Phil Martelli

For his son, seePhil Martelli Jr.

Phil Martelli

Martelli in 2020
Biographical details
Born	(1954-08-31)August 31, 1954 Media, Pennsylvania,U.S.
Playing career
1972–1976	Widener
Position(s)	Point guard
Coaching career (HCunless noted)
1977–1978	Widener(assistant)
1978–1985	Bishop Kenrick HS
1985–1995	Saint Joseph's(assistant)
1995–2019	Saint Joseph's
2019–2024	Michigan(assoc. HC)
2022, 2023	Michigan(acting HC)
Head coaching record
Overall	446–330 (college)
Tournaments	7–7 (NCAA Division I) 10–6 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3Atlantic 10 tournament(1997,2014,2016) 4Atlantic 10regular season (1997, 2001, 2004, 2005)
Awards
AP Coach of the Year(2004) Naismith Coach of the Year(2004) Henry Iba Award(2004) Jim Phelan Award(2004) Adolph Rupp Cup(2004) co-NABC Coach of the Year(2004) 4×Atlantic 10Coach of the Year (1997, 2001, 2004, 2005)

Philip Martelli Sr.(born August 31, 1954) is an Americancollege basketballcoach, who was recently the associate head coach for theMichigan Wolverines.

As the former head coach of theSt. Joseph's Hawks,he led Saint Joseph's to sevenNCAA Tournamentsand sixNITappearances in 24 seasons as head coach.

Playing career

Martelli was apoint guardforWidener University.As point guard, he was part of theNCAA Division III tournamentteams in 1974-75 and 1975–76, and set the school's single season and career assist marks.

Coaching career

St. Josephs (1985–2019)

Martelli began his career on Hawk Hill with SJU's 1985-86 NCAA Tournament team. In his decade as an assistant, he was part of the Hawks' NIT teams in 1992-93 and 1994–95. After 10 years as an assistant underJim BoyleandJohn Griffin,Martelli was named the 14th coach in school history on July 20, 1995, and just the third non-alumnus to coach the school.

In his first season as head coach (1995–96) his team reached the final game of theNIT Tournament.In his second year, under the floor generalship of Junior point guardRashid Bey,and help from Arthur "Yah" Davis and Dmitri Domani, Martelli's Hawks captured theAtlantic 10crown and made it into theSweet Sixteenround of theNCAA tournament.

They would not duplicate that success until landing futureNaismith College Player of the YearJameer Nelsonand former NBA playersDelonte WestandDwayne Jones.With Nelson as point guard, Martelli led the 2003–04 Hawks to the greatest season in school history. The Hawks went 27–0 regular season. The Hawks lost toXavierin the Atlantic 10 Tournament, and reached the Elite Eight, ultimately losing toOklahoma Stateto finish with a record of 30–2. This is "officially" the deepest run that St. Joseph's has ever made in the tournament; the 1960–61 team went all the way to the Final Four and won the third-place game, but that run was scrubbed from the books due to a gambling scandal. That year, Martelli was namedNaismith College Coach of the Year.

In 2004–05, Martelli led the Hawks back to the final game of the NIT, where they lost toSouth Carolina.During the season, Martelli won his 235th game on Hawk Hill, passing Hall of FamerJack Ramsayas the winningest coach in school history.

In 2005–06, the Hawks returned to the NIT, eventually losing toHofstra University.In 2008, Martelli led Saint Joseph's to its first NCAA Tournament since 2004 with a team led byPat CalathesandAhmad Nivins.In 2014, the Hawks returned to the NCAA Tournament after winning their second Atlantic 10 Championship under Martelli, led byLangston Galloway,Ronald RobertsandHalil Kanacević.The Hawks went on to lose in overtime to the eventual 2013-14 National ChampionConnecticut Huskiesin the Second Round of the Tournament.

In 2007, Phil Martelli's first bookDon't Call Me Coach: A Lesson Plan For Lifewas published.Students at SJU often say "In Martelli We Trust" about their beloved basketball coach. Martelli has a weekly show during the basketball season calledHawk Talkwhich discusses the standing of the university and the basketball team.

In October 2008, Martelli signed a contract extension at St. Joe's through the 2015–16 season.Martelli also surpassed Hawk legend Dr.Jack Ramsayfor second among SJU coaches in wins 2008. Martelli has won the most postseason games of any Hawk coach and his teams.

In December 2011, Martelli was referenced in an article on SI.com in which former player Todd O'Brien detailed his side of a story about his former coach holding a grudge. O'Brien had applied for a graduate student waiver, where he was allowed to transfer to pursue a post graduate degree in a field not offered by their original institution, but SJU would not release him to play. The NCAA denied O'Brien's appeal and SJU was legally unable to comment on the details of the case. Martelli refused to honor O'Brien's request and kept him in his contract for undisclosed reasons. Martelli was characterized by most reporters as being unreasonable about this for holding a grudge against O'Brien.

