John Chaney (basketball coach)

John Chaney (born January 21, 1932) is an American retired college basketball coach, best known for his tenure at Temple University.

Coaching career

Chaney was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He began his career after graduating from Bethune-Cookman College and spending some time in the Eastern Professional Basketball League. In 2001, Chaney was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Chaney's first team was at the middle school level in 1963. He moved to Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia where he had a 63-23 record. Chaney then moved on to college basketball.

The first collegiate position held by John Chaney was at Division II Cheyney State. At Cheyney, Chaney was 232-56. He won his only national title in 1978.

After a decade at Cheyney, Chaney moved on to Division I Temple in Philadelphia. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D02E2DE1F39F93BA2575BC0A964948260 Chaney Is Named Coach at Temple - New York Times ] ] Chaney built a reputation as a tough coach who always demanded excellence on and off the court. He was well known for his 6 AM practices, match-up zone defense, tough non-conference scheduling, and winning basketball teams.

Chaney won a total of 724 career games. He took Temple to the NCAA tournament 17 times. His 1987-88 Owls team entered the NCAA tournament ranked #1 in the country, and he reached the Elite Eight on five different occasions.

On December 20, 2004, during a win over Princeton, Chaney became the fifth active coach and 19th all-time to appear on the sidelines for 1,000 games, joining Lou Henson (New Mexico State, Illinois), Bob Knight (Army, Indiana, Texas Tech), Eddie Sutton (Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State, San Francisco), and Hugh Durham (Florida State, Georgia, Jacksonville).

On March 13, 2006, Chaney announced his retirement from coaching at a press conference, to be effective after Temple's play in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Fran Dunphy was named Chaney's successor following the season.

John Chaney Press Conference [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51-4sJTf7iQ]

Controversy

On February 13, 1994, controversy ensued when he threatened to kill then-University of Massachusetts coach John Calipari at a post-game news conference, nearly assaulting him before security pulled him away. He has since called Calipari a friend.Fact|date=March 2008 Chaney made headlines in 2005 after ordering seldom-used forward Nehemiah Ingram into the game to commit hard fouls against Saint Joseph's in response to what he thought were several missed calls by the referees. After the game Chaney admitted to "sending a message" and stated "I'm going to send in what we used to do years ago, send in the goons." John Bryant of Saint Joseph's suffered a fractured arm as a result of an intentional foul. Following the incident, John Chaney suspended himself for one game, and upon hearing the severity of the injury, suspended himself for the remainder of the regular season and the Atlantic 10 tournament. He returned for a farewell season which ended, ironically enough, in another loss to Saint Joseph's in the A-10 Tournament.

Coaching highlights

* Chaney has led teams to an overall record of 724-297 record and 30 post season berths
* Compiled a 225-59 record at Cheyney State
* NCAA Division II Tournament, 1973, 1974, 1976-80, 1982
* NCAA Division II Tournament National Champions, 1978
* Division II National Coach of the Year, 1978
* State of Pennsylvania Distinguished Faculty Award, 1979
* Has compiled a 499-238 record at Temple
* Has compiled a 327-108 Atlantic 10 Conference Regular Season Record
* Won his 400th game at Temple against No. 1 ranked Cincinnati on Feb. 20, 2000
* NCAA Tournaments, 1984-1988, 1990-2001 (18)
* NCAA Regional Finalists, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2001
* National Invitational Tournament, 1989, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
* Atlantic 10 regular season Championships, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
* Atlantic 10 Tournament Championships, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 2000, 2001
* Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000
* Has compiled 15 20-win seasons at Temple
* USBWA National Coach of the Year, 1987, 1988
* Consensus National Coach of the Year, Associated Press Coach of the Year
* Eastern Basketball Coach of the Year, 1993
* Won his 700th game, becoming the first African-American in history with 700 wins

Further reading

*cite book |last=Hunt |first=Donald |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Chaney: Playing for a Legend |year=2006 |publisher=Triumph Books |location= |id=ISBN 1-57243-913-0
*cite book |last=Wartenberg |first=Steve |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Winning Is an Attitude: A Season in the Life of John Chaney and the Temple Owls |year=1991 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |id=ISBN 0-312-05538-2
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D02E2DE1F39F93BA2575BC0A964948260 "Chaney is Named Coach at Temple"] , "New York Times", August 18, 1982.
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2366357 "Longtime Temple coach Chaney retires"] , ESPN.com, March 13, 2006.
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/13/AR2006031300559.html "Temple Coach Chaney Announcing Retirement Today"] , "Washington Post", March 13, 2006.

References

External links

* [http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/Chaney.htm Basketball Hall of Fame profile]