Saint Joseph’s fires Martelli after 24 seasons
After 24 years and 444 career victories, Phil Martelli has been fired as the men’s basketball coach at Saint Joseph’s University. The school announced his dismissal in a statement Tuesday morning.
“Today, Saint Joseph’s University announced its decision to make a leadership change in its men’s basketball program. The University will immediately begin a search for a new head coach, with the goal of filling the position in the coming weeks,” the statement read.
The firing sent shock waves through the Philadelphia basketball community.
“I’m surprised,” said La Salle coach and Monsignor Bonner All-Delco Ashley Howard. “In my opinion Phil is a Big 5 icon like Dunph (Temple coach Fran Dunphy). I figured he would have at least gotten the opportunity that if this was the decision he would have been given one year to transition much like Temple allowed Coach Dunphy to do, but I’m still shocked that they made that decision.”
Martelli, 64, has been the coach at Saint Joseph’s since 1995 and guided the Hawks to six Atlantic 10 regular-season championships, three conference tournament titles and seven trips to the NCAA tournament, the last in 2016.
However that was followed by an 11-20 mark in 2016-17, a 16-16 record in 2017-18 and a 14-19 record this season.
“This was two people, Dr. (Mark) Reed (Saint Jospeh’s president) and I, and we were supportive of each other and in agreement,” Saint Joseph’s athletic director Bodensteiner told television reporters. “Out of full respect for Coach the two of us met him face-to-face together.”
Martelli’s best season was 2003-04 when the Hawks went 27-0 in the regular season, advanced to the Elite Eight and finished 30-2. Martelli was named national Coach of the Year.
In all, the Delco native and Widener grad spent 34 seasons on Hawk Hill. He was an assistant under Jim Boyle and John Griffin for 10 years before taking the reins in 1995. Martelli compiled a career record of 444-328 and had eight 20-win seasons. He also was involved in many charitable causes including the Philadelphia Coaches vs. Cancer organization
“Coach Phil Martelli stands among out among his peers in college basketball not only for his long tenure and the many accolades that he and his teams have achieved, but also for his engagement with the community and his service as an ambassador for SJU,” the university said in the statement. “The university recognizes and celebrates the history and heart that Coach Martelli brought to the program and thanks him for his long service, dedication and stewardship.”