Milestones: Herb Magee, men’s basketball coach at Philadelphia University, won his 800th career game December 8 with a 95-58 victory over Wilmington College (Delaware). With the win, he became only the eighth coach in NCAA men’s basketball history to reach the 800-victory threshold. Magee joined the institution as a player in 1959, which it was known as Philadelphia Textile. He was a two-time all-American for the Rams and finished his playing career with 2,235 points, which still ranks second in school history. He remained with Philadelphia University as an assistant coach for four years before being promoted to head coach in 1967. He has led Philadelphia University to 21 NCAA Division II tournament appearances and three regional championships. Magee also has produced 12 all-Americans and 34 1,000-point scorers, and has been a part of 958 of the program’s 1,169 all-time wins. “He could lose every game for (the next) 20 years and still be above .500,” said Widener University coach Dave Duda, noting Magee’s all-time mark of 800-310. Here is how the list of winningest men’s basketball coaches stood after Magee’s 800th victory:
1. Dean Smith, North Carolina 879
2. Adolph Rupp, Kentucky 876
3. Bob Knight, Texas Tech 859
4. Jim Phelan, Mount St. Mary’s 830
5. Clarence Gaines, Winston-Salem St. 828
6. Don Meyer, Northern St. 823*
7. Jerry Johnson, Lemoyne-Owen 821
8. Herb Magee, Philadelphia U. 800
*Includes NAIA victories.
University of Tampa men’s basketball coach Richard Schmidt earned his 500th career victory December 9 with a 67-58 win over Eckerd College. After the victory, Schmidt’s record stood at 500-215 in 23 years at Tampa and two years at Vanderbilt University. He is the 116th coach in NCAA men’s basketball history to reach the milestone, the seventh in Division II. Schmidt has guided his teams to winning marks in 22 of his 23 seasons at Tampa while reaching the Division II tournament 14 times.
Sports sponsorship: St. Andrews Presbyterian College recently announced that wrestling will be added as a varsity sport, effective with the 2006-07 season. “Wrestling is a major high school sport and a growing collegiate one as well,” said Athletics Director Howard Reichner. “A large number of high school wrestlers come from this region (North Carolina), and we hope the addition of wrestling at St. Andrews will serve their interests and needs.”
Miscellaneous: Truman State University President Barbara Dixon said an internal committee will review the institution’s sports programs and provide her with recommendations by the end of March. “No decisions have been made yet,” Dixon said in a Kirksville (Missouri) Daily Express story, “but there is the possibility of eliminating some teams....I know the word ‘eliminate’ will cause a lot of e-mail, but I think it would be dishonest to say it isn’t a possibility.”
