On Tuesday night, La Salle officially announced the hiring of Fran Dunphy as the men’s head basketball coach. The university is his alma mater.
Dunphy, who was already the first men’s basketball coach at two Big 5 schools after long runs at Penn and Temple, is close to making it to three schools. So what is already a unique coaching career in Philadelphia is moving into never-to-be-repeated territory.
“During my time at La Salle I have met many passionate alumni who embody what it means to be an explorer,” said Brian Baptiste, La Salle sporting director. “Fran Dunphy is at the top of that list, and to introduce him as the 20th head coach in La Salle men’s basketball history is an honor and a privilege. In my conversations with Fran, he made it clear that he still has a passion for coaching and a burning desire to help his alma mater. I know he’s excited to get to work and I know our student-athletes will benefit from having him leading our program.”
The news was first reported by The Inquirer. According to multiple sources, Dunphy is taking the job after trying to convince several others himself, including former assistant Matt Langel, now Colgate’s successful head coach. Dunphy’s concern, said an alumnus close to him, is with the institution itself, beyond the basketball program.
If that sounds pompous, consider it in the context of a fundraising project for the Tom Gola Arena renovation that has yet to reach the finish line. Also remember that Dunphy, now 73, agreed to be Temple’s interim athletic director at the start of the pandemic. This isn’t the man’s first difficult mission.
Running La Salle’s program is considered the toughest of all basketball missions. Between the lack of Atlantic 10 quality facilities and most of the current team now in the transfer portal, it’s the heaviest lift.
Dunphy will replace Ashley Howard, his fourth manager for the Explorers, who was released after a 13-19 season. In 30 seasons as head coach at Penn and Temple, Dunphy had 24 winning seasons and 17 NCAA tournament appearances. But this isn’t about beefing up a resume. This is about a local son who returns to his school and tries to raise it to prominence or keep it from declining any further. A source said Dunphy would only take the job if the school listened when he told them the program needed something without asking questions. Multiple sources said Dunphy was the one who could make the phone call and get old-guard alumni to back the program.
“La Salle has given me so much over the years,” Dunphy said in the statement. “It gave me the chance to be part of multiple teams as a student-athlete, an opportunity to make lifelong friendships and helped shape me into the man I am today. I can’t wait to work with the young men on the team, reintroduce myself to the campus community, and help out my alma mater in any way I can.”
On the day Howard was fired, La Salle sent a note to alumni of the President’s Office noting that La Salle’s board of trustees had approved “the next phase of the design process for an arena project,” with external fundraising was continued. Then the key part: “In 2013, the university received a limited planned donation, generously donated by John Glaser, ’62, specifically in support of an arena project. To take advantage of this estate gift, currently valued at $6.2 million, an arena project would need to break ground in calendar year 2023. The University would fund this project solely through philanthropic contributions.”
» READ MORE: Former Temple coach Fran Dunphy is intimately familiar with both North Carolina and Duke
Dunphy had been an assistant at La Salle for some glory years under Speedy Morris. He came off the bench himself as a sophomore and junior for the Explorers. In his final season, Dunphy averaged 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists per game.
From the start, this quest was about more than basketball. It was also about waiting to see if Dunphy could be persuaded to take it. There’s precedent, a La Salle alum close to Dunphy pointed out, and Dunphy is well aware of it. When Jim Harding, Dunphy’s former coach, turned pro after a turbulent year and also left La Salle with NCAA issues that kept them out of the postseason in the 1968-69 season, Tom Gola was the school’s biggest basketball alum , and at the time the Controller for the City of Philadelphia assumed command. The Explorers finished 23-1, with Dunphy as a key reserve during his junior season.
“La Salle needed him,” Dunphy said himself in 2014 in the days after Gola’s death. “He probably didn’t have the time, but he had that kind of him that would help anyone who needed him.”
This time around, multiple sources said a large number of La Salle alumni approached Dunphy, urging him to come home to his alma mater. A phone call, according to someone who heard the call end, was with Morris, his old boss. Morris told Dunphy he earned the right to a nice retirement to play as much golf as he wanted. Morris said he’s sure Dunphy has heard from all sorts of people saying either “take it” or “are you crazy?” Morris said your choice.
Then Speedy couldn’t help it: “But I need you to take on this job!”