Jefferson University now will play basketball inside Herb Magee Arena
The gym on Henry Avenue is being renamed for the coach who just retired after 54 legendary seasons.
Finally.
There’s always been this confusion through all the name changes at the university on Henry Avenue … from Philadelphia Textile to Philadelphia University to now Thomas Jefferson University. Which school?
“You say Herb Magee’s school, people know,” said Jimmy Reilly, new head men’s basketball coach at Jefferson, replacing his former boss after Magee retired after 54 seasons.
» READ MORE: Philadelphia Black Basketball Hall of Fame to induct a huge class
Here’s the finally part. The building Reilly will be coaching in will officially be known as Herb Magee Arena.
“We’ve never surprised my dad with anything — everything we ever did, he knew about ahead of time,” said Herb’s daughter Kay Magee. “We got him.”
“He called me Sunday morning, he was blown away,” Reilly said. “He said, ‘Usually, things aren’t a big deal to me, but this was a big deal.’ ”
“He was shocked, then he pulled it back together, too cool for school,” his daughter said.
Magee is the second-winningest NCAA basketball coach of all-time, trailing only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who happened to retire the same year. Magee’s lifetime record of 1,144-450 might stand forever in Division II, and in local basketball, where he was known as The King. He’s the winningest coach to accumulate them all in the same place.
Officially, the athletic complex will still be the Gallagher Center, named for the school’s former president James Gallagher, who had been in charge for 23 years before he took the same job at La Salle University.
“I was flabbergasted -- c’mon,” Magee said right after getting off the golf course, winning three skins at Penn Oaks from a hoops-infused foursome that included Jim Lynam and Harry Perretta. “Everyone is saying you deserve it, Herb. But who knows what you deserve?”
The court already had been named for Magee. This add-on was announced Saturday at a gathering of Magee’s former players and coaches to celebrate his retirement and career, held at the Germantown Cricket Club. The official unveiling will be at Jefferson’s first home game Nov. 22 against Bloomsburg.
“Sometimes it’s just too easy,” Reilly said of this name decision.