The 73-year-old has been a polarizing figure in the best of times. These are not the best of times for John Chaney.

A Hall of Famer who has more than 700 victories, Chaney, through self- and university-imposed sanctions, will not coach the rest of the season or in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.

During a game against Saint Joseph's last week, upset that officials were not calling what he thought were illegal screens by Saint Joseph's players, Chaney sent in what he called a "goon" to "send a message," a tactic he had hinted at before the game.

Nehemiah Ingram fouled out in four minutes, sending Saint Joe's senior John Bryant to the floor on the final foul. Bryant suffered a broken arm, ending his college career and potentially jeopardizing the Hawks' chances of making the NCAA Tournament. (Saint Joseph's won Tuesday night at George Washington 71-56 to clinch the top seed in the conference tournament, which begins March 9 in Cincinnati.)

Saint Joe's President, the Rev. Timothy R. Lannon, said in a statement Tuesday that on behalf of the school, "I accept the measures taken in response to the events of last week. The willingness of (Chaney) to meet with John Bryant and family on our campus and later remove himself from the Atlantic 10 tournament is most appropriate."

Saint Joe's normally loquacious coach Phil Martelli had been silent about the matter until Tuesday night, when he was asked what has been the toughest thing about the last week.

"Biting the inside of my cheek. It's a bit raw, but — you know what? — it feels better now," Martelli said, referring to Tuesday's victory.

It remains unclear whether Chaney would coach the Owls if they make the NCAA Tournament or the NIT. Atlantic 10 Commissioner Linda Bruno said that decision would be left to Chaney and Temple.

"What he did was wrong," said Jim Haney, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. "There's just no way around it. We do not condone coaches giving instructions to their players to go in and hurt people or foul them with sort of a cavalier attitude as to whether they get hurt or not."

However, force occasionally is being met with force elsewhere on college basketball courts, albeit not as overtly as in Temple's situation.

Monday's editions of the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal described Wake Forest guard Chris Paul's unhappiness with hard fouls he has received this season, quoting him as saying, "You've just got to play and pray to God you don't get hurt."

Citing an incident in Sunday's game against Virginia in which Paul was pushed from behind, Demon Deacons center Eric Williams told the paper: "I just made sure I went over there and brought the whole thing up and got Chris off the ground. I wasn't going to hit nobody or curse anybody out, but at the same time, I was just letting everybody know nothing's going to happen, especially when I'm on the court."

CBS broadcaster Billy Packer says the difference with Chaney was the coach broadcasting his intentions.

"In any contact sport, not only from coaching and playing standpoint, protecting your turf has always been in place," Packer said. "But never before has the tactic been used where a coach talked about it in advance, carried it out and then was brutally honest about it. ... Nobody, to my knowledge, has been brutally honest about employing the tactic."

A few days after the incident, a remorseful Chaney suspended himself for a regular-season game. The school extended the suspension through the final three games of the regular season. Monday, Chaney said he would also not coach in the Atlantic 10 tournament. It is possible for Temple and Saint Joe's to meet in the final of that tournament.

"I never intended — nor did any of my players intend — for anyone to be injured, regardless of what may have been said emotionally before, during and after the game," Chaney said in a statement Monday. "But the unfortunate fact is that John Bryant was injured. I have taken full responsibility for my words and actions, and have apologized from my heart."

Temple athletic department spokesman Larry Dougherty said Tuesday that Chaney and other university officials had no further comment.

'Positives outweigh the negatives'

The incident has brought widespread condemnation to one of the sport's most respected and beloved coaches. It also gave Chaney an ignominious presence at Tuesday night's Saint Joseph's-GW game. When GW's Mike Hall fouled Abdulai Jalloh hard under the basket, GW fans began to chant, "Cha-ney Cha-ney."

Pundits coast to coast have called for him to resign. Many have cited other incidents such as the one a decade ago when he screamed "I will kill you" at then-Massachusetts coach John Calipari during a postgame news conference.

Others, especially fellow coaches, have come to Chaney's defense, hoping this incident will be weighed against his entire career.

"John Chaney is lucky he is one of the superstars of the coaching fraternity," ESPN/ABC broadcaster Dick Vitale said. "Eighty percent of the coaches would have been terminated on the spot for doing what John did."

However, Vitale, who talked Monday to Chaney, is one of the coach's staunchest supporters.

"The positives outweigh the negatives on his résumé," Vitale said. "If you know John, you know what a father figure he has been to so many kids. You would know the unbelievable hours he puts in to give kids a shot to make something of themselves."

