A Legacy of Excellence: Exploring Temple University Basketball History

The Temple University men’s basketball program boasts a storied history filled with remarkable achievements, legendary figures, and unforgettable moments. From its humble beginnings in 1894 to becoming one of the winningest programs in NCAA Division I men’s college basketball, Temple has established itself as a force to be reckoned with. With over 2,000 victories, numerous NCAA Tournament appearances, and a pair of National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championships, the Owls have consistently demonstrated a commitment to excellence. This article delves into the rich tapestry of Temple basketball history, highlighting key milestones, influential coaches, iconic players, and the program's enduring legacy.

Early Years and the Inaugural NIT Championship

Temple's first basketball victory came against the Purple Crescent Athletic Club in 1894, marking the start of the Owls building a reputation as one of the top schools in men’s college basketball history. In 1938, Temple won the first-ever national championship in the sport after they defeated Colorado 60-36 in the NIT, the forerunner of the NCAA tournament that started a year later. The cherry and white were led by Head Coach James Usilton, who collected 205 wins at Temple. Across Usilton’s coaching tenure, he produced notable players like Mike Bloom, Reds Rosan, Ed Boyle, Don Shields and Harry Litwack. The Temple Owls became the first National Invitation Tournament (NIT) champions in 1938, one year before the inception of the NCAA tournament. The NIT was broadly recognized as a national championship-caliber tournament for a number of years, beginning with the 1938 national championship won by Temple. Additionally, the Owls were retroactively recognized by the Helms Athletic Foundation as the national champion for the 1937-38 season and were listed as the top team of that season by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.

The Cody Era and the "Owl Without a Vowel"

In the 1940s, Head Coach Josh Cody led the program to their 500th win in a victory against rival La Salle 47-43. Bill Mlkvy, known as the ‘Owl Without a Vowel,’ was Temple’s first official All-American in the 1950s. Mlkvy, who recently passed away on Dec. 12, will always be remembered for scoring a school record of 73 points in a single college basketball game, outscoring Wilkes College 73-69 while scoring 54 points straight, which remains an NCAA record. His No. 20 was retired by the school, and his banner hangs from the rafters of the Liacouras Center. “Temple was like the Statue of Liberty. The mission of Temple was to educate people who didn’t have accessibility and the means to go to other schools,” Mlkvy said in an alum spotlight interview with Temple in 2014.

The Litwack Era: Final Fours and Big 5 Rivalries

Known as The Chief, Litwack would puff his trademark cigars while leading the Owls to six NCAA appearances, including the Final Four twice (1956 and 1958). He also led Temple to win its second NIT championship in 1969. He produced All-American players, including Hal Lear, Guy Rodgers, Bruce Drysdale, Bill “Pickles” Kennedy and John Baum, along with stars Jim Williams, Clarence Brookins and Ollie Johnson. Litwack’s 379 wins at Temple would later earn him the honor of being the first Owls coach inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The Litwack years coincide with the start of the Big 5 games where many of Philadelphia's long-standing rivalries were contested at the historic Palestra, often featuring doubleheaders with fierce competition and heart-stopping thrills. John Baum in three seasons with the Owls scored 1,544 points and grabbed 1,042 rebounds. In 1956, Temple advanced to their first Final Four, defeating Connecticut behind Lear’s 40 points and Fred Cohen’s 34 rebounds, an NCAA tournament record. After a loss to Iowa, the Owls bounced back in the third-place game to defeat SMU 91-80. Lear scored 48 points and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament. Temple retired Lear’s No. 6 jersey in 2013. In 1958, the Owls returned to the Final Four and were led by Rodgers, Kennedy, Jay Norman, Tink Van Patton, and Mel Brodsky. Rodgers led the Owls to another win in the national third-place game. He had his No. In 1969, it appeared that Temple’s 18-8 record would not be good enough to qualify for the NIT, but luckily, they were the last team in. They fought uphill battles to defeat Florida, St. Peter’s and Tennessee to gain a spot to face nationally ranked Boston College and their retiring coach, NBA legend Bob Cousy, in the NIT championship game at Madison Square Garden. Temple’s captain Baum led the Owls with 30 points and 10 rebounds in one of the program’s greatest upsets, ending BC’s 19-game winning streak. Temple’s Joe Cromer added 19 points and Eddie Mast tallied 10 points and 22 rebounds. During the Owls celebration, an uproar broke out when BC’s Terry Driscoll was announced as the Most Valuable Player. “The guys were disappointed that I didn’t get MVP, but it's special to be a part of history,” said Baum. “It was a sellout crowd, at the Mecca of Basketball, so we felt the pressure early.

