Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has company. He is no longer the only NCAA men’s coach to win 1,000 games.
Herb Magee, in his 48th season as the head men’s basketball coach at Philadelphia University, notched his 1000th win on Saturday afternoon with a 80-60 victory over Post University of Waterbury, Connecticut.
Following the victory, the Division II school unveiled a banner above its scoreboard, recognizing the coach’s remarkable accomplishment.
“One thousand wins is a lot, even 999,” Magee said. “But 1,000 is a lot different than 999.”
Known as a great shooting coach, Magee is one of 60 college coaches in the Naismith
Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and only the third NCAA coach to win 1,000 games. Legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summit is the only coach to reach the millennial mark in NCAA women’s basketball.
When asked about how it felt to reach the milestone, Magee gave both an unusual and expected answer.
“Relief. I don’t make that up,” Magee said. “That’s the way I felt.”
Like a true gentleman and representative for his team, Magee wanted to get the win out of the way so his team could focus on playing its best.
“I’m proud of the way the guys played today,” Magee said after the team’s 15th win of the season. Philadelphia is now 15-6 and 9-3 in the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference.
Despite the 1,000 win mark, the more impressive number for Magee might be his 398 losses. His 72 career-winning percentage as a head coach is truly remarkable, especially at a Division II school that is not usually able to recruit top players.
Over the past 56 years, Magee has emerged as a legend in “The City of Brotherly Love.” He set the school’s scoring record during his playing days and did not pursue an opportunity to play with the Boston Celtics so that he could become an assistant coach at his alma mater.
He became the team’s head coach in 1967, and quickly led the team to a National Championship in 1970. Throughout his career, he has racked up 31 20-win seasons and 27 NCAA tournament appearances.
Magee could not be happier with his decision to stay for all this time.
“It’s my school,” Magee said. “They gave me an opportunity to play here, and they created a position for me to be an assistant coach. I have had no desire to ever leave.”
Things like this never seem to happen anymore. Very few people consciously remember where they came from. Even fewer people decide to commit themselves to the organization that first gave them an opportunity.
Magee has done this, and many couldn’t be happier for him. The coach even thanked the students and fans over the public address system after the game for creating a true home court advantage.
My hat goes off to Herb Magee, a truly incredible basketball coach but an even greater gentleman. Cheers to 1,000 more!
