Herb Magee could have left Philadelphia after high school when he wasn’t recruited by Saint Joseph’s, but wanted to stay close to home.

He could have left after college when the Boston Celtics drafted him in 1963, but wasn’t sure if an NBA career was right for him.

He could have left for a Division I program at any point during his legendary coaching career, but his heart was stuck in the City of Brotherly Love.

On Feb. 1, Magee became the all-time winningest coach in Division II history, surpassing Winston-Salem State coach Clarence ‘Big House’ Gaines. In an age when most great coaches fail to identify with any one school, all of Magee’s 831 wins have come at Philadelphia University, where he has coached for 40 years.

‘Just forget about the wins and losses for a second,’ said the 65-year-old Magee. ‘I’ve been doing the same thing at the same place now for 40 years. That’s pretty hard to believe.’

It’s impossible to completely ignore his record. Magee is only the eighth coach in NCAA men’s basketball history to record 800 wins. Since breaking the record with victory No. 829, Magee passed former Mount Saint Mary’s coach Jim Phelan to move into fifth place all-time among all NCAA divisions.

Only legends Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp and Don Meyer have won more games at the NCAA level.

Magee played his high school ball at West Catholic High School with former Philadelphia 76ers head coach Jim Lynam and former Saint Joseph’s head coach Jim Boyle. Despite Magee’s success, the Philadelphia College of Textiles & Sciences (now Philadelphia University) was the only Philadelphia school to offer him a scholarship.

When he graduated in 1963, Magee was the school’s all-time scoring leader with 2,235 points – a record that stood for 29 years. He declined the opportunity to play NBA ball to pursue the career in coaching he always dreamed about under his mentor Bucky Harris.

An esteemed shooting instructor, he was hired head coach in 1967 at the age of 25, and has guided the Rams to a .720 winning percentage, 21 NCAA tournaments and a national championship in 1970. Between his days as player, assistant coach and head coach, Magee has contributed to more than 82 percent of Philadelphia’s wins.

Other schools have tried to pry Magee away from Philadelphia for decades, to no avail.

‘He started young enough that it wasn’t en vogue to move as much as it is these days,’ said Magee’s longtime friend and Temple head coach Fran Dunphy. ‘He’s Philadelphia through and through. It’s a real credit to our profession and the city of Philadelphia.’

The campus and local community did not let the record go unnoticed. There are only 2,700 undergraduates at PhillyU, as the school is often called, but the 1,200-seat Athletic and Recreation Center was nearly filled for the Rams’ game against 0-20 Wilmington (Del.) College.

They couldn’t have forgotten if they wanted to. There was a countdown on Philadelphia’s athletic Web site updated after every win. Magee tried to keep the fanfare away from his team, but admitted he was distracted at times this season with the record looming.

Senior Christian Burns said everyone knew the record was coming but Magee never brought it up. The team did not feel extra pressure for most of the year.

But despite Magee’s best intentions, the team did feel some extra pressure the night its coach broke the record. Philadelphia lost the game before and knew it now had the chance to do it at home. The Rams beat winless Wilmington by 29 earlier in the year, but struggled this time.

Philadelphia shot 8-of-25 in the first half, 0-of-4 from 3-point range, but came back from a nine-point halftime deficit before winning, 65-60, in overtime. Burns led the way with a career-high 34 points and 17 rebounds.

‘We came into the game at home knowing we just had to win because we couldn’t let it keep dragging on,’ junior Levi Winters said. ‘It was a big thing doing it in front of our home crowd. The whole community and student body has really been coming out.’

When the final buzzer sounded the crowd rushed the court and surrounded Magee. The players made T-shirts to celebrate the occasion and the university unveiled a banner to hang in the rafters over Herb Magee Court.

And it wasn’t just fans who wanted to commemorate the record. Nearly 30 former players came to the game, including some who played for Magee in the ’60s and ’70s.

After 40 years, Magee has no intentions of slowing down. He’s healthy and relatively young. Magee doesn’t want to just break this record, but stick around long enough to destroy it.

‘This job is all about the development of relationships with young people,’ Magee said. ‘People always ask me if I’m going to retire and I tell them, ‘no way, not even close.’ Coaching really is my life.’

No. 24 Indiana at PurdueTomorrow, 7 p.m., ESPN Full CourtPurdue may be under .500 in the Big Ten, but gave national powerhouse No. 2 Ohio State a scare Saturday. The Boilermakers have home court against the in-state rival Hoosiers, but Indiana has won 10-of-12, including an upset over No. 3 Wisconsin.

Indiana 71, Purdue 67

No. 22 Southern California at No. 19 ArizonaThursday, 10:30 p.m., FSNCollege basketball’s best conference boasts five ranked teams and seven over .500. Arizona comes into this one on a three-game winning streak, including an upset of No. 15 Oregon in Eugene. But the Wildcats have been streaky and the Trojans have beaten four ranked teams to Arizona’s two.

USC 78, Arizona 72

No. 20 Kentucky vs. No. 25 AlabamaSaturday, 3 p.m., ESPN Full CourtAlabama can get a first-round bye in the SEC tournament by winning the Western division. The Crimson Tide is currently 5-5, tied with Ole Miss – a team it lost to Saturday. It’ll be looking for revenge against a Kentucky team stuck behind No. 1 Florida.

Alabama 76, Kentucky 75

No. 16 Southern Illinois at No. 13 ButlerSaturday, 4 p.m., ESPN2The Preseason NIT-champion Bulldogs are the biggest surprise in the country this season, but the Salukis’ success is equally unexpected. Despite their high rankings, the two teams have combined to play exactly one Top-25 team so far. Nevertheless, it’s good when the Missouri Valley and Horizon League matter.

Butler 75, Southern Illinois 61

Connecticut at SyracuseSaturday, 3:30 p.m., ABCWho would have guessed that UConn would visit the Dome with both teams unranked? The Huskies are only 4-6 in the Big East, but they did beat the Orange earlier this year, and the committee will have trouble justifying a Syracuse Tournament bid if it loses to another bubble team twice.

Connecticut 74, Syracuse 71

Published on February 12, 2007 at 12:00 pm