PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The University of Maine at Presque Isle has hired Dan Kane to serve as the director of the Owls’ athletics program. He also has been named as the head men’s basketball coach, filling both positions vacated when Mike Holmes accepted the athletic director position at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.
“I am very pleased that the university is bringing Dan on board,” UMPI President Ray Rice said in a statement. “He brings a decade of coaching, administrative and recruitment experience and his outstanding work in national-level recruitment, fundraising initiatives and innovative admissions activities focusing on accepted scholar-athletes will prove to be valuable assets for many years to come.
“I look forward to Dan’s ability to build upon the excellent foundation and significant successes that Coach Holmes brought to men’s basketball,” Rice added.
Kane, a native of Bradford, spent last season as the lead assistant men’s basketball coach at Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut. From 2012 to 2015, Dan was a part of the University of Maine at Farmington coaching staff, including being named the associate head coach for the 2015-16 season.
While at UMF, Kane spent two years as the admissions special projects assistant, a position that allowed him to work closely with all athletic programs and serve as the athletics liaison to the admissions office. As a student-athlete at Husson University in Bangor, Kane spent two years as the assistant sports information director, where he collaborated not only with the coaches on campus, but also with athletic directors, sports information directors and coaches from other campuses as well.
Kane earned his first degree, an associate’s degree in accounting, from the Husson in 2009. He then went on to UMF, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in community health education/school health in 2012. He then accepted the position at UMF as the assistant basketball coach and decided to continue his education. In 2014, he earned his master’s degree in kinesiology and physical education from the University of Maine.
Kane is no stranger to success, having played one season at Husson before transferring and finishing his career at UMF. During his playing career, Dan participated in the NCAA Division III national tournament twice (2009 and 2010), and was a part of multiple North Atlantic Conference championship teams.
As a team captain in 2012, Kane was named UMF’s Scholar Athlete of the Year and was presented the UMF Beaver Award, which is given annually to a student-athlete who embodies sportsmanship, school spirit, the drive for excellence, and Beaver pride.
Kane was among the nation’s leaders in assists per game as he averaged 5.6 assists his senior season, while scoring 5.8 points and collecting 3.3 rebounds a game while leading the Beavers to a 16-11 record.
“I feel fortunate to return to Maine and have the opportunity to continue my career at such a special place as the University of Maine at Presque Isle,” said Kane in the statement. “It is an exciting time for the university since the recent move to the American Collegiate Athletic Association.
“I look forward to not only building on the recent success of the men’s basketball program, but also helping the athletics program reach its great potential.”
Kane begins his duties on campus on June 1.
