TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
“
I just want to be remembered as someone who cared.
Temple University president Richard M. Englert, "John Chaney was a great coach, but he was so much more. For generations of Temple University students, he was a wise counselor, a dedicated teacher, an icon of success, and a passionate leader who always led by example and with con- viction. I am also honored to say he was a dear friend." John Chaney was born on January 21, 1932, in Jacksonville, FL. Raised by his mother and step-father, Chaney and his family lived in Jacksonville's "black bot- tom" area. They later moved to Philadel- phia, PA where Chaney would live the remainder of his life. Chaney attended Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin High School, where he played basketball and earned MVP in the Philadelphia Public League. Chaney was a childhood friend of Wilt Chamberlain (Mu 1957). He attended historic Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, FL, where he earned NAIA All-America honors in basketball. Chaney graduated in 1955 and later earned an M.A. degree from Antioch College. While the National Basketball Association (NBA) had African-American players when Chaney completed his collegiate eligibil- ity, the eight-team NBA provided limited opportunities, if at all, for the majority of African-American players. As a result, Chaney played briefly with the Harlem Globetrotters, before playing profession- ally for ten years in the Eastern Basketball League, where he was a two-time League Most Valuable Player, seven-time league All-Star and two-time All-Star Game MVP. He was a player-coach for the Williamsport team for two seasons. Injuries sustained in a 1966 automobile accident ended his playing career. After he retired from professional basket- ball, Chaney entered the coaching ranks at the high school level. He earned his first head basketball coach position at Sayre Ju- nior High School in Bradford County, PA,
wherein three seasons, his teams went 59–9. He then moved to Philadelphia's Simon Gratz High School team and turned a one-win team into a competi- tive, winning program. His teams won 63 games in six seasons. His next stop was at Division II Cheney University (now Cheney State University) where he coached for ten seasons. He compiled a 228-59 record and won an NCAA Divi- sion II National Championship in 1978. Chaney's arrival at Temple University in 1982 sparked a growing interest in the program from fans, high school recruits, and college basketball media. Before Chaney, the Temple Owls basketball team was an also-ran program that never went to the NCAA tournament in con- secutive years. Under Chaney, the Owl program went to five successive tourna- ment appearances between 1984 and 1988 and 12 straight appearances from 1990 to 2001. A total of 23 of Chaney's 24 Temple teams played in post-season tournaments. Chaney's best team, 1987- 88 squad led by star player All-American Marc Macon was ranked No. 1 in the country and lost in the East Regional Final to Duke 63-53. Chaney coached the Owls men's basketball program to five NCAA regional finals and 17 NCAA tournaments. In 1987 and 1988, Temple put together back-to-back 30-win cam- paigns. When he retired from coaching in 2006, Chaney won 516 games with a .617 winning percentage during his 24 seasons at Temple. In addition to McKie, Chaney coached future NBA play- ers Eddie Jones, Mark Macon, Duane Causwell, Tim Perry, Marc Jackson, and Terence Stansbury. University of Kentucky men's head basketball coach John Calipari after hearing Coach Chaney's passing, "I'm so saddened to hear that we have lost John Chaney, a coaching icon, a Hall of Famer, a molder of young men, the ultimate competitor, and a dear friend. Being able
to compete against the best at a young age gave me a great opportunity to grown and learn." Chaney and Calipari became longtime friends years after a 1990s inci- dent after a tough, hard-fought game with Calipari's University of Massachusetts (UMass) team where Chaney charged Calipari's post-game press conference and threatened to "kill Calipari." In addition to membership in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Chaney was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. He won the Henry Iba Award from the United States Basketball Writers Association in 1987 and 1988. The Associated Press (AP) named him Coach of the Year in 1988. The Atlantic 10 conference named Chaney its coach of the year five times. In 2014, Temple University honored its legendary retired coach with a statue at Liacouras Center where the Owls men’s and women’s teams play. Brother John Chaney is survived by his wife of 67 years the former Jeanne Dixon and three children.
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