CALLS HIM BAD, BAD DOMONIC BROWN
Sunday afternoon, at halftime of our game against Rhode Island, we will honor one of the greatest teams in the
Temple basketball, the 1969 Owl team that won the NIT Championship.
It is very important for our present team to always remember who has preceded them and certainly the ’68-69 NIT
Championship team, coached by the legendary Harry Litwack, is a very much a part of our Temple basketball history, It was a great stretch run that they made to the title.
My fondest remembrance of that team and its accomplishments actually happened many years later when I was watching a piece on the old PRISM network. In that piece one of the seniors on that team, Joe Cromer, talked about how, as great a victory as it was to win the championship against Boston College, the players felt so bad for John Baum for not getting to be the MVP that they all just went home afterwards. No celebration. That is how badly they felt for their guy, John Baum. It said a lot about the leadership that John had for that team, and the love and
passion for the game that those guys had. That passion is what made them such a special team.
So come out and join me in helping to honor Temple’s past, and also celebrate the future as we take on a really
talented Rhode Island Rams team. You will also be able to see my coaching colleague, Tonya Cardoza, lead the Temple women’s team against Saint Louis in our final doubleheader of the season.
Go Owls
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FRAN DUNPHY, Temple
He begins his fourth season on North Broad with nearly 350 career victories after a long tenure at Penn. The Owls won the Atlantic 10 Tournament last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
BRUISER FLINT, Drexel
He begins his eighth season with the Dragons after returning to the city where he played collegiately at St. Joe’s. The Dragons have advanced to the postseason in four of the last six years and have won at least 17 games four times under Flint.
DR. JOHN GIANNINI, La Salle
He begins his fifth season at the school after successful tenures at the University of Maine and Rowan, where teams made two trips to the Division III Final Four. At LaSalle two seasons ago, he engineered an 18-win season and third-place finish in the Atlantic 10, the school’s best finish since joining the league for the 1995-96 season.
PHIL MARTELLI, Saint Joseph’s
He begins his 14th season on Hawk Hill, having won more than 250 games. He is a four-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year and has taken the Hawks to the postseason in seven of the last eight years.
JAY WRIGHT, Villanova
He begins his eighth season at ‘Nova, having amassed 148 wins at the school. Villanova has made the NCAA Tournament for the last four seasons, including three trips to the Sweet 16 and an Elite Eight appearance. Wright came to Villanova following his tenure at Hofstra and has 270 career victories.
