http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6580565

Definitely seemed like DeChellis would have an uphill battle again at Penn State with everyone graduating but didn't expect this.

I admire him for his willingness to coach at the Naval Academy. Career wise it seems like a lateral move, or even a step backwards?

september63;777799 wrote:I admire him for his willingness to coach at the Naval Academy. Career wise it seems like a lateral move, or even a step backwards?

When's the last time you hear anything about Navy basketball? It is definitely a HUGE step backward.

But, your first part is how I feel to a T. It takes a special person to coach at the Service Academies, so I definitely applaud him for that.

From a competitive perspective it is obviously a step down, but from a career perspective not a bad move for him. Don't have to deal with the expectations and better job security.

Manhattan Buckeye;778038 wrote:From a competitive perspective it is obviously a step down, but from a career perspective not a bad move for him. Don't have to deal with the expectations and better job security.

Yep, he's a good enough coach to be plenty good enough for Navy for the rest of his career, if that is what he wants.

I can honestly say I've never watched Navy play a basketball game.

Are there height requirements (max, not min) for the navy? serious question.

se-alum;778500 wrote:I can honestly say I've never watched Navy play a basketball game.

The athletic offices at the Academy have a shrine to David Robinson as you approach the basketball wing.

Edit...it's not really a "wing" as much as it is a floor.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/d1scourse/2011/may/23/sizing-up-ed-dechellis-move-from-penn-st-to-navy/

"...“It’s not about the job,” DeChellis said tonight. “This is a great job. It’s a Big Ten job. It’s got great facilities, got all the bells and whistles you need to be competitive. For me, it’s not about bells and whistles, not about large arena. It’s about something different. It’s about me doing what I want to do, which is working with young guys and recruiting young guys who want to represent our nation.” ..."

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/nas/2011/05/23-47/Naval-Academy-lures-Penn-States-DeChellis-to-be-basketball-coach.html

"...“On the surface, it seemed like a bit of a stretch,” Gladchuk said yesterday. “But it only took one phone call, one conversation, for me to realize that this was a genuine ambition of Ed’s. A lot of people look at this from the outside-in, but I look at it from inside-out. The Naval Academy, and all of what is stands for, really resonates with Ed. I think he is absolute perfect for this environment.

If this was just about basketball, Ed DeChellis would not be here. This is about a first-class person — a man who absolutely exudes integrity, character and values — deciding that the Naval Academy is exactly the type of place that he wants to coach,” Gladchuk said. ...


“There is something very, very powerful about the Naval Academy,” DeChellis said. “Not to be too philosophical, but this is more like a calling. This is something I needed to do, somewhere I needed to be. I feel it is a great fit for me in terms of where I am with my career.” ..."

derek bomar;778759 wrote:Are there height requirements (max, not min) for the navy? serious question.

Yes, 6'8".

queencitybuckeye;778826 wrote:Yes, 6'8".

how'd David Robinson get past that?

There are athletic exceptions requiring special approval. It limits the service assignment available following graduation.

Having David Robinson admitted turned out to be a beneficial thing for the Academy.

derek bomar;778856 wrote:how'd David Robinson get past that?

He was shorter than that upon entrance, and continued to grow.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1119090/index.htm

"There has never been a Navy basketball player like David Robinson, midshipman third class, 14th company, third battalion, first regiment. At 6'11", he's the tallest ship at Annapolis. The height limit for midshipmen entering the U.S. Naval Academy is 6'6", but 5% of an incoming class can be as tall as 6'8". Robinson entered the Academy in the summer of 1983 at that height and sprouted three more inches in a year. Now the sophomore from Manassas, Va. stands head and shoulders above such Navy heroes as football stars Joe Bellino, class of '61 (5'9"), Roger Staubach, '65 (6'2") and Napoleon McCallum, '85 (6'2"), not to mention cross-country runner Jimmy Carter, '47 (5'9�"), football guard Stansfield Turner, '46 (5'9�"), deep-sea diver Hyman Rickover, '22 (5'6") and, finally, that first of all Navy legends, John Paul Jones (5'5"). "How," asks former NBA player and now Annapolis restaurateur Mike Riordan, "is David ever going to fit into a sub?" Subs may indeed be a problem but Robinson's height will not disqualify him from jobs in intelligence, engineering, supplies or most other naval careers.

