Ben Teer, a former Division 1 player at IONA College and Division 2 scholarship player at Alaska Fairbanks University, and the first and only player in Washington Academy history to score 1,000 points and win in 2010 a Class C Basketball State Championship, spent three hours Saturday afternoon, March 18 at Boothbay Region High School teaching nine local junior high basketball players the finer points of the sport.

The players, members of coach Tanner Grover’s travel team, were shown dribbling and footwork skills, as well as shooting and passing, by Teer, who started Teer Basketball Training in 2015, according to his website.

Teer finished out his career at University of Maine at Machias where he led the Clippers to back-to-back national playoff appearances and their first Conference Championship in over 20 years, being named the Conference MVP, All-Conference, and All American Player.

Teer has worked with over 20 Miss Maine and Mr. Maine nominees, 100-plus college players and 200-plus all-conference high school players and has grown Teer Basketball Training in Maine’s largest training brand.

The travel team roster includes Aiden Jewett, Aiden Locke, Thomas Hennessey, Ethan Clark, Rick Wyatt-Jones, Chase Licursi, Cale Rogers, Les White and Peyton Barter.

Grover said, “We began our travel team season with practices over February break. The season itself is short, but it's a lot of basketball. In about a month's time we will have played 15 games and all against larger schools such as Waterville, Bath, Camden Hills, Gardiner and Medomak Valley.  It's been a great experience for these kids to step outside of their comfort zone of the Busline League and really challenge themselves. And when the opportunity to bring in a guy the caliber of Ben Teer arose, that's something we couldn't pass up. It's not every day that kids get a chance to work with an NBA-level trainer.

“Also I can't thank Allan Crocker and Dave Benner enough for their efforts in getting us gym time at the high school. With limited gym availability, it's been a real challenge as there are multiple area travel teams all looking to get court time. Allan and Dave have been awesome supporters.”