Digger Phelps

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Richard "Digger" Phelps (born July 4, 1941) is mostly well-known as the coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball team in the 1970s, 1980s and part of the 1990s. The nickname "Digger" derives from his birthplace of Beacon, New York, where his father owned a funeral service.

[edit] Career

Phelps began his coaching career in 1963 as a graduate assistant at Rider College, where he had played basketball. After a move to the high school ranks, he obtained his first full assistant job in 1966 at the University of Pennsylvania. His first head coaching job came in 1970 at Fordham University. After leading the Fordham Rams to a 26-3 record in the 1970-71 season, he was named head coach at the University of Notre Dame.

During his 20 seasons at Notre Dame (1971-1991), his teams went 393-197, with 14 seasons of 20 wins or more. In 1978, Notre Dame made its only (men's) Final Four to date. His most-remembered game was on January 19, 1974, when the Fighting Irish scored the last 12 points of the game to defeat top-ranked UCLA 71-70, ending the Bruins' record 88-game winning streak.

[edit] After Notre Dame

After retiring from coaching, he briefly worked for the Office of National Drug Control Policy and also served as an observer in the 1993 elections in Cambodia. Also in 1993, he began a broadcasting career. Starting in that year, he announced color commentary for that year's NCAA tournament for CBS. He joined ESPN the next season. As a television personality, Phelps is known to always hold a highlighter that is color-coordinated with his tie.

Phelps also is a great fan of opera. The well-rounded former coach made a cameo appearance in the Notre Dame student opera performance of Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld". Phelps played the part of Baccus, the God of Wine, in two performances in April of 2006.

[edit] Personal

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Phelps' daughter, Karen, is married to baseball pitcher Jamie Moyer. Digger is also a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

Preceded by Ed Conlin	Fordham University Basketball Head Coach 1970–1971	Succeeded by Hal Wissel
Preceded by John Dee	Notre Dame Basketball Head Coach 1971–1991	Succeeded by John MacLeod

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Fordham Rams Head Basketball Coaches

McLaughlin • Fisher • Black • O'Donnell • Mahoney • Siskind • C. Risacher • Neary • Siskind • Devlin • Kinney • Butler • Culloton • Kelleher • Cavanaugh • Kelleher • Adams • Bach • Conlin • Phelps • Wissel • Stewart • Penders • Quinn • Macarchuk • Hill • Whittenburg