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THE JIM PHELAN STORY
 No
one has coached more college basketball games than Jim Phelan.
No asterisk. No classification of Division I, II or III. He has, hands
down, stood on the sidelines as a college basketball head coach for more
games than anyone else in history. Period.
Talk about your iron man. Even Cal Ripken Jr. would have to doff his cap
to coach Phelan. For a coach, the streak may not have been as physically
challenging, but over the years there have been challenges.
Like the challenge of cancer just two seasons ago. While the battle raged
inside coach Phelan's body he continued to stand on the sidelines one game
after another. As a former marine, his collegiate streak may not have
begun if he had not withstood the challenges of the Korean War as an
active participant.
When the Mountaineers tipped off at Columbia on November 25, 2000, Jim
Phelan became the reigning king of longevity in the college ranks. He
enters the 2002-03 season, his 49th as a head coach at Mount St. Mary's,
with 1,300 games behind him and still more to go. This season, Phelan will
pass the legendary Phog Allen for seasons coached.
With the retirement of Dean Smith as head coach at the University of North
Carolina on October 9, 1997, Jim Phelan assumed the title of Winningest
Active Coach in College Basketball. But as time goes by, it seems Coach
Phelan is constantly receiving honors, surpassing milestones, or setting
another record. Recent seasons have been no different, as Phelan continues
to move among, and past, a very elite group of people who have coached
college basketball.
In the Northeast Conference championship game on March 1, 1999, Phelan
became the fourth person to coach 800 college basketball victories, and
put his team into its 16th NCAA basketball tournament. On January 19,
1998, against Robert Morris, he became only the second person to coach
1,200 college basketball games. Of all the people who have coached college
basketball, only former Winston-Salem State coach Clarence "Big House"
Gaines (1,275 games) had spent as much time on the sidelines as the man
with the bow ties.
When Jim Phelan, a native of Philadelphia and a 1951 graduate of La Salle,
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 for a
couple of years. Forty-seven years later, Phelan has guided 16 Mount teams
to NCAA tournaments, including five trips to the Division II Final Four
and the College Division national championship in 1962. Nineteen of his
teams have reached the 20-win plateau, while just 10 have suffered losing
records. Phelan can boast of two NCAA Division I tournament teams and one
National Invitation Tournament bid. In 1967, the Coach also became
administrator as he was named Athletics Director. He served dual roles
over the next 22 years, helping to lay the groundwork for the Mount's move
to Division I in 1988. Once the move was made, however, he resigned as AD
to devote his full attention to the basketball program.
Growing up in Philadelphia, Phelan was one of the top players in the city.
Among his grade-school teammates, and a player he also would play with
later in the Marine Corps, was NBA Hall-of-Famer Paul Arizin. As a player
at La Salle, Phelan made the All-Philadelphia team for three straight
years. He then went into the Marine Corps and led the Marine Cagers from
Quantico to the All-Marine Championship. He was named the Most Valuable
Player in the Corps. After his discharge, Phelan played briefly with the
Philadelphia Warriors of the National Basketball Association and the
Pottstown Packers of the old Eastern League.
 After
spending one year as an assistant at his alma mater, Phelan made the move
to rural Maryland for the anticipated short stay. Sixty-nine wins in his
first three years and a third-place finish in the national College
Division tournament persuaded the coach to give the Mount a little more of
his time. A few years later, he was back in the national tournament,
placing fourth in 1961 and then winning the school's first-ever NCAA
Championship in 1962. That club went 24-6 and earned Phelan national Coach
of the Year honors.
The late sixties brought another string of 20-win campaigns, but it wasn't
until 1981 that the team returned to national prominence. The '81 squad,
though maybe not as talent-laden as some other Mount teams, recorded a
school-record 28-3 mark, losing to Florida Southern in the NCAA Division
II Championship game. Again, Phelan earned the national Coach of the Year
award. That '81 squad set the stage for what has to be one of the top
decades of college basketball at any level. Eight of the 10 teams in the
eighties won at least 20 games; the 1985 group returned to the Final Four,
going 28-5 and finishing third in the country; and the 1986 and 1987 teams
each logged 26 victories. Of course, it was that surge which led to the
Mount's 1988 move to Division I.
In 1991, Phelan was one of 15 nominees to pass the screening committee for
the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He is now the only college
basketball coach ever to reach 800 wins without a plaque in Springfield.
Among the outstanding individuals who played under Phelan are former
Philadelphia '76ers head coach Fred Carter '69, who also played in the NBA
with the '76ers, Washington Bullets and Milwaukee Bucks; Jack Sullivan
'57, the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,672 points; and John
O'Reilly '63, a two-time All-America who led the '62 championship team.
Phelan and his wife, Dottie, reside near campus. They are the parents of
five grown children: Jim, Lynne, Carol, Larry and Bob. They have nine
grandchildren: James, Kate and Mary Robinson; Jack, Conor and Maureen
Marsh; and Kelsey, Erin and Molly Phelan.
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