Hot-shot coach

PHILADELPHIA -- He built his reputation as a shooter, a jump-shot guru who expects to make every single shot, no matter where he is on the court. But it's his passing that makes Herb Magee so remarkable.

More than 40 years ago, Magee arrived at Philadelphia University as a skinny, undersized freshman with a deft shooting touch -- and never left. After 800 wins and numerous offers for big-time college and NBA coaching jobs, he's still at his alma mater -- winning games and preaching the gospel of the jump shot.

"Believe me when I tell you that if I warmed up and went out there right now and took 100 shots, I'd expect to miss one or two," said the 64-year-old Magee, pointing through the door of his office to the bandbox gym where his jersey hangs from the rafters.

"Anyone can do it. I don't have any special attributes, I've just done it the right way my whole life."

And on that simple principle, Magee has built a legacy: eighth-most wins in NCAA history, one Division II national title and 80 consecutive home wins during one stretch. And yet, he chose to stay.

"It's hard for people to understand," Magee said. "Why would a guy who has been this successful stay at a small school and, obviously, get paid a lower salary -- much, much lower?

"The simple reason," he said, "is family."

Magee, who lost both parents by the age of 13, put his family ahead of everything else when the bigger schools came calling -- seeking a shooting guru with a soft touch, not just around the basket but with his players, too.

"Most of those jobs would've involved me uprooting and moving to a different part of the country," said the soft-spoken Magee, who stayed local early in his career to be close to his young daughters following a divorce from his first wife. "And that's not me, I'm a Philadelphia guy."

No kidding.

One of three teammates -- along with Jim Lynam and Jim Boyle -- at West Catholic High School that went on to be coaches, Magee went to then-Philadelphia Textile and ended his career as the school's leading scorer with 2,235 points. He averaged 29.1 points per game one season and was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1963.

That was the first time he passed.

"You ready for the reasons?" Magee asks. "There are five of them."

Magee ticks them off on his fingers one at a time. "Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones and John Havlicek," Magee said, referring to the Celtic guards of that era, all of them Hall of Famers.

"I think I made the right decision," Magee laughed.

He finagled an assistant job at his alma mater by promising to take on coaching duties in other sports as needed -- cross country, squash, golf, whatever.

"One year, I was supposed to be the golf coach. I ended up doing it for 20," Magee said.

But even though he never jumped ship for a big college program or an NBA assistant job -- passing up "two or three solid, take-our-job offers" -- Magee has still made an impact in the pros, privately instructing NBA players.

Former NBA coach Jack McKinney, whom Magee assisted for a season at Textile, brought him to Indiana to teach his Pacers how to shoot in the early 80s.

"He walked in and I could hear it, 'Who the hell is this skinny sucker, he's going to teach us how to shoot?'" McKinney said.

Four days later, the players wouldn't let Magee leave.

"They'd say, 'We'll pay for him ourselves. Don't let him go," McKinney said.

Magee has schooled kids and pros alike. A girl made the trip from Virginia to Philadelphia for a Thanksgiving-morning session, and New York Knicks player Malik Rose -- a Philly guy himself -- has taken shooting lessons from Magee.

"All the basketball players in the city, the NBA guys, the coaches, everybody told me to go see Herb," said Rose, who played college ball at Drexel. "He's shaped the games of so many players."

A fixture on the camp circuit, Magee nails shots from all over the floor to get his campers' attention.

His high school buddy Lynam, former head coach at Saint Joseph's and the Philadelphia 76ers, brought him to a camp once and Magee made his first 77 shots.

"The kids were counting them the whole time," Lynam said. "He's just one of the greatest pure shooters ever to walk the planet. That's just a fact."

Magee always had perfect shooting form, Lynam said.

"He understood shooting mechanics," Lynam said. "I don't know where he learned it."

He's self-taught, it turns out.

"I'd shoot at least 500 shots a day. You talk about people who needed a life," said Magee, shaking his head. "I'd chart [the misses] and figure out what happened."

He got it right, and it hasn't changed since. And neither has Magee, who plans to remain a Philly basketball constant.

"I have no regrets about anything I've ever done," Magee said. "This is the perfect place for me."