It would not be an odd sight to find Temple Athletic Director Bill Bradshaw and Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright at Penn basketball coach Fran Dunphy's home.
Bradshaw and Wright are both "good friends of mine" and "live not too far from me," the Penn coach said.
But the meeting of the three at Dunphy's Villanova home "last Tuesday or Wednesday," according to Dunphy, was more than just a friendly get-together.
Instead, the trio was working to reach an agreement in a scheduling feud between the Owls and Wildcats that could have had disastrous long-term effects on the Big 5.
"They did all the talking, and I just kind of listened," Dunphy said.
The scheduling disagreement revolves around Villanova's attempt to move its Nov. 21 game at Temple to another date in order to schedule two games against Division III teams. These additional games would have enabled five suspended players to play in the Maui Invitational Basketball Tournament.
This angered Owls coach John Chaney, who refused to play Villanova on any other date.
Eventually, a deal was reached, resulting in a 12:01 a.m. matchup between the two Philadelphia squads on the morning of Nov. 21st.
Dunphy noted that it was Wright who originally proposed the 12:01 a.m. -- the first minute an NCAA game can be played -- tip-off.
The Penn coach also said that the two sides expressed no hostility toward one another when meeting at his home.
"It was a very positive meeting throughout," Dunphy said. "It resulted in a win-win situation for both sides."
In fact, Dunphy said that the two schools had been attempting to reach an agreement all along.
"There were some differences," he said. "But if you can sit down with someone and give close and careful thought, then you can come to an agreement."
While a final deal was not agreed upon at the Dunphy home, the Penn coach said that both sides left feeling "very good about the suggestions that took place that night."
Wright and Bradshaw -- neither of whom could be reached for comment -- took these suggestions to their respective athletic departments, and an official deal was announced Friday.
Shortly after the final buzzer sounds at Temple's Liacouras Center, Villanova will board a plane for Los Angeles. There, the Wildcats will play nearby Division III University of Redlands at noon on Nov. 22. Then they will fly to Maui for the tournament that begins on Nov. 24.
After canceling its other Division III game against Claremont College, Villanova has agreed to a home-and-home series against Kansas, starting Jan. 2 in Lawrence, Kan., in order to fill out its non-conference schedule.
When the two Big 5 schools square off on the 21st, the Wildcats will have to overcome the absence of five players. Along with starting guard Derrick Snowden, forwards Marcus Austin, Andreas Bloch, Curtis Sumpter and Chris Charles were suspended by the NCAA after using an illegal telephone code. Snowden had surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on August 29 and might be lost for the season anyway.
A total of 12 players were involved in the phone scandal, but the remaining seven athletes who did not receive NCAA penalties served a school suspension at the end of last season.
