Head Coach Herb Magee will enter his 42nd season at the helm of the Philadelphia University men's basketball program in the fall of 2008.
Magee, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame nominee, became the number one, all-time Division II men's basketball coach in NCAA history on February 1, 2007, when he earned his 829th win against Wilmington College, breaking the previous mark of 828 held by legendary Winston-Salem State Head Coach Clarence "Big House" Gaines.
Magee's stellar career includes an NCAA Division II record 855 career coaching victories, which also ranks him fourth all-time (first active) in NCAA history, regardless of Division.
A two-time All-America selection as a player with the Rams, Magee finished his career as the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,235 points at time before the three-point shot and teams played eight fewer games per season.
While he has since been passed by Randy Stover (2,369 points) in 1992 and Tayron Thomas (2,414) in 2006, Magee still holds the school record for scoring average in a season when he poured in 29.1 ppg in the 1961-62 season.
Along the way, the Rams posted a 75-17 record that included the Eastern Regional Championship in 1963 under Head Coach Bucky Harris.
Following graduation, Magee was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 62nd pick of the 1963 NBA draft. However, he opted for a career in coaching and he joined his mentor, Harris, as an assistant coach at then-Philadelphia Textile.
Magee, who will take a career coaching record of 855-340 (.715) into the 2008-09 season, became the head coach in 1967 at the age of 25 and guided the Rams to a 21-6 record in his first season. In his second season, Textile posted yet another 20-win season, going 20-5, but it was his third year as head coach that made history.
After losing two of their first three contests to begin the 1969-70 season, Magee's Rams won 28 straight games en route to the NCAA National Championship. In the title game, the Rams defeated Tennessee State, 76-65, and the team finished with a 29-2 mark. For the season, the Rams' average margin of victory was 24.5 points.
In his 41 years as head coach, Magee has taken his team to the NCAA Tournament 23 times. In addition, he has had 28 twenty-plus win seasons and one 30-win season. As a player, assistant coach and head coach at the University, Magee has helped the program to an overall record of 1092-368.
His exploits as a coach have not gone unnoticed, as his list of awards and achievements can attest:
College Division National Championship (1970)
Twenty-eight 20 or more win (and one 30-win) seasons
Twenty-three NCAA Tournament appearances
Career .719 winning percentage
Coached 12 All-Americans and 37 1,000 or more point scorers
Kodak District Coach of the Year (1993)
New York Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year (1993, 1994 and 2004)
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year (2008)
