENAGER '56 Ret. Superintendent, Worcester, MA Vocational Schools

Roger LEMENAGER '57 Ret. Asst. Supt. of Schools, Martha's Vineyard, MA

Harold LEWIS '85 Project Instructor, Rebobeth Instr. Center, Decatur, GA

John MASSARO '63 Professor, Politics, S.U.N.Y., Potsdam, NY

John MOYLAN '54 Ret. Principal, DeMatha High School, Hyattsville, MD

Brian O'BRIEN '71 Ret. Asst. Principal, Burncoat High, Worcester

Bill ORMOND '56 Ret. English Teacher, Burncoat High School, Worcester

Mike PARICHUK '72 Guid. Counselor/Ret. Coach, Kittatinny High, Newton, NJ

Darryl PARKER '85 Teacher, West Side Middle School, Waterbury, CT

Bob PETERSON '66 Teacher/Coach, Lake Brantley, FL High School

Laval PROVENCHER '60 Ret. Social Coordinator, Holliston, MA High School

Ed RODRIGUES '76 Asst. Bkb. Coach, UMass Dartmouth, N. Dartmouth, MA

Scott SCHOONMAKER '86 Principal, Old Saybrook, CT High School

Dan SMALL '73 Director, Finance, Geo. Washington U., Washington, DC

Joe STRAZDES '69 Teacher, Scituate, MA High School

Ted STROJNY '71 Teacher, Wrentham, MA Public Schools

Emile TRAHAN '60 Education Consultant/Coach, Princeton, MA

John WHEELER '66 Teacher, Northbridge, MA High School

COACHING/ATHLETIC ADMINISTRATION

Fred BARAKAT '61 Ret. Associate Comm., Atlantic Coast Conference

Bill BRODERICK '62 Physical Education Director, Bayonne, NJ Public Schools

Serge DE BARI '71 Men's Bkb. Coach, Assumption College

Tom MALIN '69 Director Athletics, E. Catholic High, Manchester, CT

Tom O'CONNOR '68 Asst. V-P, Athl. Dir., George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Ted PAULAUSKAS '66 Director of Athletics, Assumption College

