CASTLETON, Vt. – Current Castleton men's basketball coach Paul Culpo and former Spartan standout Mark Comstock will be inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame on August 8 in Worcester, Mass. 

Culpo and Comstock join other honorees representing a variety of categories, ranging from high school players and teams to senior adults who still play the game at age 65 and over. The New England Basketball Hall of Fame dinner has become one of the largest sports dinners in America with nearly 1,900 people expected for the event this year. 

Culpo has completed six seasons at Castleton and has coached for more than 20 years in all divisions of basketball following his graduation from St. Michael's College in 1993. He spent time as an assistant at UMass-Boston under legendary coach Charlie Titus, as well as St. Michael's and UMass-Amherst before securing his first college head coaching position at Hartwick. At Hartwick, he led the Hawks to an ECAC Upstate Title in 2009 before taking over at Castleton. He has never had a losing season at Castleton, reaching the conference championship three times and leading the program to its first North Atlantic Conference Championship in 2012. Culpo is also the program's all-time winningest coach with a 101-68 record.

This year he also has the privilege to go into the Hall of Fame with members of his 1988 Saint Joseph's high school basketball team. The squad was the first boys' team from the city of Pittsfield to win a Massachusetts state title and Culpo left as the program's all-time leader in assists and three-point field goals. 

Comstock, meanwhile, graduated in 2013 as one of the most accomplished players in Castleton program history. A three-time All-Conference selection, Comstock was named the 2011-12 NAC Player of the Year while leading the Spartans to their first NAC Championship and just the program's second NCAA Tournament appearance. He concluded his career second all-time in games played (110) and free throws made (389) while scoring 1,677 points, good for third in program history. Comstock also grabbed 611 rebounds from his forward position, along with 199 assists, and 123 steals while shooting 51.8 percent from the floor and 77.6 percent from the free throw line. Following his senior season he was the first Spartan to earn All-Region honors from D3hoops.com. 

"I'm thrilled for Mark," said Culpo. "He's the best player I've coached at Castleton and the program wouldn't be where it is now if not for the impact he had while he played here." 

The August 8th ceremony will be preceded on August 7th with activities at the iconic St. Mary's High School Gymnasium in Worcester. The August 7th program will include the inaugural New England Basketball Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete Game between high school scholar-athlete teams representing Boston and Worcester. On August 8th, the festivities will include a series of panel discussions featuring the likes of Hall of Famer's David Thompson and Dave Cowens, and a special ceremony in celebration of the History of Women's Basketball in New England.