On Monday, St. Joe’s coach Phil Martelli was named Big 5 Coach of the Year. The Hawks had a fine year, going 28-8 and winning the Atlantic 10 tournament before falling in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Oregon.
Villanova basketball was so great this year that the St. Joseph’s coach refused to accept a trophy
Saint Joseph's Phil Martelli puts a post-it note on the Big 5 coach of the year trophy. pic.twitter.com/a12uwtbfbD
— Dan Gelston (@APgelston) April 12, 2016
But Martelli wasn’t satisfied: at Monday’s ceremony, he covered up his name on the trophy with a post-it, insisting that Villanova coach Jay Wright deserved the honors instead.
Phil Martelli just put a post-it note on his Big 5 Coach of the Year award for Jay Wright. "Jay, this is yours." pic.twitter.com/ow6V5j1egl
— Dave Zeitlin (@DaveZeitlin) April 12, 2016
“I’m tired of being mistaken for Jay Wright,” Martelli said. “Seriously, there’s not one person in here who would say ‘Big 5 Coach of the Year? It must be Phil Martelli! It’s not Jay Wright!’ The man won the national championship. I’m cool. We had a hell of a year.”
“But Philadelphia, I’m going to save you from yourself,” he joked. “Threw snowballs at Santa Claus; threw batteries at J.D. Drew; cheered when Michael Irvin got a concussion. And did not give Jay Wright the Coach of the Year the year he won the national championship.”
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