Foxcroft names basketball coach

By Ernie Clark
Bangor Daily News
    DOVER-FOXCROFT — Tyler Erickson was the only one of six siblings in his family not to have attended Foxcroft Academy.
    But now the Abbot resident and graduate of Piscataquis Community High School in Guilford will get the chance to coach there after being named to lead the Ponies’ boys varsity basketball program.

    Erickson, the boys varsity coach at Greenville High School for the last four years, replaces Dave Carey, who resigned after the 2014-15 season. Carey’s teams compiled a 133-116 record in 13 seasons and reached the 2005 Eastern Maine Class B championship game.
    The Ponies made trips to the regional semifinals in 2003, 2004, 2010 (Class C) and 2013.
    “Right now I’d say it’s a little bittersweet,” said the 28-year-old Erickson, whose father played basketball at Foxcroft in the early 1970s and whose wife works at Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft.
    “I’m obviously excited for the challenge of going up in class but I had a great experience in Greenville and it’s kind of hard to leave that behind. But looking forward this is a step up for me and I think it will be a better fit for me and my family.”
    Erickson guided Greenville to a 45-31 record during his tenure, with the Lakers qualifying for postseason play in Western Maine Class D each of his four seasons.
    Greenville had its only sub-.500 finish under Erickson during the 2014-15 season, a 7-11 mark good for 10th place in Western D followed by a preliminary-round loss at No. 7 Vinalhaven.
    Erickson played guard at PCHS under current Pirates’ coach Jamie Russell before graduating in 2004. He then played for two seasons at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.
    Erickson broke into coaching as a volunteer varsity assistant basketball at PCHS for two seasons and also was the Piscataquis Community Middle School boys “A” team coach during the 2010-11 campaign before accepting the job at Greenville.
    Foxcroft finished 10th in the final 2015 Eastern B Heal point ratings with a 9-9 record before falling to No. 7 Oceanside in the preliminary round.
    Foxcroft’s roster next winter will be led by forward Hunter Smith, the reigning Big East Conference Player of the Year, who will be a senior in the fall. “You can build a team around Hunter Smith, and it seems like there’s some good young talent there,” said Erickson.