Former Cheyney Head Hoops Coach Gets Call From the Hall

February 19……Coach John Chaney will be inducted into the Philadelphia Area Small College Coaches Association Hall of Fame for his contributions to small college basketball during his days as head coach at Cheyney University (then Cheyney State).   Coach Chaney was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.

The induction ceremony took place at the Small College Coaches Association’s bi-weekly luncheon at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia on Tuesday, February 19, 2008.

The former longtime Temple University coach started his collegiate coaching career at Cheyney in 1972, taking the Wolves to a 23-5 record and a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship.  During his decade at Cheyney, coach Chaney’s teams won 20 or more games eight times and won four PSAC titles.  Chaney also won his only NCAA National Championship in 1978 as his Wolves went 27-2 and defeated Green Bay 47-40 to capture the Division II title.  His success earned him National Coach of the Year honors.

The following year Cheyney went 24-7 and advanced to the National semi-finals for the second consecutive year, where Green Bay defeated the Wolves 46-45.  Overall in ten seasons at Cheyney, Chaney recorded a 232-56 record (80.5%) and an 18-7 (72%) record in the NCAA Division II Tournament. 

Chaney becomes the 17th person and the tenth coach to be enshrined in the Philadelphia Area Small College Coaches Association Hall of Fame.  He joins Philadelphia University Head Coach Herb Magee; West Chester University Head Coach Dick Delaney, and former small college coaching greats C. Alan Rowe (Widener); Bob Morgan (PCPS/USP), John Dzik (Cabrini), Nate Ware (Eastern/Valley Forge Military), Ernie Prudente (Haverford/Swarthmore), Larry Conti (Community College of Philadelphia) and the late Sam Cozen (Drexel) amongst the coaches honored.