Most of the season preview interviews that I do are with players/coaches who I only know from watching them on TV, but Coach Fran Dunphy holds a special place in my heart. When I showed up to Penn as a freshman in the fall of 1992, I did not have high hopes for a basketball team that had gone 37-41 during the 3 previous seasons. However, the Quakers proceeded to go 48-0 in conference play over the next 3 years, made it to 3 straight NCAA tourneys, and even beat Nebraska in the 1994 NCAA tourney, which remains their only tourney win in the past 35 years. As much as I like to think that I was the lucky charm, I know that it was simply a matter of being in the right place when a coach and his players happened to click at the right time. After recording the 2nd-most victories in Ivy League basketball history and winning 10 Ivy titles in a 14-year span, he replaced Coach John Chaney at Temple and made 6 straight NCAA tourneys from 2008-2013. With 7 more wins this year, he will join an elite list of coaches with 200+ wins at multiple schools, including legends such as Jim Calhoun, Eddie Sutton, and Roy Williams. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Dunphy about playing for 1 Hall of Famer and replacing another.
You played for Hall of Famer Tom Gola at La Salle: what made him such a good coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from? He saw the abilities of the players in front of him and their experience level and just trusted us to play the game. The guys ahead of me had even more trust, but he was good at reading the situation and putting a team together. He asked us to give our best on defense and the freedom on offense was nice.
As a junior you went 23-1 (with only a 3-PT loss to South Carolina), but your team was barred from the NCAA tourney due to some violations committed by an alum: how close did you come to an undefeated season, and how frustrating was it to miss out on the tourney? We were on probation due to some infractions the year before so it was frustrating knowing that we would be missing out on the tourney. We just did not get it done against South Carolina but it was still a magical season.
As a senior you were co-captain, averaged 18.6 PPG, and led the team in AST: how did you balance your scoring with your passing? 1 of my teammates was All-American Kenny Durrett, who was 1 of the best players in the history of Philly. I had good players who gave me the opportunity to get some assists.
Beginning in 1992 you won 48 straight conference games as coach at Penn: did it reach a point where the fans just expected you to win every time you stepped onto the court? Probably: those are healthy expectations. We had 3 guys who eventually made it to the NBA, which is pretty impressive for an Ivy League team.
In the 1994 NCAA tourney future Penn coach Jerome Allen had 18 PTS/10 AST in a 10-PT upset of Nebraska: how big a deal was it to get the Quakers’ only NCAA tourney win since 1980? It was very important after coming close against UMass the year before (a 4-PT loss). We could have played with a lot of good teams in the country.
In the 1995 NCAA tourney you had a 6-PT OT loss to Alabama: what made Antonio McDyess so unstoppable (39 PTS/19 REB)? His athleticism and wonderful play: he was just an extraordinary talent so it was a bit of mismatch.
You won 10 Ivy titles in 17 years at Penn, and your 310 wins are 2nd-most in Ivy history (Princeton’s Pete Carril has 514): how were you able to be so successful for such a long stretch of time? The history/tradition of the Penn program gave us a step up on many other teams in the league so we were able to recruit well.
In 2006 you became head coach at Temple: why did you take the job, and how much pressure did you feel in replacing legendary coach John Chaney? They tell us to not succeed a legend but I guess I did not get the memo! John is a terrific guy and made it very easy for me. I got to meet with him and receive his blessing and made me feel good about what I was doing. I just wanted the challenge of running another program after being lucky enough to run the program at Penn.
Take me through the 2011 NCAA tourney:
Juan Fernandez scored 23 PTS including an off-balance 18-footer in the final second of a 2-PT win over Penn State: where does that rank among the most clutch shots you have ever seen, and how important was it for you personally to get a win after 11 straight tourney losses? It was important to me, but more so for the kids. Juan made a great shot, which many of our students were appreciative of.
Billy White had 16 PTS/13 REB in a 7-PT 2-OT win by San Diego State: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? If we could have gotten that win it would have been even more fantastic. I do not consider it devastating but rather “disappointing” because we played so well: we just ended up playing a great team.