Message From The Coach

As the head coach of the University of Pennsylvania men’s basketball program, Fran Dunphy personifies success -- 10 Ivy League championships including an unprecedented five undefeated campaigns, nine NCAA Tournament appearances, three Philadelphia Big 5 city series titles, a school-record 310 career victories, seven Ivy League Players of the Year, three Ivy League Rookies of the Year, five perfect Ivy League seasons, 41 All-Ivy League honorees, and the list goes on and on.

The Dean of Ivy League coaches, Dunphy’s name has become synonymous with Penn basketball during the last 17 years, establishing the Philadelphia school as a prominent landmark on the national basketball map. The Quakers have won two-straight Ivy League titles, four of the last five, six of the last eight and 10 of the last 14 championships. Penn’s ninth trip to the NCAA tournament in the last 14 years came in 2006 -- a 60-52 loss to No. 2 seed Texas in Dallas -- and placed the Quakers among elite company, as only one other institution has earned its conference’s automatic bid as many times as Penn since the 1992-93 season (Kentucky, which has earned the SEC’s bid nine times). 

The Quakers wrapped up the 2005-06 Ivy championship with two games to go, and for the second year in a row they were the first team to punch their ticket to the Big Dance. In addition, Penn reached the 20-win mark for the second-straight year, the fourth time in the last five years, and the sixth time in the last eight campaigns.

Dunphy’s tenure at Penn began in 1989, as he took over the Red and Blue program after serving one year as an assistant coach under Tom Schneider. After posting records of 12-14 and 9-17 in his first two seasons, Dunphy’s hard work and determination began paying off when the Quakers turned the corner with a 16-10 mark in 1991-92. Despite losing six of their first eight games that season, the Red and Blue regrouped under Dunphy’s direction to win 14 of their final 18 contests.

Following a 22-5 year in 1992-93 which saw the Quakers advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his tenure, Dunphy took his team one step further in 1993-94 by posting a 25-3 record and advancing to the second round of the NCAAs -- the 11th-seeded Quakers defeated No. 6 Nebraska, 90-80, to secure their first NCAA Tournament win since 1980 before falling to a Florida team that would advance to the Final Four, 70-58. In addition, Dunphy led Penn to a No. 25 ranking in the USA Today/CNN Coaches’ Poll and the Red and Blue’s first appearance in the Associated Press Top 25 since 1979.

Dunphy and the Quakers continued their winning ways in 1994-95, recording an unprecedented third-straight undefeated Ivy League season. Penn’s third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament saw Jerome Allen score 30 points against Alabama in the first round, despite the team falling, 91-85, in overtime.

Having lost back-to-back Ivy League Players of the Year in Allen and Matt Maloney, the 1995-96 season was full of question marks. Yet Dunphy put the naysayers to rest, leading the Quakers to their fourth-consecutive Ivy League title and extending their Ivy winning streak to a record 49 games before losing the League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by falling to Princeton, 63-56, in overtime in a one-game playoff.

The Quakers had a tough season in 1997, finishing 8-6 for a fourth-place finish in the Ancient Eight, but rebounded the following year with a 17-12 record and a second-place finish. After a spirited, yet disappointing freshman season, Michael Jordan led Dunphy’s teams of 1999 and 2000 to a combined overall record of 42-14 and two-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Penn met Florida again in the first round of the 1999 NCAA Tournament, and led the Gators at the half, 43-32, before falling, 75-61. The 2000 season saw Dunphy guide Penn to its fourth undefeated Ivy League season and another appearance in the Big Dance, this time in the East Regional. The Quakers fell, 68-58, to fourth-seeded Illinois to end one of the best overall decades in Penn basketball history with a record of 182-91.

