PHILADELPHIA (AP) – John Chaney’s raspy, booming voice drowned out the gym as he scolded Temple players about a turnover – on top of his basketball sins – or inferior effort. His voice was loudest when it came to picking unpopular fights, lashing out at NCAA policies that he said discriminated against black athletes. And it could be blasphemous if Chaney allowed his own sense of justice to take over with fiery confrontations that threatened to undermine his role as a father figure in front of dozens of underprivileged players.
Complicated, grumpy, quick with a joke, Chaney was an imposing on-field presence and a court jester as he built the owls in rugged North Philadelphia into one of the country’s strongest teams.
“He put his arms around you and made you part of his family,” said Fran Dunphy, Chaney’s successor.
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 had 741 wins as a college coach. He was named National Team Coach of the Year twice, and his teams at Temple won six Atlantic 10 conference titles. He led Cheyney, in suburban Philadelphia, to the Division II national championship in 1978.
When Chaney retired in 2006, the frown was gone, the dark, deep-set eyes hidden behind sunglasses, and the exaggerated personality subdued: “Excuse me while I disappear,” he said.
He became the de facto father to dozens of his players, many of whom came to Temple from broken homes, violent upbringing, and poor schools. He often said that his main goal was simply to give poor children an opportunity to get an education. He said the SAT was culturally biased, and he joined Georgetown’s John Thompson – another giant in the black coaching community, who died in August – by denouncing the NCAA’s academic requirements that seemed to set it apart from “the young person with a poor, underprivileged background.
Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie, arguably Chaney’s top two players, were Prop 48 recruits who turned their temple years into successful NBA careers. McKie is now Temple’s coach and relied on his mentor to shape 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 has taught us life lessons to make us better individuals out of 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 tournament bids in the previous decade and was not widely known outside of Philadelphia. While urging his team, he often put himself in situations that he later regretted. He was known for his fiery temper – he sent a player he called a “goon” to a 2005 game to commit hard fouls. Chaney filed a suspension and apologized.
In 1994, he had a heated argument after a game against UMass in which he threatened to kill coach John Calipari. Chaney apologized and was suspended from a match. The two later became friends.
“Coach Chaney and I fought every game we played – 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 calls and I will be my friend. “
In 1984 Chaney grabbed George Washington coach Gerry Gimelstob by the shoulders during a game at halftime.
Chaney, whose deep, dark eyes seemed fitting for a school whose mascot is the owl, stood intensely on the sidelines. His loud, booming voice could be heard in an arena, and his near-perfect designer attire was in ruins after most games. After a particularly bad decision, he stared at the referees. He once stared a long time out at a referee with a look he called the “One-Eyed Jack”.
Although he seemed permanently grumpy, especially during games, Chaney was often tender and funny. He loved to tell stories. His post-game news conferences were sometimes more fun than the games that preceded it. His retirement conference in March 2006 was not about hoops, but about the role of education in helping the poor and disadvantaged. They contain funny anecdotes, pokes at the school board and playful threats to hit the mayor.
After losing to Michigan State on his last trip to the NCAA Regional Finals, in 2001, he was the same old John Chaney – with water-filled eyes, a ripped tie at the collar, and poetic about another missed shot at the Last Four.
“It’s something we all dream about, but very often dreams fall short,” he said. “You often don’t realize everything. But you have to realize that the growth you see in such young people is probably the highest achievement you can achieve. ”
Temple’s playing style under Chaney’s direction was never as beautiful as Duke of North Carolina’s. Slow, patient and disciplined, his best teams rarely made mistakes, rarely turned the ball and always played hard on defense. Chaney was simply unafraid in all aspects of his job.
He refused to load his schedules with easy teams and instead traveled to hostile courses to play teams that were supposedly brimming with talent. He was outspoken about the NCAA’s recruiting rules, which he said hurt players trying to improve their position in life.
John Chaney was more than just a Hall of Fame basketball coach. He was a Hall of Fame in life, ”said Dunphy. “He has touched countless lives, including mine.”
Chaney arrived in Temple before the 1982-1983 season. Being in one of Philadelphia’s toughest neighborhoods, Temple was the perfect match for a coach who took pride in helping players convert their basketball skills into college education.
He was 50 and already had success at Cheyney State University, where he had a record 225-59 years in 10 seasons.
Chaney was born on January 21, 1932 in Jacksonville, Florida. He lived there in a neighborhood called Black Bottom, where, he said, flooding rains would bring in rats. When he was in ninth grade, his family moved to Philadelphia, where his stepfather got a job in a shipyard.
Although he was known as a Hall of Fame coach, he was also one of the greatest players to ever come out of Philadelphia. He was the Philadelphia Public League Player of the Year in 1951 at Benjamin Franklin High School.
A graduate of Bethune-Cookman College, he was an NAIA All-American and NAIA Tournament MVP before turning 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 MVP in the league.
“He knew what I needed when I started coaching. He just promoted that and made me grow and allowed me to make mistakes and was there to pick me up when things didn’t go the way I thought they should, ”said South Carolina coach and former Owls coach Dawn Staley. “Everyone in their life, whether they be in coaching, outside of coaching or any other profession, needs a person like Chaney’s coach in their life.”
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Associated Press writer Jonathan Poet contributed to this report.