La Salle coach John Giannini is no stranger to the city of Philadelphia.
Although he spent seven years coaching in the area, tomorrow will mark Giannini's initiation into one of the city's greatest sports traditions.
The Big 5 Classic, an event which has perpetuated collegiate basketball rivalries within the city for almost 50 years, will kick off at the Palestra tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Giannini will find himself facing off against the man who nearly accepted his current job, Penn coach Fran Dunphy.
When La Salle was forced to look for a new head coach this summer after Billy Hahn's controversial resignation, it did not search too far outside of the city limits.
The Explorers offered the job to Dunphy, but were unable to persuade him to leave West Philadelphia.
Instead they brought in Giannini, another candidate who already had close ties to the local area.
Giannini spent seven years at Rowan University in nearby Glassboro, N.J. As head coach, Giannini led the Profs to seven straight winning seasons that included a Division III national championship and two other appearances in the Final Four.
During his time at Rowan, Giannini looked toward Philadelphia for many of his recruits. He intends to continue that trend at La Salle, as evidenced by his hiring of assistant coaches with similar ties to the basketball community.
In early September, Giannini announced his new coaching staff of Steve Seymour, Horace "Pappy" Owens and Harris Adler, all of whom have extensive experience coaching in Philadelphia.
Adler is a former assistant coach with the Quakers.
Giannini hopes that these hometown ties will help bring in local recruits, such as La Salle's current standout forward, Steven Smith.
A graduate of Philadelphia's Northeast High School, Smith has averaged 23 points in three games this season after finishing last season averaging 17 per game.
Smith has been able to produce more offense this season because of the departure of La Salle's former leading scorer, Gary Neal.
Neal and fellow teammate Michael Cleaves were involved in a rape scandal this past summer that brought about Hahn's resignation.
Their indiscretions left the Explorers and new coach Giannini with an incomplete roster.
"I think our biggest problem has been dealing with an undermanned roster," Giannini said. "With only nine recruited players, we've had to rely on dedicated walk-ons to help us."
The recent additions of walk-ons Andrew Lewis, Dexter Matthews and Matt Smith illustrate Giannini's struggle to operate with a shrunken roster after such a controversy.
While the summer's scandal has caused difficulties for Giannini, it has offered the other Explorers more chances to contribute.
"I think the group as a whole was very motivated to take advantage of their opportunities this season," Giannini said. "Every player possesses a great opportunity to get significant playing time."
He also noted the consistently solid performance of junior guard Jermaine Thomas, who Giannini described as "the second pillar that seems to hold up our team."
Thomas contributed 13 points in La Salle's win over Southern California on Tuesday, which was the Explorers' first of the season.
The victory certainly marks a triumph over this past summer's controversy, but will not relieve the team of all of its pressure.
"Handling adversity is very critical. Now we have to handle the feeling of success after winning a game," Giannini said. "We really need to focus on the immediate future."
Right now Giannini's focus is on the Quakers, as he prepares to make his mark in Philadelphia's basketball community and give the city a new reason to talk about the Explorers.
