RIP John Chaney

[Ronnie_B]

A great college basketball coach, always liked the man, he seemed like a cool dude.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Wow, shocking news, very sad to hear

 

[zappaa]

Great coach

 

[Postman_1]

RIP, very sad. Thoughs and prayers to his family. I loved hearing him talk basketball.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

RIP

 

[Degaz-RU]

Guy was legendary.

I’ll never forget in the Atlantic 10 tournament in 1989, when we beat Temple in the semifinal - the game that spawned the “back to the RAC” chant - I covered the game for the Targum, and I was in the press room afterwards when Chaney was absolutely RIPPING the refs for a key call down the stretch. Dude was so angry that we all thought he was going to stroke out. I might still have the tape somewhere.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Yup, lane violation when we were at the line with about 2 seconds left in OT.

 

[Rutgers25]

RIP
growing up in south Jersey in the late 80s and 90s, Temple was my favorite team. Just loved the blue collar style with which they played. No showboating and other dramatics. Just put your head down and play hard. 5AM practices, etc
He was a father figure for these players and taught hard work and toughness.

Just about ever Selectuon Sunday, Temple’s name would be called. Just a staple

 

[ColonelRutgers]

As a Rutgers fan, I was always convinced that he intimidated the officials and Temple got the favorable whistle despite their physical play. My lasting memory of Chaney was sitting behind the Temple bench at my second ever RU game and him calling time out and chewing out Terence Stansbury for performing a flashy reverse dunk on a breakaway late in the game. I believe he described that move as "b.s." Stansbury later performed in the same NBA Dunk Contest as Roy Hinson a couple of years later.

 

[BigLou]

Sad to hear. He was a great coach that you loved to hate, but boy his Temple teams were tough. Good friend of Vivian Stringer who recommended she take the Rutgers job because of the campus diversity. They coached at Cheney State at the same time (always though they named the school after him lol).
One funny story is that there was talk that he committed a recruiting violation when he spoke about a particular recruit to the media. The recruit was a Philly kid named Kobe Bryant. Bryant's father was an assistant at, I think Lasalle, and during his recruitment Chaney said he should just go ahead and commit to Lasalle and get it over with. Imagine a coach being penalized for saying a recruit should go to another school.

 

[bigmatt718]

Part of Philly and Big 5 hoops died today. Chaney was a legend.

 

[RUBOWLMAN78]

One of my all time favorite coaches in any sport. Always had great respect for him. RIP!

 

[80RU]

Yup, lane violation when we were at the line with about 2 seconds left in OT.

I could be wrong, but I thought that violation was called before Macon hit that last three point shot.

I remember Cheney screaming that the players didn’t decide this game, the refs did. The call was against Macon if I remember correctly and it was absolutely a correct call.

 

[pawildcat_rivals209725]

Sorry to hear this. I actually got to interview him after a game when he was coaching in the Pennsylvania Conference at Cheyney State, and he was very gracious. His Cheyney teams played with the same disciplined style he used at Temple, but he wasn't as agitated on the bench then as he became at Temple — probably somewhat due to the greater pressure of the Division I spotlight at Temple. Stringer was coaching at Cheyney. That certainly has to be one of the more talented men's-women's coaching duos at a small college in basketball history.

 

[PiscatawayMike]

Guy was legendary.

I’ll never forget in the Atlantic 10 tournament in 1989, when we beat Temple in the semifinal - the game that spawned the “back to the RAC” chant - I covered the game for the Targum, and I was in the press room afterwards when Chaney was absolutely RIPPING the refs for a key call down the stretch. Dude was so angry that we all thought he was going to stroke out. I might still have the tape somewhere.

Indeed, in the post-game presser, Chaney went ballistic. His "If you're going to beat me, beat me!" sound bite was replayed over and over by Steve "Captain Midnight" Somers on WFAN that evening and early morning. One of the rare nights when Rutgers basketball was the No. 1 topic of conversation on The FAN.

Ah, the memories...

If you can find the tape, I'd love to hear it again.

R.I.P. Coach Chaney.

 

[patk89]

I'll never forget him losing it on Calipari when he was at UMass. Calipari was more scared than he has ever been in his life. I was scared for him.

Wise old owl of Temple. Rest in peace.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

A coaching legend.

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

RIP, very sad. Thoughs and prayers to his family. I loved hearing him talk basketball.

Legendary, we need more of this in todays game

 

[e5fdny]

I'll never forget him losing it on Calipari when he was at UMass. Calipari was more scared than he has ever been in his life. I was scared for him.

Mentioned this on the Round Table.

Wasn’t a good look or scene. You don’t crash a press conference like that.

