1,000-game winner, Hall of Fame coach Herb Magee ready to retire

Herb Magee, the Hall of Famer known as “The Shot Doc” whose 1,123 career wins trail only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski among all active coaches, will retire from Jefferson University at the end of the season.

Magee is the only basketball coach to have achieved that many wins all at his alma mater, which has gone by various names over the years.

The Division II Rams did not play last season because of the pandemic. The 80-year-old Magee will coach this season before he hands over the reins to successor Jimmy Reilly. Reilly has been a member of Magee’s staff since 2007.

Magee is 1,123-444 record (.717 winning percentage) over 53 seasons. Krzyzewski, set to retire after one more season at Duke, is the only college basketball coach in all divisions with more wins (1,170).

Magee was inducted in 2011 into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Magee ended his playing career at what was then Philadelphia Textile as the school’s career scoring leader with 2,235 points. He averaged 29.1 points one season and was a two-time small-college All-America selection. Boston drafted Magee with the 62nd pick of the 1963 draft, but he decided not to join the Celtics and returned to Textile, which later became Philadelphia University.

He served as an assistant coach until 1967, when he took over as head coach and won 21 games. Magee reached the pinnacle in 1970 when the Rams won his only national championship. The Rams won 28 straight games that season and beat Tennessee State in the title game.

Philadelphia University combined with Thomas Jefferson University in 2017, becoming simply known as Jefferson.