EMMITSBURG, Md. — Jim Phelan, the bow-tied basketball coach who won 830 games during nearly a half-century at Mount St. Mary’s, has died. He was 92.
The athletic department at Mount St. Mary’s said Phelan died in his sleep at home Tuesday night.
Phelan spent his entire 49-season career at Mount St. Mary’s. He took the Mount to 14 NCAA Division II tournaments, including five trips to the Final Four and a national championship in 1962.
A Philadelphia native, Phelan starred on La Salle’s basketball team before coming to the Mount in 1954. He planned to stay only a few seasons as a coach before moving on, but he grew to love the cozy town of Emmitsburg and ended up sticking around.
After moving to Division I, his teams made the NCAA Tournament in 1995 and 1999. He was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
