Last week we counted down some of our top moments from the 2014-15 basketball seasons. We have worked our way down from 10 to six and this week we will finish our list. Each day we will be bringing you one moment from either the men or women that stood out to us this season.
#5: Temple's Fran Dunphy Wins Coach of the Year
Heading into The American Championship in Hartford, Temple had seen an emphatic turnaround from a year ago. The Owls, who were 9-22 a year ago, scored a signature win in December against then-No. 10 Kansas, marking the Owls' sixth win over a top-10 team over the last seven seasons. Temple would go on to reach the 20-win mark for the seventh time in nine seasons. At The American Championship, Fran Dunphy was voted by his peers as The American Coach of the Year- and delivered a moving speech that quieted the whole room and left the audience with chills and some with tears in their eyes. Coach Dunphy took the opportunity to speak about a dear friend of his who was also a basketball coach and fighting cancer.
Just a day after the honor, Coach Dunphy led his team to a 80-75 victory over Memphis in the championship quarterfinals. The win not only sent Temple to the semifinals of the conference tournament, but also gave Coach Dunphy his 500th career win. Temple went on to make a run in the NIT making it all the way to the semifinals and finished the season 26-11. The 17-win improvement from the 2013-14 campaign was the best in the nation.