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

Mentioned this on the Round Table.

Wasn’t a good look or scene. You don’t crash a press conference like that.

I love it. Wish we had more coaches and players who hated their opponents like chaney did. Instead today everyones friends. Nothing will ever beat 90’s basketball culture. No blood, no foul and players legitimately wanting to fight each other on and off the court

 

[e5fdny]

I love it. Wish we had more coaches and players who hated their opponents like chaney did. Instead today everyones friends. Nothing will ever beat 90’s basketball culture. No blood, no foul and players legitimately wanting to fight each other on and off the court

It was a stupid scene and move. Embarrassing for the man and the school.

Not a Calipari fan at all but he handled it much better than most.

 

[rudad02]

Great coach. RIP John.

 

[mdk02]

Oh for the days that John Chaney and Pete Carril were operating in the same vicinity. Two coaches that belong in the :

Coaches Hall of Fame, and

Irascibility Hall of Fame

Carril is still around at age 90. RIP John.

 

[ecojew]

I always had tremendous respect for Coach Chaney and usually rooted for his Temple teams when they weren't playing against RU. Once Temple joined the A-10, Chaney started building that program into a powerhouse, even to the point of being ranked #1 in either 1987 or 1988 when they came into the RAC and clobbered a Littlepage RU team.

One of his great accomplishments around the same time is that he made it impossible for ESPN and other networks to ignore Temple. For several years at that point, the Big East monopolized the TV airwaves in the Northeast and virtually no one else was permitted on TV. Then Temple broke that monopoly, which also benefited RU, WVU, and a few other A-10 teams.

Another great accomplishment was that he made Temple a destination program for many athletes. Much like with CVS at RU, great players from all around the US went to Temple because they wanted to play for him. He was a strict disciplinarian but was really a tough love kind of guy.

Temple's Liacouras Center is a great venue for college bball but I've always looked at it as literally being the House that John Chaney built. Before Chaney, Temple couldn't fill a 3500 seat gym. With him, they moved into a beautiful 10,500 seat arena.

He is among my all-time favorite coaches of any sport. RIP, Coach.

 

[BigRnj]

I still have a cardboard Cheney mask that was a giveaway at a game many years ago. Sort of a Bobcicle (from Wenzel’s days), but with eye slits.

 

[WhiteBus]

Great coach. Legendary.
Not the nicest man. Heard a lot about his bad temper. Saw it personaly 3 times. Once at the RAC.

 

[RUSCFORMERLYRULOU]

No one has mentioned his famous 5 am practices before classes started for the day.

 

[Plum Street]

Great coach . I always pulled for them when not playing rutgers . Mostly because they were a good team in the a10 and that league was always fighting for respect. They got to the elite 8 a lot and just couldn’t get over the hump.

 

[Mr_Twister]

Always thought the world of Chaney. His teams had a tough, signature defense, like Syracuse. He scheduled the best schedule he could. Temple ducked no one. And he fought some of the NCAA student/athlete qualifying rules, regarding SAT scores, which I liked.
Years ago Rutgers football had a player who was a partial qualifier — Raheem Orr. Orr once addressed the Rutgers TD Club. I couldn’t have been more impressed. I remember thinking that Orr barely made it into Rutgers. What a loss for both Orr and Rutgers if he had never spent 4 or 5 years at Rutgers. Chaney had plenty of players through the years who had similar circumstances.

 

[Night Man]

Fantastic coach and credit to the game. Old school in all the best ways, with a few not so flattering old school moments mixed in. I grew up wishing I could play for him and I couldn't tell you why him rather than the other great coaches that were around - probably that I liked his no ******** style. RU had his number in his last few years at Temple but for many years that was a team you just never wanted to play. They would just take you out of your game. Glad I got to see guys like him, Knight, Thompson when I was a kid.

 

[Colbert17!]

R.I.P. Coach
Great coach but I never liked the guy. Can't tell you why I just didn't.

 

[Antnee79]

I’ll never forget in the Atlantic 10 tournament in 1989, when we beat Temple in the semifinal - the game that spawned the “back to the RAC” chant - I covered the game for the Targum, and I was in the press room afterwards when Chaney was absolutely RIPPING the refs for a key call down the stretch. Dude was so angry that we all thought he was going to stroke out. I might still have the tape somewhere.
[/QUOTE]
I was so passed I missed that game because of the snow storm that afternoon. I was stuck on the turnpike after having been at every game at the Palestra that post season. So happy they beat their nemeses Chaney to set up my fondest memory at the RAC for the A-10 championship. A great coach whose teams always played great defense. He also played the refs like a violin. 75% winning percentage at Temple. RIP coach.