Chaney’s Future Uncertain

John Chaney always liked sitting in his tight office, encircled by photos of his famous friends and books from which he’d pick his quote of the day, and speaking of a time when he would retire without some sort of farewell tour or bold-print headlines.

“Excuse me while I disappear,” Chaney would say in his low, raspy voice.

The time to disappear as Temple’s head coach could be coming sooner than he wanted, and the Hall of Famer might not get to leave on his own terms.

Sometime after the Final Four, Temple officials will sit down with Chaney and decide if he should return for at least another season or if the school should move on without him.

The key questions Athletic Director Bill Bradshaw and university president David Adamany will have to decide are these:

* Are Chaney’s words and actions in the late February game where he sent in a player to commit hard fouls, breaking a St. Joseph’s player’s arm, and then called his own player a “goon,” enough of a serious offense to cost him his job?

* Does Chaney’s reputation as father figure to the scores of underprivileged players he’s recruited and his string of 22 straight postseason appearances -- though no NCAA tournament berths since 2001 -- in a Hall of Fame career merit the 73-year-old coach at least one more shot?

“In any significant decisions, you block out the noise,” Bradshaw said in an interview this week with The Associated Press. “Obviously how people feel ... should be considered, but ultimately, the president, the director of athletics and the board of trustees are making the decision in the best interest of the university.”

Chaney, whose deep, dark eyes seem fitting for a school whose mascot is the Owl, is no stranger to controversy. He has a history of outrageous comments and insufferable antics, most notably threatening then-Massachusetts coach John Calipari during a postgame news conference.

This time, his actions were more than something to dismiss as just “Chaney being Chaney.” Instead, a player was hurt and his career nearly ended, and the friendly relationship between Chaney and St. Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli was ruptured.

Upset by what he thought were illegal screens by St. Joseph’s that were not being called by officials, Chaney turned to seldom-used 6-foot-8, 250-pound Nehemiah Ingram to “send a message.”

Ingram -- whom Chaney called a “goon” -- fouled out in four minutes, including a hard foul that broke the arm of St. Joe’s senior John Bryant.

In a surreal postgame news conference, Chaney screamed at Atlantic 10 commissioner Linda Bruno.

What looked like a no-brainer of a decision -- suspend Chaney for the rest of the season -- turned into a drawn-out, three-stage process that only gave the incident more attention. When it was Chaney and not the university or Atlantic 10 that imposed two of the disciplinary actions, it seemed the coach again was giving out the orders.

Bradshaw knows it looked like Temple and the A-10 did not have the backbone to come down hard on Chaney. Bradshaw insisted there was more to the decision.

“I don’t want to talk about the details about how the decision was announced or got to what it was, just that the right decisions were made,” he said.

Chaney, one victory shy of 500 at Temple, has declined comment other than a series of apologies, including to Bryant and his family.

After returning from a five-game suspension to coach the Owls in the NIT, he threatened to leave the postgame news conference if there weren’t questions about the game.

“He seemed to enjoy getting back to coaching,” Bradshaw said.

Temple was playing in its fourth straight NIT, unheard of when Chaney used future NBA players like Mark Macon, Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie to turn the program into a national power.

Chaney, who arrived at Temple before the 1982-83 season and was asked to fill the void left by Hall of Famer Harry Litwack, has led the Owls to 17 NCAA tournaments and five appearance in the regional finals (1988, 1991, 1993, 1999 and 2001).

The Final Four remains an unfulfilled goal for Chaney, who led Cheyney State in suburban Philadelphia to the 1978 Division II national championship.

“You only have to have lightning one time and I would like lightning one time,” Chaney said earlier this year before he coached his 1,000th career game.

His teams have been very successful, especially considering Chaney couldn’t recruit the high school All-Americans who filled the rosters of schools in bigger conferences.

Chaney refused to load his schedules with easy teams, and instead traveled to hostile courts to play teams supposedly brimming with talent, believing the grueling schedules got his teams ready for the NCAA tournament.

This year, the Owls played Duke, Wake Forest, Alabama and Maryland in nonconference games.

“I believe everyone at Temple, including coaches and players, are disappointed when we’re not in the NCAA tournament,” Bradshaw said. “That’s always the goal.”

Chaney has a 724-297 career record and, among active coaches, only Bob Knight, Eddie Sutton and Lute Olson have more victories.

Temple is counting the five games Chaney missed as part of his record.

Chaney acted much more subdued than restless and cranky in the NIT. Perhaps he learned a lesson.

After all, Chaney considers himself a teacher first, educating his players on everything from the matchup zone to a history lesson on the greats of the game -- all usually done in those famous 5:30 a.m. practices.

While Chaney’s future remains in limbo, there was some positive news. Bryant returned to play 23 minutes in St. Joseph’s NIT game on Wednesday.

His right arm was bandaged, but he showed no ill effects of the injury.

“I was thrilled to see him back in the game,” Bradshaw said.

Bryant was grateful to get another chance. Chaney only can hope he’s afforded another opportunity as well, to make sure his closing act won’t end in disgrace.

“The overall lesson is we must be accountable for what we say and do,” Bradshaw said.