Still, the incident has put Chaney in a position he loathes, one in which he is not in total control.

"Whenever you demonstrate the behavior that Coach did, you put yourself at risk to have others decide your fate," said Seattle SuperSonics assistant coach Dean Demopoulos, an assistant to Chaney for 17 years at Temple. "That is a terrible situation and a terrible feeling."

Demopoulos, who calls Chaney "the best teacher I've ever seen," and Vitale believe the coach should be judged not only for what he did against Saint Joe's but also for his actions after the fact.

Said Demopoulos: "How the coach has reacted shows you how he feels. He is hurting that that youngster doesn't have a chance to finish his career. And it is in opposition to everything (Chaney) has demonstrated in the overwhelming majority of his career."

Chaney, Calipari talk regularly

While no one is excusing Chaney's behavior, it is clear from those who know him that they are rooting for him to find his way clear of this problem.

It is not unusual for people to preface their comments with "I love the man" when speaking of Chaney. And most don't get around to talking about his coaching ability, which is considerable.

As a high school player, Chaney, was the 1951 Philadelphia Public League player of the year. He became an NAIA All-American at Bethune-Cookman. He began his coaching career at Sayre Junior High School in Philadelphia, went on to Simon Gratz High in the city and reached the college ranks in 1972 at Division II Cheney (Pa.). In 11 seasons there, he compiled a 225-59 record and won the 1978 NCAA Division II title.

In 23 seasons at Temple, he is 497-235 with 17 NCAA Tournament appearances. His teams have reached the tournament's round of eight five times. He is renowned for starting practices at 5:30 a.m., for having teams that play hard defense and protect the ball on offense and for conducting a running tutorial on life in general.

"What he does for young men is so needed in our profession," said Alfred Johnson, coach of Holy Family University, a Division II school in Philadelphia. "Not from a standpoint of X's and O's, but from helping them become better husbands, fathers and men."

Even Calipari, now the coach at Memphis, considers Chaney a buddy. He said he called Chaney on Monday to make sure Chaney was OK.

"We've all grown to love and respect the guy," Calipari said. "I know this man. I'm not condoning anything, but I know he did not stick a kid in the game to break another kid's arm. Now, (to commit) hard fouls? Oh, yes, he's been doing that for 25 years.

"He and I talk every three weeks to a month. He'll call me if he thinks I'm down; I'll call him if I think he's down. There's a mutual respect."

Jay Norman, 71, who coached with Chaney at Temple and played against him in high school and the Eastern League was at the Saint Joe's game and is not convinced that all the blame belongs on Chaney's shoulders.

"John was wrong. He went about it all wrong," said Norman, now an assistant at Holy Family. "You have to send a message by going through the screens. John would never send a kid out there to hurt someone."

But Norman also saw the frustration mount on Chaney's face when the Hawks continually ran what he thought were moving screens.

"There are five people to blame for what happened to that young man, John Chaney, the three officials and Phil Martelli," Norman said. "The illegal screens are learned behavior taught in practice."

While all laud Chaney's passion, they do not deny that it sometimes gets him into trouble.

"He's great for the game. He's been great for his school. He's been great for the players who have gone there," Calipari said. "There are so many young black coaches who look up to John Chaney for what he's done and his high moral standards. But we also know he's outspoken and he can be a little crazy at times. He knows I've said that."

Adds Demopoulos: "We all have our Achilles' heel. Every now and then his cup runs over."

Former players behind coach

Aaron McKie of the Philadelphia 76ers played for Chaney from 1991-94. He and former Temple teammate Eddie Jones of the Miami Heat honored their coach by contributing $500,000 to his scholarship fund. McKie is not asking that his former coach be excused but only that he isn't defined by what happened against Saint Joseph's.

"He has done so much for college basketball and black coaches and inner-city kids, giving them opportunities," he said. "You have to take all that into consideration. That's not to say that what happened should be swept under the rug. You have to bring some attention to it, but at the same time let's deal with this and let him move on with his life."

Haney believes that Chaney's supporters and detractors will continue to battle and that only the coach and Temple officials can decide whether additional steps need to be taken.

"Ultimately in these case you've got to come to peace with yourself," he said. "Because there are those people who'll be forgiving of John and there'll be those who are not."

Contributing: Erik Brady in Washington; Michael Hiestand, Chris Lawlor, Roscoe Nance, Tom Weir, Steve Wieberg