The question nobody in Annapolis has to ask is, "How is David fitting into the Academy's basketball program?" With just one year of high school experience, Robinson saw little action as a 6'9" Navy freshman. But after lifting weights and playing in Washington's Urban Coalition League last summer he returned to school 20 pounds heavier at 215, two inches taller and much stronger. At week's end he was among the NCAA Division I leaders in scoring (22.9 points per game), rebounding (10.5), field-goal percentage (65%) and blocked shots (4.5). And Navy was 11-2 and undefeated in the ECAC South Conference. This is the Academy that hasn't had a basketball All-America since Elliott Loughlin in 1933 or an NCAA tournament team since 1960. This year it may have both...."

Navy gained another good coach 2 years ago...Messiah College's men's soccer coach went there.

He had won 5+ DIII National Championships in men's soccer with Messiah. Obviously, people assume that it's (Navy's DI standing) a step up from a DIII school...but man, he had built Messiah into a tremendous program.

I always felt DeChellis was a very good coach, even though he had a constant uphill battle (not Taylor ) in getting PSU to the upper echelons of college basketball. That school just doesn't seem to care about basketball that much (they care more about wrestling).

My admiration for him has now doubled as he obviously wants to give back something by taking this job. He could go someplace else and earn a lot more money, but he's spending time with young men who are there because they want to serve and protect all of us when they get out of school.

I wish Coach DeChellis all the best in both his career and life. He's a class act all the way.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11147/1149447-143-0.stm



Ed DeChellis understands the way some in the college basketball world view his decision to leave Penn State for the United States Naval Academy. What most find puzzling is that he would willingly move from the Big Ten Conference to the Patriot League while still having two years remaining on an existing contract.

Who leaves a $700,000-plus year position for one that pays less than $500,000? Who goes from a conference that placed seven teams in the most recent NCAA tournament to a one-bid league where SAT scores are more important than box-score statistics?

But for DeChellis, a Monaca High School graduate who spent eight years as Penn State's head coach, it was not about the money and the glamour.

"It wasn't about the big arenas, the TV packages, the financial benefits of being a head coach in a BCS conference," DeChellis said Thursday from his new office in Annapolis, Md. "This was a family decision. It was about what was best for us at this time in my career. I have a couple of bucks saved. I never took any job for prestige.

"I was driving home [after interviewing with Navy officials], and my wife said, 'You fit everything that the academy stands for.' For those who never walked through the Yard, never saw the students wearing their dress whites ...

"This decision was more than what level of basketball it is. Guys in this business who really know me aren't shocked at all. My high school guys who have emailed me aren't shocked at all. I know how this maybe looks from a media standpoint, but, right now, I'm looking out my window at the Chesapeake Bay after having just talked to our four graduating seniors.

"Talking to them and realizing what they stand for cemented my decision to come here even more."

DeChellis does not have a military background, but his view of the academy was shaped by his best friend and fellow Western Pennsylvania native, Skip Prosser, who died from a heart attack in 2007.

Prosser, who grew up in Carnegie, got to know DeChellis when they were assistants at Penn State and Xavier, respectively. DeChellis gave the eulogy at Prosser's funeral.

"We were very close," DeChellis said. "We talked probably five days of out seven. That's how close we were. Navy was one of his dream jobs. He tried to get it once and didn't get it. But Skip went to the Merchant Marine Academy and had that background."

So, when former Navy coach Billy Lange resigned to go to Villanova as an associate head coach earlier this month, DeChellis became interested despite the fact that in March he led Penn State to its first NCAA tournament appearance in a decade.

"It made me think about things," said DeChellis, who compiled a 117-129 record in his eight-year tenure as the Nittany Lions' coach.

"When I came here, I knew it was the right thing to do. Not to sound corny, but I look at it as a calling. This is something I need to do to complete who I am."

