Phil Martell fired at St Joe's after 24 years as head coach
- Thread starter bac2therac
- Start date
My recollection is foggy on Martelli at that time but I don’t remember him being too interested. Beilein withdrew from consideration then eventually got the WVU job.
Yes......great game..pretty sure I was there with you......Jameer Nelson led that St Joe's squad....I was at that game. I remember the block R on the court. RU STHs received excellent seats because we were the host school.
https://nypost.com/2001/03/29/martelli-not-interested-in-taking-rutgers-job/
MINNEAPOLIS – Despite his best efforts, Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy was unsuccessful in luring Phil Martelli away from St. Joseph’s.
Mulcahy and Martelli met yesterday in Piscataway and the only question was whether the St. Joseph’s coach could leave a job that has come to feel like a second home.
After driving back to Philadelphia and meeting with St. Joe’s athletic director Don DiJulia, Martelli came to the decision that his heart was in the City of Brotherly Love. St. Joseph’s released a statement late in the day saying that Martelli had agreed to a new deal.
“I was contacted by Rutgers and have nothing but good things to say about the people and their program,” Martelli said in the statement. “But my heart is at St. Joseph’s and I expect to be at 54th and City Line for a long time.”
Mulcahy was not available to comment but a source said he believed he did everything he could to land Martelli. In fact, Mulcahy, the source said, said he would not conduct any additional interviews until he heard from Martelli.
When Mulcahy heard from Martelli, it was not the answer he was hoping for. The source said Mulcahy would use the next 24 hours to reach out to basketball people around the country and get a sense of what candidates he should pursue.
Sources said Martelli’s total package at St. Joseph’s, an Atlantic 10 school, was in the low $200,000 range, which is woefully low by today’s standards. Jeff Ruland recently signed an extension at Iona, a MAAC school, for almost $400,000 a year.
But Martelli, a product of the Philadelphia Catholic School league, is one of the coaches not in the business for the money. He felt a tremendous loyalty to St. Joseph’s, which gave him his first college job.
Mulcahy has now gone after two quality candidates, former Hofstra coach Jay Wright and Martelli, without success. In both cases it wasn’t for a lack of effort on Mulcahy’s part. Wright, a former assistant coach at Villanova, took the Villanova job, saying he felt he had come home. Martelli never left.
So now Mulcahy must go back to the drawing board and Rutgers isn’t the only New Jersey university looking for a coach. Tommy Amaker stunned Seton Hall yesterday by announcing he was leaving to accept the head-coaching position at Michigan.
As for Providence coach Tim Welsh, who also was high on the Scarlet Knights’ list, he OK’d a seven-year deal yesterday to stay at the Big East school.
–– ADVERTISEMENT ––
The source said that Welsh was much more interested in staying at Providence than going to Rutgers, but he wanted to make certain the Friars would upgrade facilities. Welsh led the Friars to a 21-10 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance in his third season.
MINNEAPOLIS – Despite his best efforts, Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy was unsuccessful in luring Phil Martelli away from St. Joseph’s.
Mulcahy and Martelli met yesterday in Piscataway and the only question was whether the St. Joseph’s coach could leave a job that has come to feel like a second home.
After driving back to Philadelphia and meeting with St. Joe’s athletic director Don DiJulia, Martelli came to the decision that his heart was in the City of Brotherly Love. St. Joseph’s released a statement late in the day saying that Martelli had agreed to a new deal.
“I was contacted by Rutgers and have nothing but good things to say about the people and their program,” Martelli said in the statement. “But my heart is at St. Joseph’s and I expect to be at 54th and City Line for a long time.”
Mulcahy was not available to comment but a source said he believed he did everything he could to land Martelli. In fact, Mulcahy, the source said, said he would not conduct any additional interviews until he heard from Martelli.
When Mulcahy heard from Martelli, it was not the answer he was hoping for. The source said Mulcahy would use the next 24 hours to reach out to basketball people around the country and get a sense of what candidates he should pursue.
Sources said Martelli’s total package at St. Joseph’s, an Atlantic 10 school, was in the low $200,000 range, which is woefully low by today’s standards. Jeff Ruland recently signed an extension at Iona, a MAAC school, for almost $400,000 a year.
