Ken Lynch was the backcourt mate of Brett Brown’s on the South Portland High School’s legendary 1979 basketball team; they were a formidable duo. Ken was a first team All-State selection his senior year,1979, as his team wrapped up a Gold Ball 21-0 season.
However, Ken’s career didn’t start or stop with high school. His dad, Ray Lynch was a high school coach in New Jersey until the family moved to Maine where Ray secured a coaching job at Bonny Eagle High School. Ken started and played his freshman and sophomore seasons for his dad before transferring to South Portland High School to play for Bob Brown.
Ken says, “After my mother and father, Coach Brown is the most influential person in my life. And that is after only two years playing for him!”
“The entire experience of the 78-79 season was the highlight of my high school career, great teammates, a state championship, undefeated, Coach Brown, the fans, our cheerleaders, all the awards and recognition, both individually and as a team; it was really a perfect season. “
There are some personal awards that stand out to Ken. First, is winning the George Vinal trophy in the 78-79 season. And then he also was named to the All-SMAA and Maine All-State teams.
“I was proud of the Vinal Trophy and even more proud because my father had won the same award playing in 1946 for Deering High School. We are the only father and son to accomplish that. I was also recognized as the best defensive player in the State, something I took a lot of pride in particularly because I also led our team in scoring that year.’
Ken had several athletic scholarships to choose from, but decided on accepting a full scholarship to Division Two Assumption College. Ken was the starting point guard for two years, scoring 480 points, and was named Academic All American his sophomore year. After two years, Ken wanted to come back to Maine and transferred to Bowdoin College, he averaged 18 points per game and was voted to the All -Northeastern team with his teammate and fellow Hall of Famer, Chris Jerome. Ken shot an astounding 57 % from the floor, a record for a guard that still stands today.
Ken graduated with a double major economics and math while maintaining Dean’s List status.
Ken lives in Scarborough and has two children, son Bryan, 24, who lives in San Francisco and works in finance, and daughter Lauren,22, who is a student at New York University.