PHILADELPHIA (AP) – John Chaney’s hoarse, thunderous voice drowned out the gym when he scolded Temple players for a twist – on top of their basketball sins – or inferior effort. His voice was louder when it came to choosing unpopular fights, attacking NCAA policies that he said discriminated against black athletes. And it could be profane when Chaney let his own sense of justice get the better of him with violent clashes that threatened to undermine his role as a father figure for several of his underprivileged players.
Complicated, moody, quick with a joke, Chaney was an imposing presence on the court and a jester outside, while making Owls perched in rugged northern Philadelphia into one of the toughest teams in the country.
“He put his arms around you and made you part of his family,” said Chaney’s successor, Fran Dunphy.
Chaney died on Friday, just eight days after his 89th birthday, after a short 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 twice named national coach of the year and his teams at Temple won six Atlantic 10 conference titles. He took Cheyney, in the Philadelphia suburb, to the 1978 Division II national championship.
When Chaney retired in 2006, the frown was gone, the deep, dark eyes hidden behind the sunglasses and the exaggerated personality became subdued: “Excuse me while I’m gone,” he said.
He became a de facto father to dozens of his players, many coming to the Temple from broken homes, violent education and poor schools. He used to say that his biggest goal was simply to give poor children a chance to get an education. He said the SAT was culturally biased and joined John Thompson of Georgetown – another giant in the black coaching community who died in August – in denouncing the academic requirements of the NCAA that seemed to highlight “the young man of poor and disadvantaged background.
Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie, perhaps Chaney’s two best players, were recruits from Prop 48 who turned their Temple years into successful NBA careers. McKie is now Temple’s trainer and trusted his mentor when he had to set the program.
“Coach Chaney was like a father to me,” said McKie. “He taught not only me, but all his players more than just how to succeed in basketball. He taught us life lessons to become better individuals outside the courts. I owe him a lot. He made me the man I am today. ”
When Chaney joined Temple in 1982, he took on a program that had only two NCAA tournament proposals in the previous decade and was not widely known outside of Philadelphia. Often, when exhorting his team, he put himself in situations that he later regretted. He was known for his explosive temper – sending a player he called an “idiot” to a 2005 game to commit serious fouls. Chaney served his sentence 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 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,” tweeted Calipari. “Throughout my career, we talked about basketball and life. I will miss those lectures and I will, my friend. “
In 1984, Chaney grabbed George Washington coach Gerry Gimelstob by the shoulders at halftime during a game.
Chaney, whose deep, dark eyes seemed suitable for a school whose mascot is the Owl, was intense on the sides. His loud, booming voice could be heard in an arena, and his almost perfect designer clothes were in ruins after most games. After an especially bad decision, he faced the referees. He once looked at a referee for a full time with a look he dubbed “Jack One-Eyed”.
Although he seemed permanently moody, especially during games, Chaney used to be tender and funny. He loved to tell stories. Their post-game press conferences were sometimes more fun than the games that preceded them. His retirement press conference in March 2006 was not about hoops, but about the role of education in helping the poor and disadvantaged. They included amusing anecdotes, nudged the school administration, and amusing threats to slap 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 watery eyes, wearing a torn tie on his collar and talking poetically about another missed chance in the Last four.
“It’s something we all dream about, but often dreams don’t work out,” he said. “You often don’t notice everything. But you have to realize that the growth you see in young people like these is probably the biggest achievement you can achieve. ”
Temple’s style of play under Chaney’s guidance has never been more beautiful than Duke’s or North Carolina’s. Slow, patient and disciplined, their best teams rarely made mistakes, rarely turned the ball and always played strong 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 against teams supposedly full of talent. He spoke openly about NCAA recruitment rules, which he said hurt players who try to improve their position in life.
“John Chaney was more than just a basketball coach in the Hall of Fame. He was a living Hall of Fame, ”said Dunphy. “He touched countless lives, including mine.”
Chaney arrived at Temple before the 1982-83 season. situated in one of the toughest neighborhoods in philadelphia, Temple was the perfect match for a coach who prided himself on helping players turn their basketball skills into college degrees.
He was 50 and had already succeeded 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 rains brought rats. When he was in ninth grade, his family moved to Philadelphia, where his stepfather got a job at a shipyard.
Although known as a coach of the Hall of Fame, he was also one of the best players in Philadelphia. He was the player of the year for the Philadelphia Public League in 1951 at Benjamin Franklin High School.
Graduated from Bethune-Cookman College, he was an NAIA All-American and a NAIA tournament MVP before turning pro in 1955 to play with the Harlem Globetrotters. With black players still being discriminated against in the NBA, he went from 1955 to 1966 in the Eastern Pro League with Sunbury and Williamsport, where he was twice the league’s MVP.
“He knew what I needed when I started training. He just promoted it and allowed me to grow and allowed me to make mistakes and was there to help me when things were not working out as I thought they should, ”said South Carolina coach and former Owls coach Dawn Staley. “Everyone in their lives, whether they are in coaching, out of coaching or in any other profession, need someone like Coach Chaney in their lives.”
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Associated Press writer Jonathan Poet contributed to this report.