The Philadelphia basketball scene will never be the same after Tuesday, as a pair of city legends saw their coaching tenures end yesterday. Their schools, Philly, and college basketball are worse for it, and that’s the case no matter how much some will prefer to focus on the recent bottom line.
We knew coming into the day that one city institution could be coaching his final game. Temple and Fran Dunphy faced Belmont in the play-in round of the NCAA Tournament Tuesday night, and whenever the Owls lost in the Big Dance was going to be his farewell, after the school announced before the season that this would be his last. What we didn’t know is that in the morning Saint Joseph’s would also dismiss Phil Martelli, ending a 24-year run from one of the most colorful coaches in the sport.
Dunphy’s NCAA tourney came to an early end, as a spirited game of runs between two sentimental favorites saw the Bruins make the last move. Trailing by five with 11 minutes left in the second half, Belmont scored nine quick points in just over two minutes, and would control the rest of the way for an 81-70 victory.
The win was the Bruins’ first-ever in the NCAA tourney, and their more-than competitive performance verified that the selection committee should have no fear of taking teams like them and made a perfectly good choice in putting Belmont in this year’s field, when recent committees of the last five years almost certainly would’ve left it out. The defeat for Dunphy also was a win for Rick Byrd, as the Bruins coach with more than 800 wins got his first victory in the tourney in his career with more than 800 victories.
As much fun as it is to see Belmont in the tourney as an at-large selection and now advancing, it’s sad to see Dunphy’s run finished. Any NCAA Division I coach who also teaches a class is the type of person this sport needs in the worst way right now. And in literally every story you could read about him, you wouldn’t find another coach or person involved in the sport saying a bad word about him.
Much the same would be said about Martelli, the quotable coach at Saint Joseph’s-he came on the scene his first year boldly calling out none other than Lute Olson-since 1995-96. An institution at the school since coming as an assistant in 1985, he essentially became the Hawks, leading an underdog program to seven NCAA Tournament appearances, including a 30-2 record, No. 1 ranking and Elite Eight appearance in 2003-04, as well as a Sweet 16 in 1997 and 28 wins as recently as 2015-16.
Martelli was also one of the funniest coaches in the business-his Hawk Talk coaches show he took part in for many years, with the noted bracketologist and St. Joe’s longtime communications director Joe Lunardi as the host, was a riot. He also was active in Coaches vs. Cancer and on NCAA committees, and was one of the few unafraid to take on sticky topics such as the discussion on transfers and rule changes. He is held in high regard by many and, like a coach like Tony Shaver at William & Mary (another puzzling firing just last week), it was expected he had built up enough equity to go out on his own terms, even as this year was a frustrating one for the Hawks.
(We’ll take a moment to acknowledge that this is undoubtedly where some will point out the story earlier this decade between Martelli and former player Todd O’Brien, where Martelli would not approve O’Brien’s graduate transfer and he was barbecued by some for it. We’ve likely never come to a conclusion on the story because Martelli has never given his side of the story on it. It is certainly possible that the St. Joe’s coach didn’t handle the situation well, but we don’t know for certain. With his track record in the sport, he deserved at least some benefit of the doubt, as opposed to being automatically assumed a villain as it seemed some have.)
Fans or administrators can justify the changes at both schools if they like on the bases of wins and losses. If it’s really about coaches being leaders, though, then both schools are almost certainly going to lose greatly.
It’s also a time to call out the administration and leaders at schools like these. At a time when college basketball is still dealing with the FBI investigation and student-athlete well-being is a popular buzzword, continuing to fire respected coaches shows administrators’ and schools’ main priorities are still crystal clear. It’s nice to graduate players, be a good citizen and a respected part of a community. But most schools in a second would gladly trade those attributes for a few more wins.
