Herb Magee’s old gym is now called Herb Magee Arena
After a renaming ceremony on Tuesday, Jefferson University began its home schedule under new head coach Jimmy Reilly.
It was always Herb Magee’s arena. Now, it’s Herb Magee Arena.
Tuesday night’s home opener, Jefferson University hosting Bloomsburg, was the first Henry Avenue appearance for new Rams men’s basketball coach Jimmy Reilly, who had assisted Magee for 15 years.
First came a ceremony, the gym named for Magee, who retired earlier this year after 55 seasons that added up to the second-highest victory total in NCAA basketball history.
» READ MORE: Beyond being Herb Magee's successor, who is Jimmy Reilly?
This was maybe the most obvious gym-naming in the history of college basketball, since Magee has won more NCAA hoops games at the same school than anybody ever, including Mike Krzyzewski, who retired on top after last season but started his career coaching Army before moving to Duke.
Of course, that assumes you realize that Magee always was in the same place, since the name kept changing, from Philadelphia Textile to Philadelphia University to Thomas Jefferson University. It was always just Magee’s place.
“The first thing I looked at, did they spell it right?” Magee quipped after a black curtain dropped and the words Coach Herb Magee Arena were unveiled in gold in the front lobby.
When the game began, Magee sat in the second row behind Bloomsburg’s bench. Weird feeling being in the stands?
“No, not at all,” Magee said during the first half. “You would think. It’s where I belong.”
Magee’s 1,144 victories included 31 NCAA Tournament appearances topped by the 1970 College Division National Championship. Magee was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.
A crowd of former Magee players made it for the pregame reception and ceremony.
“The guys who graduated, stand in the front, please,” joked one of his Magee’s former big men. “The guys who didn’t graduate, stand in the back.”
Magee recalled how when he first showed up “a hundred years ago,” there was no gym on campus, “we played at Mann Recreation Center, 5th and Allegheny.”
When a gym was built while Magee played for Bucky Harris, a home-court advantage quickly was established, with one home winning streak with Magee as coach reaching 80 games, Magee mentioned, pointing out that there were several players who never lost a home game during their careers.
“This is fabulous,” Magee said of walking into a gym named for him, with the court inside already bearing his name.
“I told the fellas, ‘If you lose one game, don’t ever talk to me again,’” Magee said.
“He wasn’t joking,” Reilly said later, and his players passed the test, winning 91-77, led by 19 points from Erik Timko, 17 from Hakim Hart and 16 from Bismark Nsiah. Jefferson had 22 assists to six turnovers, making 17 three-pointers.
“Today, I think I finally was myself,” Reilly said after his team improved to 3-2 overall. “The first four games, I was trying to be someone — not even be someone I wasn’t ... I was more worried about people’s feelings instead of worrying about how I really wanted to coach.”
Just the early stretch ... a suggestion from assistants to play some 2-3 zone. Reilly tried it.
“I hate 2-3 zone, it’s too passive,” Reilly said. “I always want to attack.”
He told his players over the weekend, Reilly said, “I know you think I’m demanding. I haven’t been. I’ve bitten my tongue a lot.”
It’s not pressure following Magee, in Herb Magee Arena, the new head coach said Magee was a “father figure” for him. “We talk on the phone two, three, four times a day. ... I still send him breakdowns of the scout. I’ll send him the breakdown of this game, then we’ll talk afterward. It’s always going to be his team. He’s one of the best ever. Who wouldn’t want to keep the name Herb Magee around his program?”