NCAA Basketball: Remembering legendary Mount St. Mary’s head coach Jim Phelan

The NCAA Basketball world was dealt a heartbreaking and devastating blow on Tuesday morning when longtime legendary Mount St. Mary’s Basketball head coach Jim Phelan – who currently sits 14th all-time in career wins and 4th in games coached in all of college basketball – passed away at the age of 92.

A 2008 inductee in the College Basketball Hall of Fame, Phelan has long served as the pillar of longevity and dedication, spending his full 49 years of head coaching on the sidelines at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland.  An assistant for a year at La Salle, Phelan took a chance on a head coaching job at the Mount in 1954, and remained as the Mountaineers’ general for the ensuing 49 years, creating a legacy that cements him as one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history.

After graduating from La Salle College High School in 1947, Phelan’s entrance to the collegiate basketball world came at La Salle University in his hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  A member of the Explorers from 1948-1951, Phelan made an impact in his short time on the court, serving as the team’s captain in 1950-51 and spearheading the team’s 22-7 record and eventual NIT berth.

His leadership was instrumental in making the Explorers a national force, as his three seasons saw La Salle knock off a few nationally ranked teams, including Bowling Green, N.C. State, and Arizona – and earn the Explorers a national rank themselves for 14 weeks, peaking at seventh in late January of 1950.

Phelan’s success at La Salle not only helped make La Salle a contender – which eventually paved to the Explorers’ NCAA Championship in 1954 – but also landed the defensive-minded guard a spot in the Hall of Athletes at La Salle in 1964.  For his three-year career, Phelan averaged 9.9 points per game, including double-digit marks in his final two campaigns.

Selected in the eighth round of the 1951 NBA Draft with the 77th pick, Phelan’s tenure with the Philadelphia Warriors would have to wait until 1953.  During those two years, Phelan instead served in the United States Marine Force during the Korean War, where he also suited up for the Marine Cagers from Quantico and leading them to the All-Marine Championship – and earned himself Most Valuable Player honors.  After his discharge, Phelan played briefly for the Warriors, averaging over eight minutes a game in 1953, as well as the Pottstown Packers of the Eastern League in 1954.

What followed was history, as Phelan left his hometown and moved a few hours west to Emmitsburg – and immediately hit the ground running.  Then a Div. II institution, the Mountaineers experienced success with Phelan at the helm immediately, recording three straight 20-plus win seasons from 1954-1957.  The last of those campaigns, in 1956-57, cemented Phelan as one of the top coaches in the country at the time, as the then-28-year old coach led the Mountaineers to the NCAA Div. II Final Four, finishing third after defeating Cal State Los Angeles in the third-place tilt.

If the 1950s left any doubt, then the ’60s guaranteed the Mount’s place as a national powerhouse at the Div. II level.  Each season saw Phelan register a winning record, and – after a four-year absence from the NCAA Tournament after 1957’s trip – a return to the Final Four in 1961 would set up the greatest season in program history in 1961-62.

Entering the tourney with a 19-6 mark, the Mountaineers narrowly avoided multiple exits, escaping Albright and Wittenberg by single-digits – as well as Hofstra – before toppling both Southern Illinois and Sacramento State, both by final scores of 58-57, to win the Mount’s first-ever NCAA Championship.

The title would earn Phelan national Coach of the Year honors, and set the scene for the Mountaineers to be a force for the coming years – and nearly 30 years after he took the job, Phelan had Mount St. Mary’s back at the forefront of college basketball in 1980-81.

The Mountaineers logged their best record in program history at 28-3, edging past Cheyney, Elizabeth City State, and Northern Michigan to reach the Final Four again, where they would dominate Green Bay to advance to the national championship game.  Despite a narrow loss to Florida Southern, the Mount’s rise back to prominence was only just beginning – Phelan would earn national Coach of the Year honors again, while eight of his 10 teams in the 1980s would record at least 20 wins, which included a return trip to the Final Four in 1985.

All of this would set up the Mount’s eventual move to Div. I in 1988, where, despite a change in competition, Phelan would continue to lead the Mountaineers to unprecedented – but unsurprising – success.  After a handful of competitive seasons in the Northeast Conference, Phelan’s Mountaineers would finally break through to the NCAA Div. I Tournament in 1995, and again in 1999, drawing both Kentucky and Michigan State in the opening rounds.

Just years after Phelan’s 16th trip to the NCAA Tournament, however, the 74-year old coach – who had spent the past 49 years on the sidelines in Emmitsburg – decided to finally bring his legendary career to an end in 2003.

Despite being criminally omitted from the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, Phelan’s legacy and accomplishments undoubtedly place him among the sport’s all-time greatest coaches.  He currently ranks 14th all-time in career wins at 830 and 4th in games coached at 1,354 – and he was just the fourth-ever to reach 800 wins, as well as just the second-ever to coach in at least 1,200 career games, having just trailed Clarence Gaines in 1998.

Amongst Div. I coaches who are not in the Naismith Hall of Fame, Phelan ranks third in all-time wins, trailing West Virginia’s Bob Huggins and Coastal Carolina’s Cliff Ellis.  All of this is without mentioning Phelan’s dedication to other facets of the Mount’s success, including serving as the head coach of the baseball team from 1955 to 1965, as well as the athletic director from 1967 to 1989.

The Mount’s decision to rename its court to the “Jim Phelan Court”, Collegeinsider.com’s creation of the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award in 2003, and the NEC naming their Coach of the Year award after Phelan is all just a few of the physical honors that signified – and continue to emphasize – the coach’s lasting legacy.

Additionally, Phelan was well-known for wearing a bowtie on the sidelines – something Phelan picked up from Ken Loeffler, his head coach at La Salle – and something college basketball would honor after Phelan’s retirement in 2003 when college coaches around the country wore bowties to honor him.

But above all, Phelan’s personality and reputation as a kindhearted, caring, and loyal man transcended all else – and his teachings have paved the way for the Mount to continue to be successful.  Two of his former pupils – an assistant coach in Milan Brown and player in Jamion Christian – both led the Mountaineers to NCAA Tournament berths as head coaches after Phelan’s retirement.

Current Mount St. Mary’s head coach Dan Engelstad – who just led the program to another NCAA Tournament appearance – perfectly summarized the profound influence that Phelan had on him and the program, even after retirement.

With his passing, Phelan leaves behind his wife, Dottie, of 67 years, as well as four children, 10 grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and extended family – as well as a legacy that has stretched over seven decades, touched thousands of lives, and continued to lead Mount St. Mary’s basketball to unforeseen, historical heights.

A memorial service for Phelan is currently scheduled for June 24th at Knott Arena, where the Mountaineers play – and where the Jim Phelan Court is located.