It's the end of an era for Big 5 Basketball.
Times two.
We all knew this was the swansong for Fran Dunphy- even if it came sooner than anyone wanted. The Owls lost last night to Belmont in one of the NCAA Tournament Play-In Games.
That brings down the curtain not only on the Owls' season, but the illustrious career of the guy everyone calls 'Dunph.' He's been a fixture in the Big 5 as a player at La Salle, then a coach at Penn and Temple.
Dunphy is retiring; Phil Martelli wasn't that lucky.
More surprising was yesterday's announcement by Saint Joseph's that they were cutting ties with longtime head coach Phil Martelli.
Martelli had been at the helm of the Hawks for 24 years, and was the national Coach of the Year in 2003-04 when he led the Hawks, featuring Chester product Jameer Nelson, to the No. 1 spot in national polls and the Elite Eight.
Bottom line is college basketball is about winning, and Martelli was not winning enough.
It's more than a little ironic that new Saint Joseph's athletic director Jill Bodensteiner stressed that the 'excruciating' decision will be followed by the search for a coach that can "build a culture."
And she did it by parting ways with Martelli, a Delco guy and Widener grad who is the embodiment of Delco and Philly hoops.
Fran Dunphy and Phil Martelli.
The Big 5 just got a little smaller.
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