Phelan coached his entire career at
Mount St. Mary's University. He led the Mountaineers to the 1962
NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship as well as 14 NCAA Division II tournaments and five Final Four appearances. When he retired in 2003, after coaching for 49 years, he had amassed 830 wins (overall record of 830–524) in over 1,300 games in all divisions. In those 49 years, Phelan had 19 teams that reached 20 or more wins in a season. Prior to the announcement of his induction to the
National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in April 2008, Phelan was often noted for having the most victories of any coach not in the Hall of Fame. On February 17, 1986, Phelan earned his 600th win as Mount St. Mary's head coach. Phelan got his 800th win in the
Northeast Conference Championship Game on March 1, 1999. He became just the fourth coach in
NCAA history to get 800 career wins; currently he sits 14th on the
all-time list. On January 19, 1998, he became just the second coach in NCAA history to coach in 1,200 career games. The only other coach to do so prior was
Clarence Gaines. Phelan held the record in games coached with 1,354 across all NCAA divisions and is currently fourth on the all-time list; he is behind
Phog Allen and tied with
Jim Smith for second place in total career seasons coached with 49, though all 49 of Phelan's and Smith's seasons came at one school while Allen coached at four other institutions besides
Kansas, where he gained fame.
Coaching highlights • 830 wins (14th most all time) • 1,354 games coached (4th most all time) • 5 Final Fours • 16 NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances • 2 NCAA Division I Tournament Appearances • 2 Championship games coached • 1962 NCAA Division II Champions • 1962 National Coach of the Year
Players coached Notable players that Phelan coached include
Fred "Mad Dog" Carter, Jack Sullivan, and Jon O'Reilly. The 1962 team won the school's only national championship. Phelan earned his first of two coach of the year awards in '62. In the book,
King of the Mount: The Jim Phelan Story, the 1980–1981 season is a highlight.
Acknowledgments Collegeinsider.com, in 2003, renamed its coach of year award the "
Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award". Mount Saint Mary's University has also renamed its court "Jim Phelan Court", complete with his years coached and his signature bow tie painted on each end of the court. A new banner was also revealed in the ARCC Arena (MSMU's home court) with a Phelan bow tie and signifying his 830 wins. The
Northeast Conference Coach of the Year award is named after Jim Phelan. In November 2008, Phelan was inducted into the
National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in
Kansas City, MO. Other members of his induction class included
Nolan Richardson (former coach at the
University of Arkansas),
Charles Barkley (former
Auburn player and
NBA veteran), and commentators
Billy Packer and
Dick Vitale. Phelan said of his induction, "It is an honor to be selected for induction. It's a great feeling to be in such a distinguished group of gentlemen." ==Personal life==