DiJulia, a sophomore guard at St. Joseph\u2019s at the time, and everyone else at the arena, the Palestra, was told to evacuate. They followed orders, but Les Keiter, who was announcing the game on television, refused to leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted to cover it,\u201d said DiJulia, who is now the St. Joseph\u2019s athletic director. \u201cHe was going to go up in flames if it was a legitimate bomb scare.\u201d<\/p>\n
The threat turned out to be a hoax, and the game resumed. Yet that night endures as part of the lore of the Big 5, the name for a collection of five Division I men\u2019s basketball programs in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Big 5 staged a 60th anniversary celebration in a fitting way, with a doubleheader at the Palestra, a tradition that had not taken place since December 2004. Temple beat La Salle, 62-49, in the first game, and St. Joseph\u2019s followed with a 75-60\u00a0win over Pennsylvania. No. 4 Villanova, the other Big 5 university, won, 72-71, at Seton Hall.<\/p>\n
Throughout the night, the public-address announcer introduced and honored 30 former players (six from each university representing the Big 5\u2019s first six decades) who helped the Big 5 secure an enduring legacy.<\/p>\n
For longtime Big 5 stalwarts like DiJulia and Temple Coach Fran Dunphy, the night served as a reunion of sorts and a reminder of the Big 5\u2019s rare nature, the lure of the Palestra and the changing landscape of college athletics.<\/p>\n
Since the formation of the Big 5 in 1955, the universities have played each other in a round-robin format each season except for an eight-year stretch in the 1990s when they played only two Big 5 opponents per season. No city has come close to duplicating that feat. For the first 24 seasons, all matchups between Big 5 teams and most home games for the colleges were held at the Palestra, the storied gym on Penn\u2019s campus that opened in 1927.<\/p>\n
Back then, the Palestra typically hosted college basketball doubleheaders on Wednesday and Saturday nights in the winter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was part of the fabric and the culture of life in Philadelphia,\u201d said DiJulia, who grew up in southwest Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Dunphy, also a Philadelphia native, remembered heading to the Palestra with friends from his neighborhood. He later played at La Salle and served as an assistant at his alma mater before becoming the coach at Penn in 1989 and at Temple in 2006.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a basketball heaven,\u201d Dunphy said of the Palestra. \u201cI think still to today it holds a special place in my heart. It\u2019s revered in Philadelphia basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, times have changed as universities have to consider conference affiliations, television contracts and financial interests. Although banners of the Big 5 programs hang in the Palestra\u2019s rafters, Penn is the only one to have all of its home games at the gym. The other four colleges have their own arenas. This season, the only non-Penn games at the Palestra were Miami-La Salle on Dec. 22 and Temple-La Salle on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Scheduling Wednesday\u2019s doubleheader was not easy. After several months of talks, the universities received permission from their conferences and settled on a date.<\/p>\n
Steve Bilsky, a former Penn guard, conceived the idea when he became the Big 5\u2019s executive director in 2014 after retiring as Penn\u2019s athletic director. He wanted to stage an event at a building that meant so much to him and many others.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo other city has done it,\u201d Bilsky said of the Big 5. \u201cSome have tried, but that\u2019s what sets the Big 5 apart. It\u2019s such a credit to the schools that they\u2019ve been able to maintain this commitment even though in some cases they\u2019ve had to sacrifice things that might be perceived as not in their best institutional interests.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bilsky would like to have more doubleheaders at the Palestra, preferably on a Saturday night in early December. As of now, though, nothing is set for next season or beyond.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the near-sellout crowd had a chance to relive the old days and walk the concourses of the Palestra, which feature display cases honoring the Big 5 colleges and the arena\u2019s history. It has hosted not only college basketball games. Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James played at the Palestra while in high school.<\/p>\n
When recruits visit La Salle, Coach John Giannini takes them on a tour of the Palestra. Giannini\u2019s first Big 5 game occurred on Dec. 4, 2004, which was the last time the Palestra hosted multiple games involving Big 5 teams. That day, the former St. Joseph\u2019s coach John Griffin told Giannini to cherish the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think most coaches are so focused and intent on winning that \u2018enjoyment\u2019 isn\u2019t the word they would use,\u201d Giannini said. \u201cBut as I reflect back on those Palestra games, it\u2019s definitely memorable, and you definitely feel privileged. I don\u2019t know if \u2018enjoyment\u2019 is the right word, but \u2018privileged\u2019 definitely is the right word.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DiJulia, a sophomore guard at St. Joseph’s at the time, and everyone else at the arena, the Palestra, was told to evacuate. They followed orders, but Les Keiter, who was announcing the game on television, refused to leave. “He wanted to cover it,” said DiJulia, who is now the St. Joseph’s athletic director. “He was going to go up in flames if it was a legitimate bomb scare.” The threat turned out to be a hoax, and the game resumed. Yet that night endures as part of the lore of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1993"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1995,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993\/revisions\/1995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}