La Salle coach, Big 5 legend Fran Dunphy set to retire

Fran Dunphy, the La Salle basketball coach who has been a fixture of the Philadelphia Big 5 basketball scene for nearly five decades, will retire at season's end, the school announced Thursday.

Dunphy, 76, is the winningest head coach in Big 5 history. As of Thursday, he is 623-376 in 999 career games as a head coach at Penn (1989-2006), Temple (2006-19) and La Salle (2022-25).

"I will forever be thankful to La Salle as well as all my fellow coaches and players that I've been fortunate to work with throughout my coaching career," Dunphy said in a news release. "I am looking forward to finishing this season strong with our team, and as I embark on the next chapter of my life, I could not be happier to stay at La Salle."

The native of Drexel Hill, Pa., played three varsity seasons at La Salle and graduated in 1970. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Army before taking over at Philadelphia-area high school Malvern Prep from 1977-99.

He did two stints as an assistant at his alma mater but got his break as a Division I head coach at Penn. Dunphy's accomplishments include 10 Ivy League regular-season championships at Penn, three Atlantic 10 tournament championships at Temple and 17 trips to the NCAA Tournament.

He was the first coach to lead three different programs in the Big 5 when he took over at La Salle in 2022, coming out of a brief hiatus from the profession to do so.

La Salle said a national search to find Dunphy's successor would begin immediately.

"Fran has been instrumental in bringing pride and the high standards of success to La Salle basketball. We will forever be thankful for his contributions to our University as a player, alumnus, coach and mentor," La Salle athletic director Ashwin Puri said. "I am grateful to call Fran a friend and fortunate to continue to rely on his guidance. Once an Explorer, always an Explorer."

La Salle is 12-15 (4-10 A-10) with four games remaining in the regular season.

--Field Level Media