The Quakers began the 2000-01 season on a 21-game Ivy League winning streak, the longest-such streak in the nation at the time, and extended it to 25 before falling to Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. on February 9. Despite a subpar season (12-17), Dunphy did not back down on playing some of the most competitive teams in the nation the following year. Penn met seven 2001 NCAA Tournament participants and went 14-3 in non-conference action in 2001-02. After a 2-3 start in the Ivy League, Dunphy coached the Quakers to a nine-game winning streak and a three-way tie for the Ivy League crown with Princeton and Yale with an 11-3 record, before dismantling Yale, 77-58, in an Ancient Eight playoff game on March 9. Dunphy became Penn’s all-time leader in career victories (228) on March 1, 2002 with a 51-47 victory at Columbia.

Not only did the 2001-02 Quakers win an Ivy League title, but they also claimed their first Philadelphia Big 5 outright and undefeated title since 1974. Dunphy coached the 2002 Ivy League Player of the Year in Ugonna Onyekwe and had three players named first-team All-Ivy honors for the second time in his tenure (1993-94).

The 2002-03 season was another spectacular one, during which Dunphy moved into second all-time in the Ivy League in career victories with 253; Penn won its fourth Ivy League title in the last five years; and Dunphy recorded his fifth undefeated Ivy campaign. The team was honored with all five starters being named All-Ivy, including Ugonna Onyekwe winning his second-consecutive Ivy Player of the Year award. Convincing wins over USC, Villanova and Temple, along with their 14-0 run through the Ancient Eight, gave the Quakers their second-consecutive 11 seed in their seventh NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament appearance under Dunphy’s tutelage.

In 2003-04, the Quakers opened the season playing three of their first five games against nationally ranked opponents, and won the 2003 Dreyfus Holiday Festival Tournament at Madison Square Garden by knocking off two-time champion Manhattan, 49-47, in the final. The Red and Blue made a valiant run at their third-straight Ivy League title, but fell two games short and finished second with a 10-4 Ancient Eight record. Dunphy saw three student-athletes named All-Ivy, including Jeff Schiffner’s second-straight unanimous first-team nod.

Prior to joining Penn’s coaching staff, Dunphy was an assistant under Speedy Morris at his alma mater, La Salle University, for three seasons. His coaching career began at the United States Military Academy (1971-72), where he served as assistant under Head Coach Dan Dougherty. In 1975, he became head coach of his high school alma mater, Malvern Prep, and remained there until becoming Lefty Ervin’s assistant at La Salle (1979-80). The following year, Dunphy joined Gary Williams’ staff at American University. He returned to La Salle in 1985 and assisted Morris until becoming Schneider's top aide at Penn in 1988.

Dunphy is a full-time educator on and off the court. He has served as a lecturer in the Wharton Executive Education program and in the management department of the nation’s top-ranked business school, Wharton, on Penn’s campus. Dunphy is one of the leaders in the local Coaches vs. Cancer campaign and was named to the National Council of Coaches vs. Cancer. He was also honored as the 2002 National Coaches vs. Cancer Coach of the Year for his service and tireless dedication to those in need.

Dunphy’s Philly Six chapter of Coaches vs. Cancer was recognized as a “Hometown Hero” by the Philadelphia 76ers basketball organization at a presentation at center court during the season opener on Oct. 28, 2003. Penn’s coach also devotes time to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Philadelphia’s Board of Directors, and his team participates in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program each year. Dunphy is also a member of the Philadelphia CYO Hall of Fame and the corporate committee of the National Adoption Center's annual Gala.

A 1970 La Salle graduate with a degree in marketing, Dunphy was an outstanding player under Explorers’ head coach Tom Gola. As a junior, he helped the Explorers to a 23-1 record, and as a co-captain his senior year he averaged 18.6 ppg and led the team in assists, while also being named the MVP of the annual Quaker City Basketball Tournament. In 1979, he earned a Master’s degree in counseling and human relations from Villanova. In addition, he completed course work toward his doctorate in counseling and student development at American.

Dunphy and his wife, Ree, reside in Villanova, Pa., with their son, J.P.