The Casey Era

Don Casey took over as the Owls head coach after Litwack retired in 1973. Casey guided the Owls to 151 wins, making three NIT appearances and one NCAA tournament appearance. He produced star players: Terence Stansbury, Granger Hall, Tim Claxton, Marty Stahurski and Rick Reed.

The John Chaney Era: A Legacy of Toughness and Success

As the architect of the match-up zone that stymied opposing offenses, John Chaney was hired as Owls’ head coach in 1982. “Winning is an attitude,” are words he often said. practices. He also had an infamous interaction with John Calipari at a press conference. It was just one example of Chaney’s reputation as a blunt, unapologetic, tough coach who demanded excellence on and off the court. Chaney won 516 games at Temple, taking the Owls to the NCAA tournament 17 times and reaching the Elite Eight on five occasions. His first recruit Nate Blackwell recalled his most memorable Temple moments: His first year when he faced a North Carolina team led by Michael Jordan in the NCAA Tournament and his senior year, where he led the Owls to a 32-4 record in 1987. “Some people just don’t know that Temple has been in the top six in all-time wins in college basketball for years, so the fact we are on the list fills my heart with pride,” said Blackwell. “The physical part of Chaney’s practices was not as crazy as you would think. We were only out there a couple of hours and if you know Coach, he talked for half it,” Blackwell laughed. “He instilled his philosophy in us. The No. The Owls are No. In 1988, the Owls had their winningest season with a 32-2 record, finishing as the top-ranked team in the country for the first time in the school’s history. The Owls’ roster featured a collection of stars, including Mark Macon, Howard Evans, Mike Vreeswyk, Tim Perry, Ramón Rivas and Duane Causwell. “What made our team so special is that we were a family,” said Macon, who exploded onto the college basketball scene by averaging 20.6 points per game in his first year. “Chaney’s mentality was he didn’t care who we came up against. We would play anybody in the country.” Macon most remembers when Temple defeated Villanova 98-86 before a sold-out building at McGonigle Hall. He led the team with 31 points despite having the flu that caused him to lose 25 pounds. Evans dished out 20 assists and scored 17 points. That year, the Owls beat other top schools like North Carolina, UCLA, West Virginia and Georgetown before losing to Duke in the 1988 Elite Eight. In 1991, Temple returned to the Elite Eight with Macon and a new cast of Owl legends: Mik Kilgore, Donald Hodge, Mark Strickland and Vic Carstarphen, the current mayor of Camden, New Jersey. Macon’s No. 12 jersey became the second number retired by Temple in 1999. He is the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,609 points. “It’s an honor as a person who came from a small town in Saginaw, Michigan, that Temple gave me an opportunity to make big strides in the big city of Philadelphia,” said Macon. The Owls of the early 90s also featured stars Eddie Jones, Aaron McKie and Rick Brunson, all of whom made a run to the Elite Eight in 1993. Derrick Battie started as a true first-year player on the team. His son Dillon Battie is currently playing his first year at Temple. Forward Marc Jackson was another Temple star of the 90s. He grew up in North Philadelphia, so it was a homecoming for him after transferring from VCU to Temple in 1995. Jackson’s favorite Owls’ memory was defeating No. 2 Villanova 62-56 and nine days later, beating No.1 Kansas 74-66 in overtime at the inaugural Jimmy V Classic. “It was a valiant war against Kansas. We played the top three ranked teams all in the same month that year and beat Duke later in the season,” he said. “I tell everybody to this day Villanova may get the better of us some years but I'm undefeated against them. The Owls of 1997-2002 were led by Rasheed Brokenborough, Lynn Greer, Pepe Sanchez, Mark Karcher, Lamont Barnes, Quincy Wadley, David Hawkins, Alex Wesby and Kevin Lyde. The name Pepe Sanchez still carries weight with Owls fans. He helped rally the Owls from a late 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to upset No. 5 Michigan State 60-59 at the Liacouras Center. Sanchez surged into the paint and drew a foul on Mateen Cleaves with 0.5 seconds left in regulation. The Argentine made the first throw before plunging backward to the floor in disbelief after he made the second free throw to seal the win. The victory was even more significant as it marked Temple’s 1,500th win. Temple upsets No. Greer, who currently serves as the chief of staff for Coach Fisher, also played a key role in many of the program’s marquee wins. Greer went 5-for-5 from 3-point range in the first half when the Owls upset No. 1 Cincinnati 77-69 on the road in 2000. Sanchez, who was not expected to play due to a high ankle sprain, controlled the game at point guard and Karcher led the team with 28 points. The win marked Chaney’s 400th victory at Temple. “The 2,000 wins make me think of a family atmosphere,” said Greer, who scored 2,099 points at Temple. Greer said his favorite wins at Temple were both in 2002. The first was when he tallied 36 points and 9 assists to help the Owls overcome a 16-point halftime deficit to defeat St. Joe’s 87-84 in a thrilling double-overtime Big 5 game at the Palestra. The other was one of the best individual performances in Owls’ history; he scored 47 points in a 70-67 double-overtime win on the road against Wisconsin. Greer also recalled when his team, as an 11th seed, made an unexpected run to the NCAA Elite Eight with victories against Texas, Florida and Penn State in 2001. That same year, Chaney became the second Owls coach inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “Chaney’s zone was so tricky that we would be able to tell within the first five minutes if a team wasn’t prepared,” said Greer, whose son Lynn Greer III now plays for Temple. “We ran through Texas and Florida by large margins and then beat a local Penn State team in the Sweet 16 before Michigan St. Before the end of Chaney’s tenure, Temple upset No. 6 George Washington (GW) 68-53 in the Atlantic 10 (A-10) tournament. The Owls’ roster was led by Mardy Collins, Mark Tyndale, Antywane Robinson, Dustin Salisbury and Wayne Marshall. They snapped GW’s nation-longest win streak at 18 games.

