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Kingsbury can pass any test

By DALE DUFF, Special to the Telegram Saturday, December 22, 2012

EASTON — Let´s face it. Mondays are tough for most everyone.

For Dillon Kingsbury, this past Monday was tough -- times two.

In the morning, Kingsbury had to take a final exam in his anatomy and physiology class at UMaine-Presque Isle. At 4 p.m., Coach Kingsbury boarded the school bus with his Easton Bears boys´ basketball team for a game in Fort Fairfield. The evening ended with a loss when a Fort Fairfield player hit two free throws with less than a second to play.

Welcome to the wintertime world of the youngest varsity basketball coach in Maine.

Kingsbury turned 20 in May and is in his second season as Easton´s varsity coach. He´s also a full-time student in his junior year at UMPI, working toward a degree in physical education.

"The folks at UMPI know my situation, they´ve been very flexible," says Kingsbury. "It´s not as bad as you think. I still have time to do homework, scout teams, prepare for practices and games. Amazingly, I have a little down time. I manage my time well."

So matter-of-fact about it all. So confident. So mature beyond his years.

And that is exactly what Easton school officials noticed when they hired him in the summer of 2011. "He´s fresh, eager, just what Easton needed," says longtime coach and athletic administrator Steve Shaw. "He knows the game. I see a lot of veteran coach aspects in him .... Dillon has that ability to command attention."

Kingsbury showed that ability in his first meeting with Easton players last year.

"We had a preseason meeting and I said, ´Look, I know I´m young. You know I´m young and so we´ve got a couple of options. We can take the first three weeks and you can kind of feel me out. Or, you can trust me that I know what I´m doing and we can hit the ground running from day one.´"

The players chose that second option. The Bears went 14-4, and the seniors got their first taste of a tournament game on the Bangor Auditorium floor.

Kingsbury played point guard in high school for Presque Isle. He says his former coach, Tim Prescott, was and will always be a great mentor.

As for his first taste of the coaching bug, Kingsbury says his younger sister Krystal, now a sophomore starter for Presque Isle, may be responsible. "She was in the eighth grade and someone asked if I wanted to coach her travel team. I did, and it kind of sparked the fire. I thought, geez, this is something I´d like to pursue. It kind of snowballed from there."

Despite that last second loss Monday night, Kingsbury´s team is off to a 3-1 start. His college record: a 3.3 GPA. Not a bad first semester.

DEER ISLE-STONINGTON´S Sam Grindle won the Class C state individual golf title in the fall. This week he became a 1,000-point scorer in basketball. The Mariners are off to a 4-1 start. The one loss came in overtime against Jonesport-Beals.

THE GREATER HOULTON Christian Academy girls´ basketball team has eight players, and three are eighth-graders. The boys team also has eight players, and two are eighth-graders.