3 former Maine high school stars make college basketball choices

Several former Maine high school boys basketball stars have announced new hardwood destinations in recent days, including 2023 Varsity Maine Player of the Year Will Davies, who is transferring from Division II St. Anselm College to America East power Vermont after being the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year.

Davies, a 6-foot-4 point guard, led St. Anslem to a 25-8 record, the NE-10 championship and two NCAA Division II tournament wins while averaging 13.7 points and 7.1 assists.

Former Edward Little standout Diing Maiwen, a 6-6 wing, made his January commitment to Division I Farleigh Dickinson official last week when the team announced his signing on social media. Also, 2026 Mr. Maine Basketball Nolan Ames of Camden Hills is expected to sign with Division II Bentley on Friday after announcing his commitment earlier this month.

As a senior at Thornton Academy, Davies led Class AA South in scoring, averaging 19.7 points while also posting 7.1 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game playing for his father, Bob. Davies did a postgraduate year at St. Thomas More in Connecticut and had a solid freshman season at St. Anselm, averaging 5.6 points while making two starts and appearing in 30 games.

This past season, Davies moved into a starring role. In addition to being his conference’s player of the year, he was also named the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association East Region Player of the Year.

Davies entered the transfer portal in March. On April 22, St. Anselm announced its intention to transition to the Division III NEWMAC Conference in 2027-28. Vermont is coming off a 22-12 season that ended with a loss to UMBC in the America East championship game.

Maiwen was a Varsity Maine All-State selection in 2025 after averaging 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in his senior season at Edward Little. He reclassified to the Class of 2026 and spent this past season at Knox School on Long Island in New York, earning co-player of the year honors in the Power 5 AAA conference.

Ames, a 6-2 guard, was named the Varsity Maine Player of the Year in 2026 after averaging 26.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists while leading Camden Hills to the Class A North title and scoring 30 points in a state final loss to Portland. Ames originally committed to play at Colby College but announced that he was going to Bentley on April 16, about three weeks after former Colby coach Sam Rutigliano left the Waterville school to become an assistant coach at Kansas State.