EMMITTSBURG, Md., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Jim Phelan, the long-time basketball coach at Mount Saint Marys, said Thursday he will retire at season's end.
Phelan, one of the most popular coaches in the country, is in his 49th year at the tiny Emmittsburg, Md., school, an NCAA record for tenure. He is third all-time on the NCAA Division I career win list with 824, behind North Carolina's Dean Smith (879), Kentucky's Phog Allen (876), and Clarence "Big House" Gaines (828). He has coached an NCAA record 1,339 games.
"The decision to step down was made much earlier," Phelan said at a news conference. "I had discussed it with several of my close friends and decided that the time was right. Certainly, healthwise I feel fine, but the energy needed for the virtual year-round recruiting just isn't there."
When Phelan, 73, a native of Philadelphia and a 1951 graduate of LaSalle, left his hometown in 1954 to become head coach at Mount St. Mary's College, he did so with one thought in mind -- he was only staying a couple of years. Forty-nine seasons later, he has guided 16 Mount teams to NCAA Tournaments, including five trips to the NCAA Division II Final Four, and the College Division national championship in 1962.
Nineteen of his teams have reached the 20-win plateau, one more than UCLA's John Wooden.
Phelan also can boast of two NCAA Division I tournament teams and one NIT bid. In 1967, Phelan also became an administrator as he was named Director of Athletics.
He served dual roles over the next 22 years, helping to lay the groundwork for the school's move to Division I in 1988.
Once the move was made, he resigned as AD to devote his full attention to the basketball program.
He assumed the title of "Winningest Active Coach" in the NCAA when Dean Smith retired in 1997. In the Northeast Conference championship game on March 1, 1999, Phelan became the third person in NCAA Division I to coach 800 college basketball victories, and put his team into the NCAA Tournament.
With the win, he joined Smith, Rupp, and Gaines on that exclusive list.
"I do not have to tell you the truly unique record Jim has established at the Mount," said Mount St. Mary's President George R. Houston. "I think it is safe to state it has never been accomplished before and will not be repeated again. This is a record, not only at the Mount, but also for the game of basketball itself."
"He is a man whom I have always admired and respected, especially because he has served as a mentor to many young coaches," Maryland-Baltimore County Coach Tom Sullivan told the Baltimore Sun. "Coach Phelan has always taken a genuine interest in his players and never let the influence of big time college basketball change his attitudes about student-athletes. I consider him a dear friend and know he will always be a part of the game."
His 1981 squad had a school-record 28-3 mark, losing to Florida Southern in the NCAA Division II Championship game, and Phelan earned the national Coach of the Year honors.
The 1986 and 1987 teams each logged 26 victories, and it was this surge that led to the Mount's move to Division I in 1988.
In 1991, Phelan served in the Korean War and played for the Philadelphia Warriors in the NBA and the Pottstown Packers of the defunct Eastern League. He was one of 15 nominees to pass the screening committee for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and now is the only college basketball coach ever to reach 800 wins without a plaque in Springfield.
"It is an honor to have worked with Jim since I arrived at the Mount," said current Athletic Director Dr. Harold "Chappy" Menninger. "What he has accomplished here is truly incredible, and as the season progresses, we can reflect upon his numerous achievements."
"Not only do I respect Jim Phelan as a great teacher and coach of basketball, but I respect him even more for the type of man that he has been in the Mount St. Mary's community," Towson basketball coach Michael Hunt told the paper. "It is a pure travesty that a coach of his stature has not been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame."
Milan Brown, currently an assistant under Phelan and a former star at Howard University, is the front-runner to succeed the legendary coach.
The school will hold a news conference Friday to name Phelan's successor.
