PHILADELPHIA (AP) – John Chaney’s harsh, fiery voice drowned the gym when he scolded Temple players for a turnover – at the height of his basketball sins – or inferior effort. His voice was strongest when it came to unpopular fighting, showing NCAA policies, he said he discriminated against black athletes. And it could be profane when Chaney allowed his own sense of justice to overcome him with fierce confrontations that threatened to undermine his role as a father figure for dozens of disadvantaged players.
Complicated, naughty, quick with a joke, Chaney was an imposing presence on the field and a jester on the field, building while the Owls perched in northern Philadelphia injured in one of the toughest teams in the country.
“He wrapped his arms around you and made you 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 appearances in 24 seasons, including five NCAA regional finals. Chaney scored 741 victories as a college coach. He was twice named national coach of the year, and his team at Temple won six Atlantic 10 conference titles. He led Cheyney to Philadelphia in the 1978 Division II national championship.
When Chaney retired in 2006, his frown disappeared, his eyes dark, deep, hidden behind his sunglasses, and his overworked personality stifled, “Excuse me as I disappear,” he said.
He became a de facto father to dozens of his players, many coming to the Temple from broken homes, violent educations, and poor schools. He often said that his biggest goal was simply to give poor children a chance to get an education. He said the SAT is culturally biased and joined John Thompson of Georgetown – another giant in the black coaching community who died in August – to denounce the NCAA’s academic demands that seemed to identify him. „The young man who comes from a poor and disadvantaged environment. .
Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie, probably Chaney’s best players, were Prop 48 recruits who turned their years in the Temple into successful NBA careers. McKie is now Temple’s coach and relied on his mentor when he had to model the program.
“Coach Chaney was like a father to me,” McKie said. “He taught not only me, but all his players, more than just how to succeed in basketball. He taught us life lessons to make us better off-field individuals. 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 offers at the NCAA tournament in the previous decade and was not widely known outside of Philadelphia. Often, while urging his team, he put himself in situations that he later regretted. He was known for a fiery temperament – sending a player he called a “goon” into a 2005 game to make big mistakes. Chaney made a suspension and apologized.
In 1994, he had a strong exchange following a game against UMass in which he threatened to kill coach John Calipari. Chaney apologized and was suspended for a game. The two later became friends.
“Coach Chaney and I fought in every game we played – as everyone knows, sometimes literally – but in the end he was my friend,” Calipari wrote on Twitter. “Throughout my career, I talked about basketball and life. I will miss these discussions and I will make my friend. ”
In 1984, Chaney grabbed George Washington coach Gerry Gimelstob by the shoulders during a break during a game.
Chaney, whose deep dark eyes seemed fit for a school whose mascot is Owl, was intense on the sidelines. His strong, rising voice could be heard across an arena, and his almost perfect designer clothes were in ruins after most games. After a particularly bad call, he glanced at the referees. Once, he looked at a referee for a whole period of time, with a look called “One-eyed Jack.”
Although he seemed constantly weird, especially during games, Chaney was often tender and funny. He liked to tell stories. His post-game press conferences were sometimes more fun than the games that preceded them. His March 2006 press conference was not about circles, but about the role of education in helping the poor and disadvantaged. These included funny anecdotes, trouble with the school administration and playful threats to slap the mayor.
After losing to Michigan on his last trip to the NCAA Regional Finals in 2001, it was the same old John Chaney – with tears in his eyes, wearing an open collar tie and growing poetically about another missed opportunity in the Final Four.
“It’s something we all dream about, but very often dreams come true,” he said. “Many times you don’t realize everything. But you have to realize that the growth you see in such young people is probably the greatest achievement you can achieve. ”
Temple’s style of play under Chaney’s guidance has never been more beautiful than that of Duke or North Carolina. Slow, patient and disciplined, his best teams rarely made mistakes, rarely turned the ball around and always played a tough defense. Chaney was simply fearless in all aspects of his work.
He refused to load his program with light teams and instead traveled to hostile courts to play teams that were supposed to be talented. He was outspoken about NCAA recruitment rules, which he said hurt players trying to improve their lives.
“John Chaney was more than a Hall of Fame basketball coach. It was a Hall of Fame in life, “said Dunphy. “He has touched countless lives, including mine.”
Chaney arrived at Temple before the 1982-83 season. Located in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Philadelphia, Temple was the perfect match for a coach who was proud to help players turn their basketball skills into college degrees.
He was 50 years old and already successful at Cheyney State University, where he had a record of 225-59 in 10 seasons.
Chaney was born on January 21, 1932, in Jacksonville, Florida. He lived in a neighborhood called Black Bottom, where, he said, the flood rains would bring rats. When he was in ninth grade, his family moved to Philadelphia, where his stepfather was employed at a shipyard.
Although known as the coach of the Hall of Fame, he was also one of the best players to ever leave Philadelphia. He was the player of the year in the Philadelphia Public League in 1951 at Benjamin Franklin High School.
A graduate of Bethune-Cookman College, she was an NAIA All-American and a touring NAV MVP before becoming a professional in 1955 to play with the Harlem Globetrotters. As black players were still discriminated against in the NBA, he spent between 1955 and 1966 in the Eastern Pro League with Sunbury and Williamsport, where he was twice league MVP.
“He knew what I needed when I started training. He just promoted that and allowed me to grow and allowed me to make mistakes and he was there to pick me up when things didn’t work out the way I thought I should, “said the South Carolina coach and former coach. Owls, Dawn Staley. “Everyone in their lives, whether it’s a coach, outside of the coach or any profession, needs a person like coach Chaney in their life.”
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Associated Press writer Jonathan Poet contributed to the report.