Temple vs. Iowa a Fran-tastic battle
NEW YORK - Fran Dunphy has been coaching at the college level for 27 seasons. Fran McCaffery, another Philly guy, has been doing it for 19. They've gone against each other only twice. Even though Dunphy, when asked about that on Thursday, said, "It's amazing our paths haven't crossed before."
NEW YORK - Fran Dunphy has been coaching at the college level for 27 seasons. Fran McCaffery, another Philly guy, has been doing it for 19. They've gone against each other only twice. Even though Dunphy, when asked about that on Thursday, said, "It's amazing our paths haven't crossed before."
Well, at least not for a while.
McCaffery, whose Iowa team will get Dunph's 10th-seeded Owls in Friday's first round of the NCAA South Regional at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, remembers things differently.
"My first game at Siena (in 2005), we lost to (Penn) at the Palestra," McCaffery clarified. "And we lost again at (Temple in 2009) in Rob Kennedy's Christmas tournament."
The losses were by five and four points.
In late January, the Hawkeyes - who made it to the third round a year ago - were ranked third in the nation. Things haven't gone so well for them since then. They've lost five of their last six. But it's a new season. Besides, Thursday was mostly for swapping old stories among friends.
"We go back very, very far," Dunphy said. "He was a little bit younger than I. I remember watching him play as a high school player (at La Salle) . . . He went away to college for a year (Wake Forest) and then came back to (Penn). The similarities are there with a number of our guys over the years who have done that . . .
"I remember his dad being a Philly cop, and part of his chores at the end of his career were to take care of the Palestra. So I would see him all the time. His mom and dad were terrific basketball fans and great Philadelphians. (Fran and I) see each other often in the offseason."
It's not quite the same.
"There's a family feel there (among the Philly coaching fraternity), and everybody that kind of came up that way looks out for each other," McCaffery said. "And it's gone on for years and years . . . Dave Duke, his assistant, was my assistant at Lehigh. So there's a lot of camaraderie there.
"It's interesting we would end up here, with Villanova as well, as Jay Wright is another guy . . . I have known since we were kids. There's a mutual respect, but also an understanding on that day we're going to try to beat each other up. And then we're going to be best friends when the game is over."
He'll get no arguments from the guy who's going to try to end his season.
"The NCAA Tournament is a whole new world," Dunphy said. "That's the fragile nature of the life we lead."
Neither would want it any other way.
@mikekerndn