Penn men's basketball head coach Fran Dunphy has officially announced that he has declined to take the men's basketball head coaching position at La Salle University.
In a statement released Saturday night, Dunphy said that "after careful deliberation, I have decided to remain as the head coach of men's basketball at the University of Pennsylvania."
"I truly believe in La Salle's commitment to make the men's basketball program as good as it can be and I am honored that Brother Michael McGinniss and Athletic Director Tom Brennan felt that I would be a suitable candidate to head the program in the right direction in the future," he said. "I appreciate the mutual respect between Brother McGinniss and me, and I am proud that he is leading La Salle University."
Dunphy added that "however, in the end, my commitment remains with Penn and continuing to achieve the success that the men's basketball program strives for on an annual basis. The support of Penn's administration and the loyalty that both past and present players have shown throughout this process have been really meaningful to me."
Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said in the same statement that he is "delighted that Fran has decided to stay at Penn."
"Throughout the process, he showed great respect to both institutions in making this difficult decision for him," Bilsky said. "Penn basketball means a lot to so many people and I am glad that Fran Dunphy will continue as its leader."
Sources told The Daily Pennsylvanian that had Dunphy, who graduated from La Salle in 1970, accepted the job at his alma mater, he would have made approximately $400,000 per year for six years. He also would have enjoyed an increased recruiting budget compared to past Explorers coaches. It is not known whether he would have reported to Brennan or directly to McGinniss, the school's president.
The La Salle job opened when Billy Hahn resigned on July 24 in the midst of an investigation into sexual assault allegations involving members of the Explorers men's team.
La Salle is expected to turn to University of Maine head coach Dr. John Giannini as the next leading candidate to run the program. No announcement has yet been made regarding who will replace former Explorers women's basketball coach John Miller, who also resigned on July 24 as part of the same investigation.
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