Apr. 1—Mike McDevitt recently retired after a highly successful run as the Saint Joseph’s College women’s basketball coach.
The Ellsworth native, who was a basketball standout at the small private school in Standish, guided the Monks’ women’s basketball program to 19 conference titles and 14 national championship appearances over a 32-year career that included two separate 16-season tenures (1987-2003; 2009-25). McDevitt’s overall record was 667-231 (.743), including one Little East Conference championship season as head coach at the University of Southern Maine (2008-09).
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The 65-year-old Cumberland resident will continue to work at Saint Joseph’s in his roles as associate athletic director and NCAA compliance administrator.
“Certainly I still love coaching and I know I’ll miss the players. I miss them already,” McDevitt said. “But at the same time, I didn’t want to look back 10, 15 years from now with regret,” about spending enough time with his family because he had continued to coach.
The school announced that Christopher Woodside will replace McDevitt as the women’s basketball coach. Woodside was an assistant coach the last four seasons.
McDevitt never had a losing season. The Monks went 21-7 in his final season, losing in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship game. He led Saint Joseph’s to the conference title in 2023-24, when the Monks finished 21-8. His 645 wins at Saint Joseph’s are a school record for women’s basketball.
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As a player, McDevitt was a four-year starter at Saint Joseph’s, scoring 1,381 points and collecting 674 rebounds. His wife, Margaret (O’Brion) McDevitt of Portland, also played at Saint Joseph’s, graduating in 1982. They married in September of 1983, the same year McDevitt began coaching as a men’s assistant under Rick Simonds at Saint Joseph’s.
Both Mike and Margaret are in the school’s athletic hall of fame.
Their children Megan, Michael and Matthew were basketball standouts at Greely High and each played in college. Megan played for her father after he returned to Saint Joseph’s. Michael played at Franklin Pierce and Matthew at Endicott College.
When it was suggested that the McDevitt name is one that is now firmly associated with Maine basketball, McDevitt said, “basketball has a special place in Maine. To be a small part of that is humbling and I’m very appreciative.”
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Also retiring at Saint Joseph’s is longtime cross country coach Tony Dann, who also was head coach and assistant coach for the men’s and women’s track and field teams. Dann was the Monks’ cross country coach for 26 seasons.
Both McDevitt and Dann officially retired their coaching positions on March 20. The school announced the retirements Tuesday.
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