But Martelli, a product of the Philadelphia Catholic School league, is one of the coaches not in the business for the money. He felt a tremendous loyalty to St. Joseph’s, which gave him his first college job.
Mulcahy has now gone after two quality candidates, former Hofstra coach Jay Wright and Martelli, without success. In both cases it wasn’t for a lack of effort on Mulcahy’s part. Wright, a former assistant coach at Villanova, took the Villanova job, saying he felt he had come home. Martelli never left.
So now Mulcahy must go back to the drawing board and Rutgers isn’t the only New Jersey university looking for a coach. Tommy Amaker stunned Seton Hall yesterday by announcing he was leaving to accept the head-coaching position at Michigan.
As for Providence coach Tim Welsh, who also was high on the Scarlet Knights’ list, he OK’d a seven-year deal yesterday to stay at the Big East school.
–– ADVERTISEMENT ––
The source said that Welsh was much more interested in staying at Providence than going to Rutgers, but he wanted to make certain the Friars would upgrade facilities. Welsh led the Friars to a 21-10 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance in his third season.
Thanks for the article. I didn't remember that Mulcahy DID actually interview Martinelli. I remember Welsh and Wright. I remember that many here including me thought we had a great chance of landing Wright, but that of course fizzled when Villanova got the word and fired Lappas, leaving the door wide open for Jay Wright to fill the spot. Oh what could have been...https://nypost.com/2001/03/29/martelli-not-interested-in-taking-rutgers-job/
MINNEAPOLIS – Despite his best efforts, Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy was unsuccessful in luring Phil Martelli away from St. Joseph’s.
Mulcahy and Martelli met yesterday in Piscataway and the only question was whether the St. Joseph’s coach could leave a job that has come to feel like a second home.
After driving back to Philadelphia and meeting with St. Joe’s athletic director Don DiJulia, Martelli came to the decision that his heart was in the City of Brotherly Love. St. Joseph’s released a statement late in the day saying that Martelli had agreed to a new deal.
“I was contacted by Rutgers and have nothing but good things to say about the people and their program,” Martelli said in the statement. “But my heart is at St. Joseph’s and I expect to be at 54th and City Line for a long time.”
Mulcahy was not available to comment but a source said he believed he did everything he could to land Martelli. In fact, Mulcahy, the source said, said he would not conduct any additional interviews until he heard from Martelli.
When Mulcahy heard from Martelli, it was not the answer he was hoping for. The source said Mulcahy would use the next 24 hours to reach out to basketball people around the country and get a sense of what candidates he should pursue.
Sources said Martelli’s total package at St. Joseph’s, an Atlantic 10 school, was in the low $200,000 range, which is woefully low by today’s standards. Jeff Ruland recently signed an extension at Iona, a MAAC school, for almost $400,000 a year.
But Martelli, a product of the Philadelphia Catholic School league, is one of the coaches not in the business for the money. He felt a tremendous loyalty to St. Joseph’s, which gave him his first college job.
Mulcahy has now gone after two quality candidates, former Hofstra coach Jay Wright and Martelli, without success. In both cases it wasn’t for a lack of effort on Mulcahy’s part. Wright, a former assistant coach at Villanova, took the Villanova job, saying he felt he had come home. Martelli never left.
So now Mulcahy must go back to the drawing board and Rutgers isn’t the only New Jersey university looking for a coach. Tommy Amaker stunned Seton Hall yesterday by announcing he was leaving to accept the head-coaching position at Michigan.
As for Providence coach Tim Welsh, who also was high on the Scarlet Knights’ list, he OK’d a seven-year deal yesterday to stay at the Big East school.
–– ADVERTISEMENT ––
The source said that Welsh was much more interested in staying at Providence than going to Rutgers, but he wanted to make certain the Friars would upgrade facilities. Welsh led the Friars to a 21-10 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance in his third season.
My recollection was that Martelli used RU's interest to get a nice bump in his comp at St. Joe's. Seems like Mulcahy knew coaching talent when he saw it but didn't have the resources to land one of these big fish. He did hire GS for football which was a great hire. Welsh would have been a disaster as he had a DWI thereafter and didn't last at Providence.
