A unanimous selection to Acton Boxboro's All-Time Basketball Team, Rich is the epitomy of what it takes to be successful through hard work, determination and a love of the game. From the sandlots and makeshift courts of West Acton to the hardwood floor of the Boston Garden, Rich MacLeod's impact on the basketball reputation of AB is second to none. A three year varsity starter, two time Dual County League All-Star, the stylish point guard dominated the D.C.L. It was under Rich's leadership that AB started its string of five successive D.C.L. Championships. It was not unusual for Rich to achieve double figures in points, assists and steals against any and all opponents.
The packed houses of Blanchard "Win City" Gym at the end of a close game would rise to their feet as Coach Larry McNulty would call, "Stall." This meant a Hainesesque dribbling display by Rich who would run out the clock with as much as two minutes to go as frustrated opponents would flail and foul. Rich's finest moment as a player came in his last game in the Blue and Gold. In a semi-final game at the Boston Garden against Manchester and All-American Rick Katherman (Duke), Rich scored 34 points in a phenominal display of clutch shooting and gamesmanship. It was on the same Garden floor that Coach MacLeod's persona manifested itself in his team's heroic North Final performance. As a coach, bowed but not defeated, Rich MacLeod again brought AB basketball back to it's high water mark. As the second winningest coach in AB hoop annals, Rich instilled in his players his love of the game, his work ethic, and his insistence on academic excellence and his emphasis on the well-rounded individual. Rich lives in Ayer and is sorely missed on the Charter Road campus.
