Martelli's grandson steals the show

CBS asked for permission first. Staffers had seen Phil Martelli's grandson, Philip, right behind the St. Joseph's bench during the Atlantic 10 tournament, acting like . . . Phil Martelli.

Would it be OK to make him part of the telecast?

They should have asked: Do you mind if your 4-year-old grandson steals the show, even as the Hawks win the A-10 title for the first time since 1997?

If you haven't seen Philip Martelli in action, you don't go online much, since the video went fairly viral. You missed the clip Monday morning on the Today Show and Good Morning America. And on Monday's local newscasts.

"You've got to get the kid, we need the kid," a producer told a sports reporter from one of the TV stations, according to Phil Martelli Jr., Philip's father.

He told his wife, "Buckle up for at least 24 hours."

Phil Martelli Jr., by the way, happens to be a Delaware Blue Hens assistant coach, also going to the NCAA tournament. A pretty significant event in dad's life.

But people are calling him about the kid.

"To me, it's fitting. He's been waiting, like, 'Where have you people been?' Phil Jr. said of the cameras.

CBS showed Philip, wearing a blazer and a tie, folding his arms, just a few feet behind the bench, as Phil folded his arms. It was all in the same shot. They both yelled, "Hey!" They stroked their chins in unison. Philip dropped his chin down to his chest, a familiar Martelli pose.

The kid has more moves than they showed on the video. On Saturday, the Hawk, the mascot, came over toward the St. Joe's bench flapping his wings. Philip flapped, too, for the entire timeout.

Postgame on Friday in the St. Joe's locker room, a couple of reporters interviewed Phil Martelli. Lower to the ground, Philip held up a Marriott pen as if it were a microphone.

He'd gotten an actual toy microphone for Christmas.

The games are just the tip of the iceberg, Phil Jr. said. "What you saw is a really, small, small part of it."

At home, Philip goes through the entire Hawks game-day routine, "every single part," Phil Jr. said. "If you screw up, you've got to start over."

So he'll play Phil Martelli walking on the court and pumping his fist at the student section as the fans chant his name. (True fact: He recently obtained a bald wig for this part.)

"Then he's the Hawk . . . then he does the Dunkin' Donuts Dash during timeouts," Phil Jr. said.

He had his mother sing the national anthem - "as Katy Perry," Phil Jr. said. "I don't know how he knows Katy Perry." His 2-year-old sister, Marra, has gotten involved, standing straight up next to Philip, as if they are players during the anthem.

Philip's mom, Meghan, was herself a college basketball player who played in a Division III national title game for Eastern Connecticut. Her father is a high school coach in Connecticut.

"All he knows, everybody in the family coaches," Phil Jr. said. "One night, I'm a St. Joe's Hawk. One night, I'm a Delaware Blue Hen. One night, I'm a St. Paul Catholic Falcon. He probably thinks every 4-year-old knows who Fran Dunphy and Bruiser Flint are. 'This is what we do. Every couple of nights, we go to a game.' He thinks this is just life. At school, he probably assumes all the other kids were at the game."

"When he got up today, he asked his grandmother if he could pack his two suits for Buffalo, and get his stuff together, and then all heck broke loose," Phil Martelli said, referring to the TV appearances.

The Hawks coach added, "We've done everything short of talk to child psychologists to make sure we're not frying his brain."

It was intended to be a temporary move, Phil Jr. said, when his family moved in with his parents in Media after he took the Delaware job. (He'd been an assistant at Niagara.) But when each of his parents lost a sister last spring, they realized the grandkids being around was really life-affirming and soothing.

"It's going to crush them a little bit when we move out," Phil Jr. said.

Since the Blue Hens are going to Spokane, Wash., to face Michigan State, that didn't seem like a good choice for the kids' first airplane flight. Marra is going to the grandparents' in Connecticut. Originally, Philip was, too. But he earned his keep in Brooklyn as the Hawks kept winning, so he's going to the NCAAs.

Let's take a guess that you'll know it Thursday night if you watch St. Joe's play Connecticut in the NCAA East Regional.

At a Coaches vs. Cancer breakfast Monday morning, the Hawks coach said about Philip: "His grandfather has in the past been accused of playing up to the media. Now he's outshining me."

@jensenoffcampus