Fran Dunphy, La Salle men's basketball coach and Philadelphia hoops legend, to retire at end of season
La Salle University men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy, the all-time winningest coach in Philadelphia Big 5 history, will retire at the end of the 2024-25 season.
The university announced Thursday Dunphy, 76, will become a special assistant to the president at La Salle and has agreed to a lifetime contract in that role.
La Salle says a national search will begin immediately to find Dunphy's successor. The university says it partnered with Elevate Talent, a search and consulting program, to find the program's next head coach.
Dunphy will be honored during La Salle's game against Duquesne University on Wednesday, Feb. 26. at John Glaser Arena.
Dunphy is the only coach in Big 5 history to run multiple men's basketball programs. He's been the head coach at the University of Pennsylvania (1989-06), Temple University (2006-19) and La Salle (2022-25), where he played from 1967-70 in college. He's 623-376 during his time as a head coach. Dunphy is also a member of the Big 5, La Salle, Penn and Philadelphia Sports Writers Halls of Fame.
In the 2024-25 season under Dunphy, the Explorers are 12-15 overall and second-to-last in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
"I will forever be thankful to La Salle as well as all my fellow coaches and players that I've been fortunate to work with throughout my coaching career," Dunphy said in a news release. "I am looking forward to finishing this season strong with our team, and as I embark on the next chapter of my life, I could not be happier to stay at La Salle and work with President Allen, Ash Puri, and this great University that I call home."
Dunphy, aka "Mr. Big 5," also served as the interim athletic director from 2020-21 at Temple before becoming La Salle's men's basketball coach.
Years before he became the head coach of his alma mater, Dunphy was an assistant at La Salle in two different stints from 1979-80 and 1985-88. Dunphy's coaching career began at Army in 1971, where he was an assistant from 1971-75. He was also the head coach of his high school alma mater, Malvern Prep, from 1977-79 and an assistant at American University from 1980-84.
After spending one season as an assistant at Penn, Dunphy succeeded Tom Schneider as head coach. While he was at Penn, Dunphy won 10 Ivy League titles in 17 seasons and had nine 20-win seasons. He recorded 310 wins during his time with the Quakers, the most in university history. They won 48 straight Ivy League games from 1992-96, and his 1993-94 team went 25-3 and was ranked as high as No. 24 in the country.
Dunphy took over for Hall of Fame basketball coach John Chaney at Temple in 2006 and the Owls went to the NCAA Tournament eight times in 13 seasons.
"On behalf of La Salle and the entire Philadelphia basketball community, we are thankful for Fran Dunphy's incredible service, dedication, and integrity on and off the court. He has touched the lives of so many as a role model and as a father figure to his student-athletes," La Salle president Dr. Daniel J. Allen said in a news release. "I look forward to continuing to work directly with Fran in his new advisory role and be part of another chapter of his legendary career."
