Big 5 Hall of Fame – Keep Rollie out !

The Philadelphia Big 5, which will celebrate its 55th season in 2009, will induct three coaches into its Hall of Fame this coming year. They are Temple's John Chaney, La Salle's Bill "Speedy" Morris and Villanova's Rollie Massimino.

Chaney is a slam dunk for this honor. He won over 700 college games at Temple and Cheney State and is already in the Basketball Hall of Fame, so this honor is actually late !

Speedy Morris won 238 games in 15 years at LaSalle and is best known for recruiting and coaching all time college great, Lionel “L-Train” Simmons. Morris has the most wins of any LaSalle basketball coach.

The final inductee is Rollie Massimino from Villanova. Even though he won over 350 games at Villanova, including the 1985 NCAA championship, he has the dubious honor of attempting to dismantle the Big 5.

In the mid to late 1980’s, Rollie and his Main line snobs felt they were better than the Big 5 and didn’t want to play the city series games anymore, citing the fact that they’d be better off playing on their own campus and making more money. Massimino got his way and for a period of years, the Big 5 teams did not consistently play each other.

Rollie-Poly forgot the fact that years before the Big East and the big TV deals, Villanova was the doormat for teams like St. Joe’s and LaSalle. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, the Wildcats needed the Big 5, more than the Big 5 needed them.

The Big 5 is one of the most time honored traditions in college basketball history.

Frankly, if I had a say, I would not have voted Massimino into the Big 5 Hall of Fame. He turned his back on this great tradition.

Hey, Rollie…..how’s Northwood University ? I know you’re preparing for such basketball powerhouses like Florida Christian and Johnson & Wales Culinary school. That’s a far cry from those battles with St. Joe’s, Temple, Penn and LaSalle at the Palestra. I bet you miss those days.

Stay in Florida, Rollie. The Big 5 will induct Jay Wright in a few years, someone who respects the tradition of the Big 5, even though his Villanova program is one of the nations’ bests.