Joe Lapchick Character Award a special honor for Phil Martelli

By AARON BRACY

September 15, 2025

Big5Hoops.com

Phil Martelli has accomplished so much as a basketball coach, beginning in the high school ranks at Bishop Kenrick High School before a 24-year career at Saint Joseph’s that followed a 10-year stint as an assistant on Hawk Hill.

But none of his school-record 444 career victories at St. Joe’s nor his four Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year honors nor any of his seven NCAA tournament appearances, including the 2004 run to the Elite 8, mean as much as the friendships he has made along the way. It is why the Joe Lapchick Character Award, which Martelli will receive on Friday at a luncheon in New York City, means so much to him.

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“There are so many brilliant, brilliant basketball coaches if you just measured on ‘X’s’ and ‘O’s,’” Martelli said in a recent phone interview. “That’s not what motivated me, ‘X’s’ and ‘O’s,’ or I outsmarted that guy, look at this game plan. No. What drove me always was relationships. I would say to people that I treasure and work harder on being Phil Martelli than I work on being ‘The Coach.’

“I felt like you’re given an opportunity when you get one of these positions to lift another person, and, in some cases, many other persons on a daily basis. The idea of being thought of as a good, honorable person outweighed being, ‘Well, he’s a good coach.’ I would rather be, ‘He’s a good person who coaches.’ Than a coach who, ‘You know what, he’s not my cup of tea, so to speak.’”

In addition to Martelli, former NCAA official Gene Steratore; Frank McLaughlin, who coached Harvard and was the athletic director at Fordham; and Hall of Fame UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma, Martelli’s good friend who was on his staff at Kenrick, also are being honored. The award is given to those in basketball who have “demonstrated honorable character throughout their careers, much like Lapchick,” who coached St. John’s and the Knicks.

In 15 years, award recipients are a “who’s who” in college hoops, including Dean Smith, John Thompson, and Mike Krzyweski. Cathy Rush, the former Immaculata coach at whose camp Martelli met his longtime wife, Judy, also has received the honor. In addition to Rush, there is a strong contingent of Philadelphia coaching honorees, including Fran Dunphy, Jay Wright, Speedy Morris, and Herb Magee. Martelli says this is no accident, and he is honored to continue the tradition.

“This has always been the mecca of coaches,” Martelli said of Philly. “And I said this often when I was coaching at Saint Joseph’s. We just happen to be the ones that got that opportunity. But there is so much coaching that goes on in Philadelphia in the quote-unquote small colleges, in the high school ranks, in our summer (leagues). It is truly an honor to say I coached in Philadelphia.

“I would feel the same way if I continued to coach in high school. I’m sure there are some cities where you would say, ‘That’s a mecca of doctors or lawyers or community leaders, or whatever.’ In Philadelphia, the idea of having that title and that responsibility is monumental.”

“What drove me always was relationships. I would say to people that I treasure and work harder on being Phil Martelli than I work on being ‘The Coach.’”

Phil Martelli

Former Saint Joseph’s head coach

Martelli recalled his early days at Kenrick when he and Auriemma headed over to Villanova to observe practice, only to be asked by Rollie Massimino to provide advice over hoagies in between a two-a-day session. Former Saint Joseph’s coach Jim Lynam sent Martelli a note to his home after his hiring at Kenrick. The bond between coaches in Philadelphia always has been tight, something that was important to Martelli throughout his career and continues to this day as he works to hold clinics to help young coaches through his Phil and Judy Martelli Make a Difference initiative.

“I know that I walked on the shoulders of Jack Ramsay and Rollie Massimino,” Martelli said.

And there were many others. Martelli idolized the coaches in the Big 5 so much that he knew in eighth grade that he wanted to be the head coach of Saint Joseph’s. The idea to coach only strengthened in high school at St. Joseph’s Prep when he played for coach Eddie Burke. He also mentioned other Philadelphia Catholic League icons, like Morris and Bud Gardler, as role models, both for him and Auriemma.

“We wanted to be them,” Martelli said.

Martelli will speak just before Auriemma on Friday. It will be special for both men who began together as relatively unknown high school coaches and have gone on to become two of the most recognizable names in college basketball.

“It’s a really, really big deal,” Martelli said of being honored alongside Auriemma. “He’s such a special friend that we don’t have to talk every single day or every week. But when we talk or visit with each other, there’s a connection.

“He’s the greatest women’s basketball coach of all-time. He’s in the Hall of Fame. Yet, when we get back together we can have conversations about a time when we shared a house and didn’t have nickels to rub together.”

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Aaron Bracy has covered sports in Philadelphia for nearly three decades for various publications and as a freelancer for the Associated Press. His first book, A Soaring Season: The Incredible, Inspiring Story of the 2003–04 Saint Joseph’s Hawks (Brookline), can be ordered HERE. He is working on his second book, which will chronicle the memorable 2000–01 season of Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. Follow Bracy on social media HERE. Contact him at bracymedia@gmail.com.