The Dunphy Era

On April 10, 2006, Penn head coach and La Salle alumnus Fran Dunphy was named the new head coach. Dunphy had coached the Quakers for 17 straight seasons prior to the move. After struggling his first year, the Owls won the A-10 tournament for three consecutive years in 2008, 2009, and 2010. The Owls received bids to the NCAA Tournament for six straight years under Dunphy (2008-2013). However, the Owls only won a game in the Tournament twice during that time period. Temple's Fran Dunphy was named AAC Coach of the Year.

The McKie Era

After the 2018 season it was announced that former Owls standout and then-assistant coach Aaron McKie would take over for Dunphy in 2019.

The Fisher Era and the 2,000th Victory

The Temple University men’s basketball team earned its historic 2,000th victory in dramatic fashion last night, defeating Davidson by a score of 62-61 at the Liacouras Center. The Temple men’s basketball team won its 2,000th game in program history on Wednesday, Dec. 18, against Davidson by a score of 62-61 at the Liacouras Center. The Owls are now only the sixth school to reach 2,000 wins in the history of NCAA Division I men’s college basketball. “[I mean] 2,000 wins, it’s incredible,” Owls Coach Adam Fisher said. “This is a program win. A winning attitude has been the program’s lifeblood at the core of the program for more than 100 years. Currently, the Owls are led by head coach Adam Fisher.

Rivalries and Big 5 Dominance

As a member of the Big 5, the five large colleges in Philadelphia, the Owls have long-standing rivalries with Villanova, Penn, Saint Joseph's, and La Salle. The Owls are tied with Villanova for the most Big 5 titles to date, with 27. However, while tied in overall titles, Villanova has more outright titles not shared by any other tying team. The Owls have not won an outright Big 5 title since the 2000-01 season. The Owls won their most recent Big 5 title in 2022-23, going 3-1 in Big 5 play and splitting the title with Villanova. Other rivals include UMass, UConn, and Cincinnati. Temple was in the American Athletic Conference with UConn and Cincinnati until their departures in 2020 and 2023, respectively.

Read also: Is Temple a Good Fit?

NCAA Tournament and NIT Appearances

Since its first season in 1894, Temple has since made 33 appearances in the NCAA tournament, reaching the Elite Eight on eight occasions and appearing in the Final Four twice. The Owls won the first-ever National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 1938 and again in 1969. The Owls have appeared in the NCAA tournament 33 times. The Owls have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 19 times. Their combined record is 23-17.

Statistical Leaders

The Temple Owls men's basketball statistical leaders are individual statistical leaders of the Temple Owls men's basketball program in various categories, including points, three-pointers, assists, blocks, rebounds, and steals. Within those areas, the lists identify single-game, single-season, and career leaders. However, the school's record book does not generally list records from before the 1950s, as records from before this period are often incomplete and inconsistent. The NCAA did not officially record assists as a stat until the 1983-84 season, and blocks and steals until the 1985-86 season, but Temple's record books includes players in these stats before these seasons.

Read also: Affording Temple

tags: #temple #university #basketball #history