Phelan Bows Out With Style

There were those who doubted Jim Phelan when he arrived at the small Catholic college in the Blue Ridge mountains of Western Maryland.

He wanted job security but was given a one-year contract at Mount St. Mary’s.

He hoped for bright lights in a big city but found himself in Emmitsburg, a town with neither street lights nor sidewalks.

He wanted to make a big splash at his first head coaching job but was told by a previous boss: “You’ll win a lot of games, you’ll stay forever, and no one will ever hear of you.�

Forty-nine seasons later, Phelan coached his final game at “The Mount� on Saturday.

Phalen, 73, will retire with a record of 830-524 and has proven his old boss to be wrong about one thing -- plenty of people have heard of him.

Only Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp won more games than Phalen, honored across the nation Saturday by coaches who wore Phalen’s trademark fashion accessory -- a bow tie -- during their games.

Roy Williams of Kansas, Bob Huggins of Cincinnati, John Calipari of Memphis and Jay Wright of Villanova were among the coaches who wore bow ties, some for the first time.

“I looked like an 11-year-old kid,� Williams said after Kansas beat Oklahoma State. “It was bothering me in the first half. I felt pretty uncomfortable. I said if we don’t play very well in the first half, I’m going to change the dadgum thing. I’d given my tribute to Jimmy.�

Another to wear a bow tie was Central Connecticut’s Howie Dickenman, who wore his father’s -- something he always has carried in his pocket at games but had never worn until Saturday.

“I was going to wear that whether it was national bow tie day or not,� Dickenman said.

Said Phelan: “Every time I’m watching TV today, I’m seeing guys wearing bow ties, I’m seeing announcers wearing bow ties,� Phelan said. “I guess that’s what longevity does for you.�

Williams had this to say about Phelan’s longevity: “To accomplish what he’s accomplished and to last in this business today as long as he has is mind-boggling to me. He didn’t sacrifice anything to try to jump to what some people might call a bigger or better place.�

The soft-spoken Phelan has coached more games than anyone else and has taken the Mountaineers to an NCAA tournament 16 times, although his teams have struggled in recent seasons.

The Mountaineers (11-16) needed to win their last two games for a shot at the Northeast Conference tournament but lost, 63-52, to Quinnipiac last Thursday. On Saturday, they came from behind to defeat Central Connecticut State, 60-56.

“I could continue, but now is the time,� Phelan said. “Because if somebody tells you you’ve got a 75-year-old basketball coach out there, they say, ‘What?!’ �

Phelan was 25 when he wore a bow tie at his first game at Mount St. Mary’s in 1954, a Mountaineer win. He wore the tie at the next game and they won again. A tradition was born.

*

Harried Harricks

Jim Harrick Jr. has been an assistant at Georgia for nearly two seasons, in what can be called at best an eventful time for father and son.

Harrick Jr., son of head coach Jim Harrick, again found himself in a searing spotlight after a former player accused him Friday of committing academic fraud and paying about $1,500 for a phone bill and two-week hotel stay.

Tony Cole also said Harrick Jr. took, or arranged for someone to take, two correspondence courses for him at a community college in Robinson, Ill. Harrick Jr. has been suspended with pay by school officials.

The elder Harrick briefly addressed the media before heading to practice for today’s game against No. 2 Kentucky.

“To attack our program is something that I really take very seriously,� Harrick said. “I’m very, very confident that we’ll come to a swift and positive answer to all of these questions.�

The allegations are the latest in a growing list of Harrick Jr. headlines.

Last season, he admitted that his school-issued biography exaggerated his playing career and academic honors. The bio said he had played on two Pepperdine teams that made the NCAA tournament and was twice a member of the West Coast Conference all-academic team.

Harrick Jr. later said he made one NCAA tournament appearance at Pepperdine and missed another because he went to junior college to improve his grades. He also said he won a different academic award, not the one listed.

UCLA fired the elder Harrick, who won a national title with the Bruins in 1995, for lying about an expense report in 1996.

