Ursinus grad Debbie Ryan earns award

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Pete Carril, Jim Phelan and Debbie Ryan, all basketball coaching greats at their respective schools and winners of more than a combined 2,000 games, have been selected as recipients of the fourth annual Lapchick Character Award.

The three will be honored at a luncheon at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 17, it was announced Thursday. The award is presented by a group that includes Joe Lapchick biographer and former player Gus Alfieri. It recognizes those who have shown the character traits of the late Hall of Famer, who coached at St. John's and with the New York Knicks.

Carril coached at Princeton for 29 years, while Phelan was at Mount St. Mary's for 49 and Ryan, a graduate of Ursinus, was the coach at Virginia for 34 years.