July 14, 2010
PHILADELPHIA -
Jim Phelan, a 1951 graduate of La Salle who went on to win 830 games as the head men's basketball coach at Mount St. Mary's, will be inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, it was announced today. Phelan will be inducted on November 11 at the Society Hill Sheraton.
He joins fellow La Salle graduates Tom Gola and Lionel Simmons in the Philly Sports Hall of Fame.
A La Salle Hall of Athletes inductee, Phelan was a three-year letterwinner from 1949-51 for the Explorers and captained the 1951 NIT team. He made the All-Philadelphia team three straight seasons.
Following graduation, he joined the Marines and led the cagers from Quantico to the All-Marine Championship. He then played briefly with the NBA's Philadelphia Warriors and the Pottstown Packers of the Eastern League.
He returned to La Salle to serve as an assistant to National Basketball Hall of Fame coach Ken Loeffler in 1953-54, helping the Explorers to the NCAA Championship. He was named the head coach at Mount St. Mary's the next season.
Phelan, a Philadelphia native, coached more games than any other college coach (1,354) and his 830 wins are fifth all-time. He led his team to 16 Division II Tournament appearances and two Division I appearances and reached five Final Fours. After leading MSM to the 1962 Division II National Championship, he was named Coach of the Year.
Collegeinsider.com renamed its coach of year award the "Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award" and Mount Saint Mary's has also renamed its court "Jim Phelan Court".
The Northeast Conference Coach of the Year award is named after Jim Phelan.
Phelan was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, MO in 2008.
He is joined in this year's class by sportswriter Phil Jasner, Dick Allen (Phillies), Mike Quick (Eagles), Hobie Baker, Elizabeth Becker (Olympian), Tom Brookshier (Eagles), Ron Hextall (Flyers), William Hyndman III (golf), Bobby Jones (Sixers), Leroy Kelly (football), Tug McGraw (Phillies), Bobby Shantz (Phillies), Marianne Stanley (Immaculata University), Jersey Joe Walcott (boxing) and the Lighthouse Boys Club (soccer).
