Temple University Athletics
Chaney is Temple's Mr. Clean
11.5.99 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA (November 4)(AP) -- When tattoos, jewelry and corn rows became hip in basketball, no one hated it more than Temple
coach John Chaney. He wished he could shave those ugly beards, unravel those braids and get his players to leave the hoops and chains home. So this year, that's
what he did.
Chaney, entering his 18th season at Temple with a team that is projected to contend for the national title, added a strict grooming code to an already formidable
regimen that includes 5 a.m. practices and a ban on showboating.
In short, his players' hair must be short, their facial stubble must be shaved and their ears and necks must be metal-free.
The tattoos, he can do nothing about.
"Now I'm looking for somebody who can take those ... tattoos off them," Chaney said Thursday as the Atlantic 10 Conference coaches gathered in Philadelphia.
"That costs too much money. Some guy down on South Street told me it costs over $1,000 to get those tattoos off them. Now I can't do that, because that's against
NCAA rules. But I would pay for it if it wasn't against the rules."
The Chaney Rules are in effect for the Owls, who were 24-11 last season and made it to the Eastern Regional finals before losing to Duke.
They lost only one player to graduation, guard Rasheed Brokenborough. Lynn Greer, their best outside shooter, is healthy after missing most of last season with an
eye injury. This team could be one of Chaney's best, with expectations running high for his first trip to the Final Four.
"I told my kids this morning and every morning, there's nobody here at 5 o'clock in the morning but us chickens," Chaney said, his folksy humor still razor-sharp at
67. "All those other people are out there drawing up a drawing board, saying that they're in the Final Four and in the Final Eight. I want you guys to try to get us in
the NCAAs first."
Chaney's way with words is nothing new. His ability to enchant and offend is still one of his most impressive assets. This rule about appearance is a new wrinkle for a
man who is entering his 28th season as a college coach and appears spry and motivated enough for several more.
Chaney said he got the idea from John Wooden, who kept Bill Walton in check at UCLA.
"He told Walton, 'This is my team,'" Chaney said. "Walton says, 'Hey, I'm losing my identity.' And Wooden said, 'I tell you what, you go out and find your identity
and find your own team, because this is my team.'
"I want my team to come out on the floor and see one face. That's what a team means, one face. I don't like to see kids come out with guys having all kind of
earrings on and beards and all that on and them and those corn poles in their hair," said Chaney, his soliloquy spiked with profanities. "Are you an individual or are
you on a team?"
Asked how his players were taking it, Chaney said, "They got no choice."
Chaney, in rare form, made a point to praise one of his players when he said Pepe Sanchez was "the best point guard in this country, bar none."
"Somebody put a magazine in my face with this guy from Michigan State, Mateen (Cleaves), who averaged about 8-9 turnovers a game last year," Chaney said.
"And they've got him down as the No. 1 point guard. He only goes to his right. I don't mean to down the kid, but I really don't give a damn. I just think Pepe's the
best."
Xavier, despite losing starters James Posey, Lenny Brown and Gary Lumpkin, is expected to challenge Temple for the league title. But despite protestations from the
league's coaches, the A-10 appears headed for a down year.
Rhode Island lost Lamar Odom to the NBA and coach Jim Harrick to Georgia. Odom and Harrick both changed their minds on whether they were going to stay
with the Rams, causing a chaotic situation that led to Odom's longtime friend Jerry DeGregorio taking over as coach.
"It was like a circus," DeGregorio said of Odom's decision. "First he was staying, then he was leaving. My head was spinning. Fortunately, things have calmed
down."
