ALUMNI
Chaney has no qualms about speaking his mind
John Chaney's body English on the
sidelines tells the whole story about what
he's seeing on the court as Temple's basket
ball coach.
His penetrating eyes scrutinize every
offensive and defensive move that his play
ers make. He winces at a blown defensive
assignments and agonizes over missed free
throws. He doesn't want his troops to beat
themselves. His mind is always completely
immersed into an Owls basketball game.
Chaney's roots go back to black col
lege basketball when he played for and
graduated from Beth une -Coo km an. The 56
year old coach guided his team to a 32-2
mark last season, and they were ranked No.
1 in the land in the final regular season
polls. They -.weie_heavy favorites to reach
the Final Four, but they fell short in the
Final Eight, losing to Duke in the regionals.
Over the last two seasons as the Owls
* guiding hand, the team has finished at 64-6.
Chaney was voted as college basket
ball's coach of the year for last season.
Entering the '88-'89 campaign (his 17th),
his career coaching record was 379-97,
which calculates to a .796 winning percent
age. Among active Division I basketball
coaches, Chaney's percentage is No. 2, the
only coach doing" better being Jerry Tarka
nian of the University of Nevada at Las
Vegas (.825).
That feat is a story in itself. In terms of
- winning percentage, his labors have pro
duced more victories than such coaching
notables as Dean Smith (North Carolina),
Denny Crum (Louisville), John Thompson
(Georgetown), Bobby Knight (Indiana) and
Eddie Sutton (Kentucky).
Before becoming the head guy at Tem
ple, Chaney worked his magic at Cheney
State, a historically black college. And his
crowning achievement at that school mani
fested itself in '78 when he coached the
Wolves to top of the heap and won the
Division II national title. During his six
year tenure at Cheney, he compiled a 129
36 mark.
ItV very likely that Chaney's coaching
style was molded during his days at
Cheney. The differences between Division I
and II are all to obvious in his mind.
"You have to do more teaching (at
Division II)," Chaney explains. "And you
have to do more as a coach because you
don't have the resources and facilities.
Without question, it's a big problem when
you compare the two situations."
The Owls headmaster has a reputation
among his peers as a strong teacher. He's
also known as somewhat of a drill sergeant
type who deeply careS about the welfare of
his players beyond the hardwood. His 5:30
a.m. team practices have been well docu
mented. But the results speak Tor them
selves. It's apparent that while this approach
is deemed unconventional, it has proven to
be effective. There hasn't been any public
disclosures about
Chaney's athletes not
going to class and not
graduating. When you
play for Chaney, it's
all business on the
floor and in the
books.
Chaney can be
viewed as a wise old
Owl (no pun intend
ed). He's experienced
much by having
coached in both divi
sions. He didn't get
his first Division 1
coaching job until he
was 50 and that came
when Temple offered
him the job right after
the Wolves won the
national title.
Still, the Temple
coach hasn't forgotten
from whence he
came. Elements such
as* Proposition 48, the
NCAA's academic
guidelines for fresh
men athletes disturbs
him. He's been known
to have long talks with his black college
counterparts such as Clarence "Bijfhouse"
Gaines of Winston-Salem State and Don
Corbett of North Carolina A & T about the
dilemma facing black athletes on the col
lege level.
So what are these conversations all
about?
"The rules that the NCAA imposed
victimizes blacks schools and black kids,"
he says. The NCAA is saying that Proposi
tion 48 is working. How can that be? What
we have is roughly 33 percent fewer blades
being involved in higher education. It's very
discomforting and very upsetting. Black
colleges, in particular, are being devastated
because the same top 50 or so schools are
still able to dominate things in the major
sport s."
The B-CC graduate has been very out
spoken about Proposition 48. Many people
in the college athletic community feel that
it's something that's here to stay, so they'll
just have to dance to the music if they
choose to stay under the NCAA umbrella.
Chaney, however, doesn't believe that
has to necessarily be t Yft case.
The Temple coach reminds us that
when Proposition 48 was being formulated,
there was no black college representation
on the committee that fashioned that legis
lation. That oversight, he stresses, is possi
ble grounds for a lawsuit if those opposed
to it, choose to pursue it
"This thing is clearly moving into the
area of equal opportunity and civil rights,"
he says. "Let me put it this way. If you
Photo by-fhe Magnificent Eye
Chaney (loosened tie) hustles a player to the sidelines during a time-out.
came up with a rule that would affect ail
people, but didn't have those people repre
sented when you made that rule, they would
be left out They wouldn't have equal pro
tection under the law. In a case like that,
they would have the grounds to take you to
court"
And anyhow, he continues, the major
colleges who are after the Mercedes Benz
type athletes will eventually get them any
way, iiregardless of Proposition 48. "All of
the big schools know about the top kids
coming out of the high school all across the
country," he notes. There are usually 25 or
30 each year. So for those who don't meet
the requirements as freshmen, the big
schools send them all off like cattle to a
junior college or community college (where
they can become eligible to play)."
The problem, as Chaney sees it, is the
pre-college educational system in the U.S.
"A lot of kids aren't really being educated at
a young age. There needs to be more money
spent at the lower levels starting with the
elementary and junior high school levels.
Right now, because not enough money is
being spent, those kids aren't being exposed
to the proper academic courses. Why pun
ish a kid at the end of his trip (in the educa
tional system)?"
As one of the more notable blacks at
the top of the college coaching profession,
it would seem that the Black Coaches Asso
ciation would be aq organization that
Chaney would be heavily involved in. One
major reason why the BCA was formed.
was to help blacks at predominantly white
schools become more entrenched in jobs as
head coaches and athletic administrators. In
the vast majority of cases, it's been demon
strated that there are very few blacks who
are head coaches or athletic administrators
at major Division I colleges around the
country. According to the BCA, slightly
less than two percent of Division I men's
.athletic directors are black. No black
women have such positions. In all men's
athletic administration positions (Division
I), only 4.1 percent are being held by
blacks. Black women, the BCA says, hold
1.6 percent of women's athletic, administra
tive jobs.
In terms of Division I basketball for
men, black student-athletes make up for 43
percent of the athletic scholarship recipi
ents, while black head coaches comprise
just eight percent of the total
Chaney doesn't see where the BCA can
be effective as it stands right now. "I don't
join anything unless it's totally representa
tive of everyone," he says. "It's not a policy
making group. I just don't see how the orga
nization can be effective. You can't get any
thing done with a sideshow."
John Chaney has never been one to
mince words. You may not always like
what he says. But he commands your
respect when he speaks. At least you know
wher? he stands.
And that's a real change.
?Craig T. Greenlee