Side Dishes:
- The NCAA Tournament tipped off Tuesday night with the first game in Dayton, and it was a quality one. Prairie View A&M got the jump early with some uncharacteristically red-hot shooting from outside, and the Panthers were in control well into the second half. Fairleigh Dickinson’s backcourt of Darnell Edge and Jahlil Jenkins put on a show, though, and the Knights came back for an 82-76 win for their first-ever NCAA tourney win and denying the Panthers the same. Edge scored a career-high 33 points, including seven three-pointers, and Jenkins added 22 with plenty of flash in the second half as the Knights made their move. FDU now gets West top seed Gonzaga on Thursday, but it comes in with momentum having won nine straight. A big salute to Edge, who is one of the seemingly endangered species of Northeast Conference players who stayed at his school all four years, and he’s been rewarded with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and now one of the great NCAA tourney performances in school history, close with Elijah Allen’s 43-point explosion against Connecticut in 1998.
- A buy opening night of the National Invitation Tournament saw a good share of close games, though just one result that was so much as a moderate surprise. Lipscomb went on the road to Davidson and came away with an 89-81 win, showing the form that had the Bisons as a real at-large candidate for the NCAAs until slipping up some late in the season. What a night for the Nashville boulevard rivals-both Belmont and Lipscomb come up with impressive showings in their postseason openers. Lipscomb now will take on UNC Greensboro, as the top-seeded Spartans played well in an 84-69 win over Campbell. The game ended the career of the Camels’ Chris Clemons, who scored 32 points and passed the great Lionel Simmons of La Salle for third on the NCAA Division I scoring list, finishing with 3,225 points. Wow.
- Other NIT results saw Texas hitting 15 three-pointers to hold off South Dakota State 79-73, with the great career of Mike Daum also ending with him scoring 25 points, finishing seventh on the all-time D-I list with 3,067 points. Also, Clemson outlasted a game effort from Wright State to win 75-69, and North Carolina State held off Hofstra 84-78 in front of a great sellout crowd at ol’ Reynolds Coliseum. Salute to the Wolfpack fans who showed up for this one.
- The first game of the College Basketball Invitational is in. Utah Valley topped Cal State Northridge 92-84, getting to at least the quarterfinals in the CBI for the third straight year. The Wolverines quietly have had an excellent year and continue to extend their NCAA Division I school record of 25 wins.
- Marshall and Robert Morris advanced narrowly in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The Thundering Herd held of a late charge by IUPUI for a 78-73 win. C.J. Burks (25) and Jon Elmore (22) combined for 47 points, and certainly Marshall has a chance to go deep in the CIT. Robert Morris also got by Cornell 98-89 in overtime as Josh Williams scored 36 points, countering a huge game by Jimmy Boeheim, who scored 31. Good night for the Northeast Conference with a pair of postseason wins.
Tonight’s Menu:
- The NCAA Tournament continues with the second round of play-in games and a pair of Wednesday regulars the last two years. North Dakota State and North Carolina Central meet in the first (6:40 p.m. Eastern, truTV), matching a pair of surprise tourney winners, NDSU from the Summit League and the Eagles in the MEAC. The second game has a pair of contested at-large selections and enigmatic teams with Arizona State meeting St. John’s (9:10 p.m., truTV). Both N.C. Central and Arizona State played in the Wednesday night opening round games last year.
- The remaining six NIT first round games take place. Among the good ones: Harvard is at Georgetown (7 p.m., ESPN2) in an excellent matchup; Toledo takes on Xavier in an in-state battle, and Gregg Marshall returns with Wichita State to his home state to face Furman. The Shockers were playing well late in the season and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them go on a run in this tourney.
- The remaining seven first round games in the College Basketball Invitational take place. The best one might be Grand Canyon going across the country to take on West Virginia. Stony Brook at South Florida also is a solid matchup, and watch Central Michigan’s freewheeling offense go against DePaul’s beef.
- Four more games in the College Insider tourney, including Wisconsin-Green Bay at East Tennessee State plus Presbyterian making its first-ever Division I tourney trip when it goes to Seattle.
Have a terrific Wednesday.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
