Dunphy a step closer to being offered position

Temple president David Adamany is the one final barrier Penn coach Fran Dunphy must get by before he is offered a job at the North Philadelphia school.

Temple officials would not confirm whether the two met yesterday. If not, Dunphy and Adamany will meet today or tomorrow, according to published reports.

The Temple president's signature is required before any offers can be made to possible replacements for Hall of Fame coach John Chaney.

According to the Philadelphia Daily News, Dunphy has already interviewed with other influential Temple officials, including Board of Trustees Chairman Howard Gittis.

A source close to the program says that once Adamany approves the deal, it would be only a few days before an official announcement is made. It's quite possible that by the end of this week, Dunphy could be the Owls' new coach.

Neither Dunphy nor Adamany would comment to The Daily Pennsylvanian on the matter.

Incoming Penn recruit Andreas Schreiber, a senior at the Brentwood School in Southern California, said that Dunphy has yet to talk to him about possibly taking the Temple job.

Schreiber -- who said that he will be playing with the under-20 Swedish national basketball team this summer at the European Championship Games -- has spoken with Penn assistant coach Dave Duke about the matter.

"He said he doesn't believe the media," Schreiber said. "He said that [Dunphy] hasn't even thought about making a decision yet.

"I don't know what the truth is, actually."

The McDonald's All-American nominee said he still plans on attending Penn should Dunphy leave.

"I love Penn," he said. "It's a great academic school and I know that they'd pull in a good coach. I would still have a good future.

"Still, I hope coach Dunphy's ... going to stay. I know he's a good coach, and I've been following him for years."

Several coaches who have made the jump from head coaching positions in the Ivy League to Division I scholarship programs say that they expect Dunphy to thrive if he goes to Temple.

"He's one of the best coaches in the country, in my opinion," said Craig Littlepage, athletic director at the University of Virginia. Littlepage, a former Penn basketball player, coached at Penn from 1982-85 before becoming coach of Rutgers.

"I'd be a little surprised to learn of any top-level program in the area that didn't highly consider him for a job," added Littlepage, who is also the current chair of the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

"Coach Dunphy transcends the Ivy League and non-scholarship situation," said Al Walker, head coach of Binghamton. Walker coached against Dunphy at Cornell from 1993-96.

"If you can be successful like he has at Penn, you can be successful anywhere."

Both coaches say that Dunphy will find it easier to recruit players.

"Of course it's easier, because your pool of applicants is greater," Walker said. "Outside of the very, very rich and the very, very poor, the ability to give a scholarship is key to landing quality basketball players."

Walker said that having scholarships allows him to be able to pursue fewer recruits.

"Here, we may be coming out of the summertime looking at maybe 15 guys tops," he said. "At Cornell, we were looking at 40 or 50 guys."

Still, the two admit that managing scholarships has its challenges.

"If you recruit in the Ivies, you're not as concerned about totalling up the aggregates of the financial aid," Littlepage said. "With scholarships, you can't just bring in five or six guys every year. You have to be more careful with numbers and finances."

"Still, it's ... a lot easier to say to a recruit that after you get done in four years you'll have no debt," Littlepage admitted. "And you can't do that when you're coaching at Penn."

Meanwhile, at least some sources close to the Penn basketball program are convinced that Dunphy may not take the job.

If that turns out to be the case, Temple seems to have few backup plans.

Rick Brunson, a former Owls guard who currently plays for the NBA's Houston Rockets, appears to be the second choice.

Though he has no previous coaching experience, Brunson has the support of several key Temple allies, including Chaney, several trustees and NBA players Eddie Jones, Aaron McKie and Marc Jackson -- all three of who are former Owls players.

Dan Leibovitz, Chaney's top assistant, interviewed for the Temple job but seems to have moved on to trying to find a position at another school.

According to reports, Leibovitz, a 1996 Penn grad, interviewed for the head coaching position at Hartford. He is also expected to interview for the job at Northeastern.

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