Legendary Temple men’s basketball coach John Chaney died a week after his 89th birthday, the school confirmed on Friday.
Chaney was known as a teacher of life lessons with crack-of-dawn practices. He was a two-time USBWA National Coach of the Year (1987, 1988) and won the 1978 NCAA Division II national championship while coaching Cheyney State based out of Cheyney, Pennsylvania.
The school said he died Friday after a short illness.
Temple honors Chaney as leader by example
Temple president Richard M. Englert, who knew Chaney since the coach first started at Temple, said in a statement:
“John Chaney was a great coach, but he was so much more.