Atlantic 10 Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jul 18, 2020

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 12: A general view of the Barclay Center prior to the start of the 2020 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament - Second Round on March 12, 2020 in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City. Tournament games will be played without fans amid growing concerns of the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 15: Head coach Phil Martelli of the Saint Joseph’s Hawks (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

5. Phil Martelli – Saint Joseph’s (2000-2019)

For a long time, Martelli’s name was synonymous with Saint Joseph’s basketball. He had little more than some high school experience when he was added to the Hawks staff in 1985. After ten seasons, he was promoted to the top job in 1995 and got right to work, leading the program to the NIT finals in 1996 and the Sweet Sixteen in 1997. As the century turned over, the success continued.

Saint Joseph’s wasn’t winning the conference every season or anything like that, but few teams in the A10 had a team quite like the Hawks’ 2004 squad. Led by Jameer Nelson, that team won 30 games, nabbed a 1-seed, and made it to the Elite Eight. In total, Martelli led Saint Joseph’s to five NCAA Tournaments since 200 and a slew of NIT runs and other Atlantic 10 success.

The final few seasons were inconsistent and he was relieved of his duties in 2019. He’s spent the last year on Juwan Howard’s staff at Michigan but left way more than a legacy behind with the Hawks. His Saint Joseph’s teams were competitive and talented and he did more for that program than many coaches do in their careers.

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