Martelli in 2016

With a win against Morgan State in 2011, Martelli became the all-time winningest coach in Saint Joseph's history with his 310th victory.

Martelli has also lost more games than any coach in Saint Joseph's history, eclipsing Bill Ferguson's 208 losses in 25 seasons. Martelli has lost 241 games in 18+ seasons at Saint Joseph's as of December 8, 2013.

Saint Joe's announced October 29, 2015 that Martelli received another contract extension (though the terms of the deal were not immediately released).< On March 13, 2016, Martelli claimed his second A-10 title in 3 years as the Hawks defeated VCU 87–74 in the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship.

The 28 win season Martelli produced in 2014-15 would be the last of his NCAA tournament quality teams. Over the next 4 years, Martelli would experience multiple sub-500 teams. On March 19, 2019, Director of Athletics Jill Bodensteiner announced that the university hadlet goof Martelli, ending his 24-year tenure as head coach.

Michigan (2019–present)

On June 3, 2019, Martelli accepted a position as the associate head coach (second-in-command) at theUniversity of Michigan.New Michigan head coachJuwan Howard,who had no experience coaching in college, asked Martelli to join his staff to provide college recruiting and game experience.

On February 22, 2022, Martelli was named as Michigan's interim head coach following Howard's suspension for the remainder of the 2021–22 regular season after he engaged in a physical altercation with Wisconsin coaching staff at the conclusion of a game between the two teams.He led Michigan to a 3–2 record with wins over rivalsMichigan Stateand #23Ohio State.

In September 2023, Martelli was designated as acting head coach after Howard had emergency heart surgery.

Personal life

Martelli is married to the former Judy Marra, who played on two national championship basketball teams at Immaculata College.In 2014, Marra's Immaculata teams were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Martelli is close friends with long timeUniversity of Connecticut women's basketballcoachGeno Auriemma.His son,Phil Jr.,has served as the head coach of theBryant University men's basketball teamsince November 15, 2023.His other son, Jimmy, serves as an assistant coach on the Penn State University men's basketball team.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Saint Joseph's Hawks(Atlantic 10 Conference)(1995–2019)
1995–96	Saint Joseph's	19–13	9–7	3rd	NIT Runner-up
1996–97	Saint Joseph's	26–7	13–3	1st	NCAA Division I Sweet 16
1997–98	Saint Joseph's	11–17	3–13	5th(East)
1998–99	Saint Joseph's	12–18	5–11	5th(East)
1999–00	Saint Joseph's	13–16	7–9	4th(East)
2000–01	Saint Joseph's	26–7	14–2	1st(East)	NCAA Division I Round of 32
2001–02	Saint Joseph's	19–12	12–4	1st(East)	NIT second round
2002–03	Saint Joseph's	23–7	12–4	1st(East)	NCAA Division I Round of 64
2003–04	Saint Joseph's	30–2	16–0	1st(East)	NCAA Division I Elite Eight
2004–05	Saint Joseph's	24–12	14–2	1st	NIT Runner-up
2005–06	Saint Joseph's	19–14	9–7	5th	NIT second round
2006–07	Saint Joseph's	18–14	9–7	6th
2007–08	Saint Joseph's	21–13	9–7	5th	NCAA Division I Round of 64
2008–09	Saint Joseph's	17–15	9–7	5th
2009–10	Saint Joseph's	11–20	5–11	T–11th
2010–11	Saint Joseph's	11–22	4–12	12th
2011–12	Saint Joseph's	20–14	9–7	5th	NIT first round
2012–13	Saint Joseph's	18–14	8–8	T–8th	NIT first round
2013–14	Saint Joseph's	24–10	11–5	T–3rd	NCAA Division I Round of 64
2014–15	Saint Joseph's	13–18	7–11	10th
2015–16	Saint Joseph's	28–8	13–5	4th	NCAA Division I Round of 32
2016–17	Saint Joseph's	11–20	4–14	T–12th
2017–18	Saint Joseph's	16–16	10–8	4th
2018–19	Saint Joseph's	14–19	6–12	T–10th
Saint Joseph's:		444–328 (.575)	218–176 (.553)
Total:		444–328 (.575)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

Career highlights

• Atlantic 10Coach of the Year (1997, 2001, 2004, 2005)
• Naismith College Coach of the Year(2004)
• Associated Press Coach of the Year(2004)
• 2004Adolph Rupp Cup
• 2004ChevroletCoach of the Year
• 2004Henry Iba Award(USBWA)
• 2004NABCCo-Coach of the Year
• Head coach,Saint Joseph's University(1995–2019)
• Head coach, 2005 USA Basketball Under 21 World Championship Team
• NCAA berths: 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2016

External links

• Saint Joseph's profile