PHILADELPHIA (AP) – John Chaney’s raspy, thriving voice drowned out the gym when he scolded Temple’s players over a turnover – on top of his basketball sins – or inferior effort. His voice was loudest when it came to choosing unpopular fights, which expressed NCAA policies, which he said discriminated against black athletes. And it could be ominous if Chaney lets his own sense of justice be undermined by fiery confrontations that have threatened to undermine his role as a father figure to many of his less privileged players.
Chaney, intricate, cranky, fast with a wink, was an imposing presence on the track and a court jester against it as he built the owls in rough North Philadelphia into one of the toughest teams in the country.
“He wrapped his arms around you and made you a part of his family,” said Chaney’s successor, Fran Dunphy.
Chaney died Friday, just eight days after his 89th birthday, after a brief, unspecified illness.
Chaney led Temple to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances over 24 seasons, including five NCAA regional finals. Chaney has 741 wins as a university coach. He was named National Coach of the Year twice and his teams at Temple won six Atlantic 10 conference titles. He led Cheyney, in suburban Philadelphia, to the 1978 Division II National Championships.
When Chaney retired in 2006, the pit had disappeared, the dark, deep-set eyes were hidden behind sunglasses and the extraordinary personality muffled, “Excuse me as I disappear,” he said.
He became a de facto father to dozens of players, many of whom came to the temple after broken homes, violent education and bad schools. He often said that his main goal was simply to give poor children a chance to get an education. He said the SAT was culturally biased and that he had joined Georgetown’s John Thompson – another giant in the black coaching community, who died in August – to challenge the NCAA academic requirements, which apparently singled out youth from a poor, disadvantaged background. .
Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie, perhaps two of Chaney’s best players, were recruits from Prop 48 who spent their temple years in a successful NBA career. McKie is now Temple’s coach and relies on his mentor when he had to shape the program.
“Coach Chaney was like a father to me,” McKie said. “He not only taught me, but also all his players more than just how to be successful in basketball. He taught us life lessons to make us better individuals of the court. I owe him so much. He made me the man I am today. ”
When Chaney joined Temple in 1982, he took over a program that had only two NCAA tournaments in the previous decade and that was not widely known outside of Philadelphia. When he admonishes his team, he often puts himself in situations he later regretted. He was known for a fiery temper – he sent a player he called a ‘goon’ into a game in 2005 to commit serious offenses. Chaney served suspension and apologized.
In 1994, he had a heated argument after a match against UMass in which he threatened to kill coach John Calipari. Chaney apologized and was suspended for a match. The two later became friends.
“Coach Chaney and I played every game – as everyone knows, sometimes literally – but in the end he was my friend,” Calipari tweeted. “Throughout my career, we talked about basketball and life. I will miss those conversations and my friend. ”
In 1984, George Washington coach Gerry Gimelstob grabbed a break during a game.
Chaney, whose deep, dark eyes were suited for a school with the Owl’s mascot, was intense along the sidelines. His loud, flourishing voice could be heard across an arena, and his almost perfect designer clothes were in the battle after most matches. After a particularly bad call, he will underestimate referees. He once looked at an umpire for an entire timeout with a look he called the ‘One-Eyed Jack’.
Although he seemed permanently insane, especially during games, Chaney was often tender and funny. He loved telling stories. His post-match news conferences were sometimes more entertaining than the games that preceded it. His retirement news conference in March 2006 was not about hoops, but about the role of education in helping the poor and disadvantaged. It included amusing anecdotes, jokes from the school administration and playful threats to slap the mayor.
After losing to Michigan State in 2001, in 2001, he was the same old John Chaney – water-filled eyes, with a tie torn at the collar and was poetic about another missed chance at the Final Four.
“It’s something we all dream about, but dreams come very short,” he said. “Often you do not realize everything. But you have to realize that the growth you see in young people like this is probably the highest achievement you can achieve. ”
Temple’s style of play under Chaney’s leadership has never been more beautiful than that of Duke or North Carolina. Slowly, patiently and disciplined, his best teams rarely made mistakes, rarely turned the ball around and always played a hard defense. Chaney was simply fearless in all aspects of his work.
He refused to load his schedules with easy teams, and instead traveled to hostile courts to play teams that were presumably full of talent. He was outspoken about the NCAA recruiting rules, which he said hurt players to improve their living position.
‘John Chaney was more than just a Hall of Fame coach for basketball. He was a Hall of Fame in life, ‘Dunphy said. “He has touched countless lives, including my own.”
Chaney arrived in Temple before the 1982-83 season. Temple, located in one of Philadelphia’s most difficult neighborhoods, was the perfect match for a coach who took pride in helping players transform their basketball skills into college degrees.
He was 50 and had already achieved success at Cheyney State University, where he had a record of 225-59 in ten seasons.
Chaney was born on January 21, 1932 in Jacksonville, Florida. He lived in a neighborhood there, called Black Bottom, where, according to him, flooding rain would bring in rats. When he was in ninth grade, his family moved to Philadelphia, where his stepfather got a job at a shipyard.
Although he was known as a Hall of Fame coach, he was also one of the best players to ever come from Philadelphia. He was the Philadelphia Public League Player of the Year in 1951 at Benjamin Franklin High School.
He was a graduate of Bethune-Cookman College, and was an NAIA All-American and a NAIA Tournament MVP before becoming a pro in 1955 to play with the Harlem Globetrotters. While black players are still discriminated against in the NBA, he spent 1955 to 1966 in the Eastern Pro League with Sunbury and Williamsport, where he was a two-time league MVP.
“He knew what I needed when I started coaching. He just promoted it and allowed me to grow and allowed me to make mistakes, and was there to pick me up when things didn’t work out the way I thought they would, ‘said Dawn Staley, coach and former Owl coach of South Carolina, said. “Everyone in their lives, whether they’re in coaching, out of coaching, or whatever profession, needs a person like Coach Chaney in their lives.”
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Associated Press author Jonathan Poet contributed to this report.