PITTSBURGH — Phil Martelli Jr. has plenty of stories about going to the Atlantic 10 Tournament when he was growing up.
On Sunday afternoon, 10 years after his father, Phil Martelli, cut the nets down at this very tournament for the final time as the head coach at Saint Joseph’s, Martelli Jr. wrote his own chapter and did the same.
Martelli Jr’s VCU Rams, who have been sitting near the tournament bubble for some time, left no doubt in punching their ticket to March Madness. They defeated Dayton 70-62
en route to VCU’s second straight A-10 Tournament Championship, and for Martelli Jr, his second straight tournament appearance after taking Bryant dancing a season ago.
Sunday afternoon marked the fourth A-10 Tournament title for VCU, which now sits in a tie with Saint Joseph’s for the most by any current conference member.
“Who won those?” joked Martelli Jr, as three of the four conference championships came with his father at the helm of the Hawks.
“[My father] also got his in his second year,” quipped the younger Martelli, who can brag now that he did it in his first year as a head coach in the A-10.
Martelli Jr. and his brother Jimmy went to countless A-10 Tournaments growing up, sitting behind the St. Joe’s bench that their father was in charge of. They grew up engrained in the A-10. It makes it all the more special now that they’re the ones who can take center stage in a conference that they grew up on.
“I know what this league is about. I lived through it. [My family] probably couldn’t even count the number of A-10 Tournaments we went to,” Martelli Jr. said. “I go back to the days of Penn State, Rutgers, and West Virginia. I can visualize those moments in The Palestra where each of the four corners had a team, and everyone was going crazy.”
In a conference that the Martelli name is seemingly tied at the hip with, Sunday afternoon was a family affair, and a full-circle moment as the A-10 celebrated its 50th season.
A decade prior to Sunday, Phil Martelli’s St. Joe’s Hawks beat VCU for the A-10 Championship in Brooklyn. Phil’s father, the late Phil “Pops” Martelli climbed the ladder to cut the nets in celebration of his son’s victory.
Fast forward 10 years, and three generations of Martelli’s made the climb up to the rim in an ode to “Pops”, this time with VCU as the victors.
Martelli Sr. went first, followed by Martelli Jr.’s son Philip, and then finally, Jr. got to hold up the net as his father and grandfather had done before. It’s moments like these that are most important to the Martellis. To win the game is great. To share a moment like Sunday means more.
For Jimmy Martelli, who serves as Martelli Jr.’s associate head coach, he’ll never take for granted that his family can make memories through the avenue of basketball. That visual of his grandfather in Brooklyn will be in his memory forever.
“There’s a photo of my grandfather cutting the the net down when St. Joe’s and my father won it some years back when he was still alive. That’s a picture I’ll never forget, of [Pops] on top of that ladder,” Jimmy Martelli said.
“Those memories that you get to share because of basketball are important,” he added. “To do it alongside family is unique. It’s super special.”
The elder Martelli appreciates these moments when the roles are reversed for he and his two sons. The seats his sons used to occupy in the stands are now his. The sideline that he used to patrol is now manned by Martelli Jr. and Jimmy. He gets to witness his sons experience the same stage that he stood on for so long.
Basketball has given so much to the Martelli family. With all the memories that they’re fortunate enough to share together, all they can do is try to serve the game back.
“This game has given us so much, and we’ve tried to serve it honorably. We’ve always tried to serve the game, because what this is supposed to be about is relationships and memories,” the senior Martelli said. “Memories for my grandkids to climb a ladder, for my son to walk a sideline in such a great league. Relationships, not wins and losses, is what we take away.”
VCU became the first A-10 program to win back to back tournament championships since Temple did it three straight years, from 2008-2010 under Fran Dunphy.
Dunphy, a great friend of Phil Jr’s father, has also been a mentor and an inspiration for himself, as he forges his own path in the coaching world. Martelli Jr. grew up witnessing so many great coaches like Dunphy and his father man the sidelines at this very tournament. He remembers John Chaney and John Calipari there too. Now, his name will be mentioned amongst them in the record books.
“Some of those names you sit there and talk about, like Dunphy won three in a row at Temple. Other than my father, I don’t know if there’s a man that I admire more than Fran Dunphy,” Martelli Jr. said.
“To be in the conversation with those people, it doesn’t make sense. Those guys are legends,” he added. “I’m a mediocre coach with good players.”
A memorable afternoon for the Martelli family quickly flipped to preparation for North Carolina, who the Rams will play on Thursday in Greenville, S.C., on Thursday at 6:50 p.m.
VCU hasn’t won a game in the NCAA Tournament since 2016 when Will Wade’s Rams, with Mo Alie-Cox and JeQuan Lewis beat an Oregon State team that featured Gary Payton Jr. and Drew Eubanks. Martelli Jr. isn’t worried about that, just who they play and how they can win. He’ll probably refrain from trying to watch film inside of his own home though.
His team showed not just on Sunday, but the entire month that they have what it takes to win in the NCAA Tournament.
“We have a bunch of different ways to win,” he said. “We’ve had five really hard March games that we just had to find a way to win. They weren’t the prettiest, the cleanest, the most aesthetically pleasing, but we found a way,” Martelli Jr. said.
“There’s an excitement today. We’re in the tournament,” he added. “You got a chance. I don’t know if I’ll sit at the kitchen counter and watch tape, maybe tomorrow”.
Martelli Jr. made his stamp on the A-10, and at a storied program like VCU, where hearing their name called on Selection Sunday like they did yesterday is the standard. Now, he’ll have the chance to do it in March Madness. Thursday night will tell us if he can check that box too.
