John Chaney retires after 24 years as Temple University's head basketball coach

Jet, April 3, 2006

Hall of Fame basketball coach John Chaney recently announced he is retiring after 24 seasons at Temple, ending a 34-year coaching career where he taught as much about life as he did basketball.

"It's always a very traumatic time, but it is time," Chaney said at the press conference in Philadelphia. "Temple gave me a chance to make my own decision and that's the great thing about it. Right now I'm faced with another problem with my wife, so it's the right time to go."

The 74-year-old Chaney, who did not coach the Owls' opening NIT game so that he could be by his wife's side as she under-went a procedure for an undisclosed health problem, guided Temple to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances during his career, including five NCAA regional finals. Chaney was twice named national coach of the year and entered the Hall of Fame in 2001.

A commanding figure on the court, Chaney has 741 wins as a college coach, including a 516-252 record at Temple, where he won seven Atlantic 10 conference titles. Only four other active coaches have more career victories.

Chaney took Cheyney State University in suburban Philadelphia to the 1978 Division II national championship before he arrived at Temple before the 1982-83 season. He was 50 when Temple hired him on a promise to make the program and the university nationally recognized. He refused to load his schedules with easy teams, and instead traveled to hostile courts to play teams brimming with talent.

Chaney also became known as a father figure for players who often came to Temple from broken homes, violent neighborhoods and bad schools. He frequently said his biggest goal simply was to give poor kids a chance to get an education.

"They just want to bounce the ball and dribble the ball, but I talk about things that are going to stay with them for the rest of their lives," Chaney said. "Somewhere along the line, it will reverberate and they'll remember it."