College B-ball Coach Recites Rosary Before Games

Phil Martelli, the popular and successful coach of the St. Joseph’s University men’s basketball team (And my alma mater) does have his quirks.

He revealed some of them April 10 at a St. Martin of Tours School communion breakfast in which Archbishop Edward J. Adams, class of 1958, was inducted into the school’s new Hall of Fame.

Martelli said that on game days, he’s a bundle of nerves. He wonders: Has he fully prepared the team? Most of the time he doesn’t go in to his office, doesn’t shower or shave or eat, or even talk much, until the last minute before leaving home for the game.

But once Martelli is at the basketball arena, things change. Alone in the locker room, he calms down, recites a rosary, and says a prayer to St. Joseph. Finally, he takes a dog-eared old memorial card out of his pocket and recites the prayer to St. Michael printed on the back.

This is a fascinating story from the Catholic Standard and Times about a great basketball coach who won National Coach of the Year in 2004 and how friendship and mentorship and faith all played a role in his life.

It’s a good story about a man I’ve had the pleasure of talking to a few times and who seems like a good and loyal man.