Philly U's Magee 'Ecstatic' Over Being Hall Finalist

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The list of 12 finalists being considered for 2011 election into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame was released on Friday. Among those to make the cut, Philadelphia University Men's Basketball Coach Herb Magee.

Magee has the most NCAA wins in college basketball history, sitting at 921. He talks about how he found out he was a finalist.

"My daughter Kay, who now teaches here, she was in the office (Friday). She had just finished teaching her math class. She has her computer in front of her and she says, 'Dad, you want to see this? They are going to announce the Hall of Fame finalists.' I said, 'Well, if I was going to go in they probably would've called me, but I'll listen to it," Magee said. "So first name, second name Al Attles, third name Maurice Cheeks and then the next name comes up and no one could hear because Kay went crazy, she just started jumping up and down. So, I figured that must have been me."

It was indeed and Magee, in his 44th season as the Rams Head Coach and 51st season on campus overall including his playing and assistant coaching careers, says this really is special recognition.

"It was really a thrill and I can tell you right now that I'm still very ecstatic over it, and it's hard to make me ecstatic. But that's a big thing for me," Magee said.

The 2011 Hall of Fame Class will be announced on April 4th. Magee says the wait won't be hard.

"You know if I am successful, that would be unbelievable. But just this honor to be named a finalist, is one of the highlights of anything that has happened to me or my family," Magee said.

Magee's Rams are 14-10 this season and have already qualified for the CACC Tournament.

Click To Listen To Matt's Interview With Coach Herb Magee.

Reported by Matt Leon, KYW Newsradio