Tim SHEA '72 Director of Athletics/Wbkb Coach, Salem State College

MEDICAL/DENTAL

Gill BASTIEN '64 Dentist, Marshfield, MA

Chris DOOLEY '75 Physician, Emergency Physicians of Pittsburgh, PA

Dick GRAY '61 Dental Surgeon, North Palm Beach, FL

Steve HIRO '67 General Surgery, Institute of Montana, Missoula, MN

John JENKINS '64 Cardiologist/Surgeon, South Bend, IN

Roland LA FERTE '57 Ret. Urologist-Surgeon, Mashpee, MA

Fred SCOLLAN '57 Dental Surgeon, LaCrosse, WI

Steve WARNER '64 Orthodontist, Sturbridge, MA

CONSTRUCTION/MANUFACTURING

Tom ARSENAULT '73 Owner, Renovations Plus, Hunterville, NC

Jim BAROODY '81 Manager, W.L. Gore and Associates, Salem, NH

Mike BOYLAN '73 V-P, Golf Promotions, Wilson Co., Chicago, IL

Paul DEL PIZZO '85 Owner, Del Pizzo Construction Co., Nashua, NH

Tom MACK '71 President, FMK Manufacturing, Shrewsbury, MA

Normand MAROIS '57 Ret. President, Marois Bros. Construction, Millbury, MA

Jim MOORE '86 World Controller, Allegro Micro Systems, Worcester, MA

Bill PEDERSON '72 Sr. Cost Accountant, Integra Radionics, Burlington, MA

Ken ROWE '84 Project Consultant, Falcon Products, Fort Mill, SC

Jim SMALL '72 Owner, Small Carpentry Co., Leominster, MA

Steve WAITEKUS '83 Production Supervisor, Raytheon Co., Andover, MA

Dave WALSH '79 Regional Manager, Bassett Mirror Co., East Greenwich, RI

Tom WURM '79 Program Manager, Dynamics Research, Andover, MA

GOVERNMENT CITY/TOWN SERVICES/LAW ENFORCEMENT

Tom CONNOLLY '77 Dir. Communications, District Attys. Office, Worcester

Tim COONEY '62 Executive Director, National Safety Council, Worcester

Mike GRAHAM '66 Ret. Attorney General, State of New Jersey, Verona, NJ

Joe HANLON '66 Ret. Agent, Federal Bureau of Inv., Washington, DC

Eric INAUEN '69 Ret. Deputy Fire Chief, N. Hudson Fire Dept., Bergen, NJ

Jake JONES '71 Director, Commerce and Economics, Long Branch, NJ

Henry KOCH '73 Monmouth County Clerk, Manalpan, NJ

Jim MONAHAN '65 Ret. Agent, U.S. Secret Service, Washington, DC

Rich TUCKER '78 Social Worker, Comm. of Massachusetts, S. Yarmouth

Mike WOOD '82 Computer Tech., Dept. of Public Health, Swampscott, MA

PROFESSIONAL/BUSINESS SERVICE

Dave AUBUCHON '63 Supervisor, W.E. Aubuchon Hardware, Westminster, MA

Bob AUSTIN '72 Exec. Mgr., Workforce Technical Training, Waterford, CT

Paul BAKER '84 Real Estate Agent, Paul Baker Appraisals, Northbridge,

Dave BENOIT '76 Sr. Consultant, USI Insurance, New York, NY

Dick BILL '62 Ret. President, Servinational Logistics, Dublin, OH

Tom BILL '69 District Business Mgr., Nexar Technologies, Poynette, WI

John BOUCHER '86 Senior V-P, Oracle USA Software, Burlington, MA

Paul CHABOT '59 Senior Buyer, Capital Enterprise, Maynard, MA

Norm DESMARAIS '59 Ret. V-P, American Management Systems, Manassas, VA

John DRISCOLL '67 V-P, EMS, Inc., Wallingford, CT

John GAUDETTE '69 Dir., Human Rel., USF Surface Preparation, Neunan, GA

Mike KILRAIN '82 Dir. of Business Dev., SAS Programmers, Reston, VA

Gerry MARTIN '80 V-P, Polar Beverage Co., Worcester, MA

Dick MC GRATH '59 President, Harvest Management, Worcester, MA

Denis RICHARD '75 Self-employed insurance broker, Worcester, MA

John RYAN '81 Owner, Alphagraphics, Waltham, MA

Jeff SCOTT '74 Insurance Underwriter, Bay Shore, NY

Gary SERGO '76 Software Engineer, Automation Group, Green Springs, FL

Cliff SMITH '73 Field Rep., Federal Express, Worcester, MA

Joe SWEENEY '59 Ret. V-P, J.M. Layton Insurance, Meriden, CT

FINANCIAL SERVICES/BANKING

Paul BRENNAN '75 V-P, Prudential Douglas Elliman, Bridgehampton, NY

Dave CONROY '83 Global Head of Trade, CitiGroup, New York, NY

Matt DUNN '89 Marketing V-P, Franchise Mortgage Acct., West Boylston

Brian FRAWLEY '75 Associate Consultant, Hay Group, Boston, MA

John GROCHOWALSKI '75 V-P, Sunguard Planning, Westboro, MA

David HANKINS '80 V-P, Sun's Eastern Reg'l. Banking Group, Tom's River, NJ

Bill HATTEN '77 Director, Asst Management, CitiStreet, Quincy, MA

Vin HOFFMAN '77 Manager, Ropes & Gruy, Boston, MA

Jake KOJALO '67 Executive V-P, River Bank, North Andover, MA

Joe MANNING '83 Director, Conv. Sales, Merrill-Lynch, New York, NY

Jeff MILLER '79 Chief Financial Officer, CFRE Int'l., New Bedford, MA

Kevin NOLAN '85 V-P, O'Brien & Shepard, Englewood, NJ

Rick O'BRIEN '70 Senior V-P, Webster Bank, Waterbury, CT

Mike PAPALE '83 President/Owner, MAP Associates, Wallingford, CT

Wayne SULLIVAN '84 Owner, Sullivan Financial Service, Marshfield, MA

John THOMPSON '57 Certified Public Accountant, Portland, OR

Bill WURM '77 Systems Manager, Bank of America, Johnston, RI

RELIGIOUS VOCATION

George RIDICK '67 Pastor, Saint Catherine of Sweden Parish, Worcester

SALES/PROMOTIONS/COMMUNICATIONS

Jim BEST '88 Field Rep., KangaROO Crossing, Worcester, MA

Neil BOYLE '81 Sales Manager, Try-Angle Foods, Norwell, MA

Dennis HENDERSON '82 Director Sales/Supply, BigBand Networks, Westboro, MA

Matt LEYDEN '80 Sales Manager, Medtronic, East Greenwich, RI

Larry MEHALL '80 Managing Dir., EDS Avaya Global Systems, Coppell, TX

John MILLER '85 V-P, Sales, Maximum Throughput, North Andover, MA

Gary O'LEARY '80 Sales Executive, Control Data, Warwick, RI

Kevin O'NEILL '81 Sales Director, Bell South Business Serv., Jacksonville, FL

John PICCINI '82 Area Sales Manager, General Electric, Horsham, PA

LEGAL SERVICES

Carlin PHILLIPS '87 Attorney, Phillips & Garcia Associates, N. Dartmouth, MA