It also is likely that DeChellis saw the writing on the wall at Penn State. Another contract extension and more money for his assistant coaches was not forthcoming from the athletic department. And, with Talor Battle, the school's all-time leading scorer, graduating, a rebuilding season for the Lions is in the offing.

At 52, DeChellis has long-term security in a five-year contract and likely has found his final head-coaching destination at Navy, once a Patriot League power that has fallen on hard times.

DeChellis has begun to formulate a plan for returning the Midshipmen to contender status. He will meet with former Navy coach Don DeVoe next week. He also hopes to meet with Paul Evans, who coached the Midshipmen to the Elite Eight in 1986 before becoming the head coach at Pitt. Both men still live in Annapolis.

DeChellis and DeVoe share much in common.

Twenty years ago, DeVoe did what DeChellis is doing now, moving down a level after years at major-college programs. DeVoe made seven NCAA tournament appearances in stints at Virginia Tech, Wyoming, Tennessee and Florida.

DeVoe adjusted fine, leading the Midshipmen to three NCAA appearances in a five-year span in the 1990s, with the last one for the school coming in 1998.

DeChellis plans to soak up as much as he can from DeVoe and Evans, and set about to bringing the Midshipmen back to NCAA tournament.

"Like anywhere else, it starts with recruiting," he said. "You have to get players."

Ray Fittipald: [email protected].

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11147/1149447-143-0.stm#ixzz1NprqXXt9

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/nas/2011/06/21-25/DeChellis-discovering-uniqueness-of-academy-coaching.html

"...A few weeks ago, DeChellis was waiting on several players to arrive for a weightlifting session. As the appointed time came and went, the newly-hired head coach was growing annoyed.

"I was starting to get sideways wondering why these guys weren't showing up, but then (assistant coach) Aaron Goodman came in and told me the players got called into a briefing," DeChellis said. "I am learning that there are different priorities at a service academy and the military side of things takes precedence. I am finding that I need to be flexible." ..."

It also looks like he wants to rebuild the NAPS program.

DeChellis says goodbye Big Ten, hello Patriot League
"...“I understand people looking at it from the outside saying ‘Well, the level of competition is not the same, the level of compensation is not the same, the conference is maybe not the same,’ ” DeChellis said. “But for me, this has been tremendous. … I know I made the right move. I’ve never had remorse. Not one second. Not one.”"

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/4/dechellis-conference-call/?page=1

se-alum;778500 wrote:I can honestly say I've never watched Navy play a basketball game.

I think they had a couple years reasonably recently in the NCAA tournament, but they're a team in the 14-15 seed range. Maybe 16, so they weren't there long.

Heretic;822445 wrote:I think they had a couple years reasonably recently in the NCAA tournament, but they're a team in the 14-15 seed range. Maybe 16, so they weren't there long.

They had a good run in the mid-late 90's, making the tourney in 94, 96, 97 and 98, but 2000 was the last time they made it.

Heretic;822445 wrote:I think they had a couple years reasonably recently in the NCAA tournament, but they're a team in the 14-15 seed range. Maybe 16, so they weren't there long.

I'm not a basketball guy but I believe they were an 8 seed in 1986.

Edit...just checked. They were a 7 seed and transferred to the elite eight.

They were an 8 seed in 1987.

Con_Alma;822670 wrote:I'm not a basketball guy but I believe they were an 8 seed in 1986.

Edit...just checked. They were a 7 seed and transferred to the elite eight.

They were an 8 seed in 1987.

^^Two words--- David Robinson.

The PSU job is not a great basketball job. Heck, it is at best the 4th best basketball program in PA most years (behind in no particular order Pitt, Villanova and Temple) and in some years it might be 5th when a Duquense or a St. Joe's has a nice season. In addition to the PA schools the head coach at PSU has to recruit against the likes of Syracuse, UCONN, Georgetown and Maryland to the east and OSU, MSU, UC and Xavier to the immediate west (also throw in WVU to the south). The university has no real commitment to basketball. I don't blame the guy for taking a job at a program whose rewards can't be measured by just dollars and cents.

I can't see how anyone would "blame the guy" for this move. The more one reads about who he is and what the opportunity at Navy is can see there's a clear match.