Old Mexico

The New Mexico athletic department, looking for a way to dress up an otherwise bland season, asked fans to choose the top 10 Lobos of all time.

After seeing some of the Lobos’ recent games, there’s just one question. Do these guys have any eligibility left?

Fans selected Michael Cooper and Luc Longley, as well as former ABA star Mel Daniels and current Portland Trail Blazer Charles Smith, among others.

The Lobos (10-15) are on the verge of their first losing season in 20 years and are battling off-court problems as well. Last Friday, first-year Coach Ritchie McKay admitted an assistant coach violated an NCAA rule by illegally contacting players at Bradley.

The prohibited contact included, but was not limited to, sophomore Danny Granger, who transferred to New Mexico from Bradley at the semester break this season. New Mexico assistant Duane Broussard had several phone conversations with Granger, who has not been given an official athletic release from Bradley despite transferring.

“If this was just a matter of calling up and saying, ‘happy birthday’ or ‘How is your sick cousin?’ ... that’s an innocent violation of the bylaw,� Bradley Athletic Director Ken Kavanagh said. “But that’s not what this is. It’s a long way from that.�

Despite it all, the Lobos managed to beat No. 22 Utah, 76-69, perhaps their lone highlight this season.

*

No Stone Unturned

Just when things couldn’t get any worse for Louisville, they got worse.

Center Marvin Stone, the Cardinals’ second-leading scorer and rebounder, sat out Saturday’s 82-76 victory over East Carolina as the NCAA examined his ties to an amateur program.

The NCAA has been asking Stone about benefits he received through Mark Komara, a Huntsville, Ala., businessman who also runs an Amateur Athletic Union team there.

Stone transferred to Louisville from Kentucky in January 2002.

Stone’s situation was not the only bad news for the Cardinals, who were ranked No. 2 last month after a 17-game winning streak but lost four of five until beating East Carolina.

Forward Ellis Myles, the team’s leading rebounder, had season-ending surgery on his right knee last Friday.

“This is as much adversity for a team having a spectacular year as you could possibly have,� Coach Rick Pitino said.

*

Associated Press contributed to this report.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Longevity

Phelan retires as the NCAA men’s coaching

leader in career games and seasons. The top 10

in those categories (minimum 10 seasons in

Division I):

MOST SEASONS

*--* Coach School* Career Span 49 Jim Phelan Mt. St. Mary’s 1954-2003 48 Phog Allen Kansas 1906-56 48 Ed Diddle Western Ky 1922-64 42 Ray Meyer DePaul 1942-84 41 Tony Hinkle Butler 1926-70 41 Henry Iba Okla. St 1929-70 41 Adolph Rupp Kentucky 1930-72 41 Lefty Driesell Maryland* 1960-2003 40 Marv Harshman Wash., Wash. St 1945-85 40 Lou Henson Ill., New Mex. St 1962-

*--*

MOST GAMES

*--* Coach School* Career Span 1,354 Jim Phelan Mt. St. Mary’s 1954-2003 1,180 Lefty Driesell Maryland, Ga. St 1960-2003 1,144 Lou Henson Ill., New Mex. St 1962- 1,133 Dean Smith N. Carolina 1961-97 1,106 Norm Stewart Missouri 1961-99 1,110 Bob Knight Ind., Texas Tech 1965- 1,105 Henry Iba Okla. St 1929-70 1,090 M. Harshman Wash., Wash. St 1945-85 1,078 Ray Meyer DePaul 1942-84 1,072 Don Haskins Tex. El Paso 1961-99

*--*

* If coached at more than one school, the listed school is the one at which coach had longest stint and/or coached at last.

*

Coaching Milestone

Mount St. Mary’s Jim Phelan, who coached the final game of his 49-season college career Saturday, is one of four NCAA men’s coaches (minimum 10 Division I seasons) who have won 800 games. A look at when those four reached 800 victories, nine other coaches who could reach the milestone and what it would take for them to accomplish the feat:

THE 800 CLUB

(text of this infobox not included)