Fran Dunphy, pictured in a game prior to Saturday, led La Salle past Saint Joseph's in his final regular-season game. (Photo credit: La Salle athletics)
By AARON BRACY
March 9, 2025
PHILADELPHIA – Mr. Big 5 listened respectfully, as always, to the question about his future plans. Fran Dunphy’s thoughts quickly raced to his deceased brother, bringing forming tears to his reddening eyes.
His voice, now choked up, explained, surprisingly, that in retirement he would like to go see Swan Lake. And also visit Normandy.
Mr. Big 5 has not had much time for ballets or history adventures in his adult life. When he wasn’t consumed with basketball, of which coaching always has been a 24/7 occupation—and that is before the rise of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal, both of which have only ratcheted up time demands on the profession—Dunphy was lending his hand to a cause or helping out a friend.
Case in point: WIP radio host Paul Jolovitz asked Mr. Big 5 to be a guest on his radio show after Dunphy led the Explorers to an 81-74 upset victory over Saint Joseph’s at Glaser Arena on Saturday in the coach’s final regular-season contest after a legendary career. The time of the interview would be 11 p.m. on Saturday, bedtime for most and especially a coach who had an exhausting, whirlwind day. “For a friend…,” Mr. Big 5 began before saying yes.
And that will be Mr. Big 5’s legacy, his helping of countless young men, countless causes, countless people. And that is saying something considering his success on the court as a head coach, leading Penn, Temple, and La Salle. Dunphy’s career began in 1979 at his alma mater, La Salle, as an assistant coach. He spent five seasons on the staff at American before coming back to the sidelines at La Salle.
His first head coaching job came in 1989, and Mr. Big 5 transformed Penn into an Ivy League powerhouse, claiming 10 league titles in 17 years, winning 48 consecutive league games during one unfathomable stretch, and departing as the school’s all-time winningest coach with 310 victories. Then, he took over for legendary Temple coach John Chaney and continued the Owls’ success, reaching eight NCAA tournaments in 13 seasons. Finally, after a brief respite, he returned to his alma mater in 2022, helping to shepherd in a badly needed new arena while defying prognosticators in each of his three seasons. They picked him to finish last in the Atlantic 10 in each of those three years, but Mr. Big 5 never did.
And so it was again on Saturday that the oddsmakers gave La Salle little chance against the Hawks. And, honestly, you can understand. The Hawks have been playing really good basketball, winners of five in a row and nine of 12 entering, while La Salle hit a hard skid, dropping eight straight, that had Mr. Big 5 stuck on 623 career victories, the most of anyone ever in the Big 5.
But computer metrics and KenPom predictions would mean nothing in this contest. You knew that every Explorers player, every one of the home fans who sold out Glaser and created a raucous atmosphere worthy of Dunphy’s final Big 5 regular-season contest, every coach on his staff, and everybody who ever has felt the kindness, respect, and love of this wonderful man would be doing all they could to will Mr. Big 5 to one last win on a day that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro declared as “Fran Dunphy Day” in the commonwealth during a pregame ceremony.
It got more challenging for La Salle when big man Jahlil White injured his left foot in the first half and could not return. But the Explorers received strong performances up and down their lineup, none more impactful than ultra-talented rookie Deuce Jones, who tallied a game-high 27 points. St. Joe’s went cold down the stretch, failing to score in the final 3 minutes, 25 seconds until Erik Reynolds II hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.
When the final horn sounded, Mr. Big 5’s win total had increased by one.
Dunphy exhaled a sigh of satisfaction, knowing his team had been prepared as he always agonized over beforehand, and felt a sense of peace, he said, that winning brings. The contented feeling this time, though, went deeper, appropriately preventing Mr. Big 5’s career from ending on a long losing streak.
Dunphy expressed his gratitude for the victory and the opportunities he has had.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than this place,” Mr. Big 5 said of spending his coaching career in his hometown. “This is pretty fabulous. Nobody has been luckier than me.”
There is still at least one more game to coach for Dunphy, as No. 14 La Salle will open the Atlantic 10 tournament at 4:30 on Wednesday against No. 11 UMass. Win and the Explorers will meet Saint Joseph’s, the No. 6 seed, for the fourth time this season, in a second-round matchup at 7:30 on Thursday evening.
Mr. Big 5 will be thinking about how he can have his team prepared for the next game and would love that feeling of serenity he gets with the final ticks of the clock winding down with his team ahead on the scoreboard.
Whenever it is finally over, Dunphy will settle into a seat at the Kimmel Center for a performance of Swan Lake. He likely will again exhale a sigh of satisfaction and feel a sense of peace. This serenity, though, will not be because of one of his hundreds of victories; rather, he will breathe easy because he has done good with his life—as a coach and, more importantly, as a man.
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages. His book on the 2003-04 Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team is expected to be published on March 1, 2025. Read a summary and preorder it by clicking HERE. Contact him at aaron@big5hoops.com.