Michigan Basketball: 3 Reasons why Phil Martelli is the perfect hire
Juwan Howard’s staff at the University of Michigan men’s basketball team is set with the additions of Phil Martelli and Howard Eisley. However, Martelli is going to be Michigan basketball’s catalyst for success.
Michigan basketball‘s new assistant, Phil Martelli, is one of the most beloved coaches in Saint Joesph’s history and he is most certainly the winningest. His dedication to the sport and school began in 1985 when he was hired on as an assistant for the Hawks.
Fast forward ten years and he was honored to become the 14th head coach of the Saint Joesph’s basketball team, where he remained for another honorable 24 years.
Sources: Former Saint Joseph’s head coach Phil Martelli has been formally offered and accepted an assistant coaching position on Juwan Howard’s staff at Michigan.
— Brendan Quinn (@BFQuinn) June 3, 2019
Martelli, 64, won 444 games in 24 seasons at St. Joe’s, reaching 7 NCAA Tournaments.
While he did face adversity in his later years, the best memories come from the early 2000s with Jameer Nelson and Delonte West; the dynamic duo who took the underperforming Hawks to a new level, a level that ended with two total losses on the season – the first coming on the last day of the regular season and the second in the Elite 8 by two points against Oklahoma State.
All of those memories washed away in March when Phil was fired from the university. He described the firing by saying, “It cut out my heart. It irreparably harmed my family and I had to concentrate those areas and not on creating a bitterness and an anger that would not serve me, emotionally, psychologically, or for the future.”
The way the university handled the situation has been described by many as ‘cold’ and analytical and there’s an almost unanimous sentiment that it wasn’t handled properly.
At the end of the day, the Hawks lost a college basketball legend and Michigan basketball gained one. Here are three reasons why Phil Martelli is a great hire.