Guru’s note: A separate react file is nearby on the blog
By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
PHILADELPHIA – To the delight of Villanova University folks, especially alumni, the season-long suspense on the Main Line came to a happy ending Friday with the announcement that Drexel women’s basketball coach Denise Dillon is returning to her alma mater after 17 years in charge of the Dragons.
Dillon is succeeding her mentor, the legendary Harry Perretta, who can head off into the retirement he announced in early November now that his 42nd season running the Wildcats has concluded.
And in a delicate turn to allow Dillon to be celebrated, Drexel quickly answered the first obvious question before it could be asked, announcing that Dillon’s longtime aide, associate head coach Amy Mallon, a former Saint Joseph’s star, agreed to terms to stay in West Philadelphia providing continuity to a Dragons program that Dillon made nationally relevant.
But officials at the Daskalakis Athletic Center held off any other introductory moves until next week, not that either coach is a stranger to the local women’s community.
Meanwhile, Dillon is just the third individual to make an internal Philly Six head coaching leap in the wake of, ironically, Drexel’s Kristen Foley, a former Rutgers star who left the Dragons to go to Temple in the period prior to the hire of Dawn Staley.
The other was on the men’s side when former La Salle star Fran Dunphy went from Penn to Temple.
“Many congrats to Denise Dillon on becoming the next Head Coach at Villanova,” Dunphy, who recently finished his first year in retirement, texted your Guru. “To succeed the legendary Harry Perretta at her alma mater is exciting and well deserved.
“She had a terrific career at Drexel and I’m sure she’ll enjoy a great level of success at Villanova. All the best.”
Of course, Dunphy is an old hand at taking over from a legend, moving to the Owls three weeks after Hall of Famer John Chaney announced his retirement.
Dillon’s coaching career began right after graduation in 1996 when Perretta made her an assistant, where she was alongside him before heading from the suburbs to Drexel as an assistant in 2001, then moving up to one year as an interim head coach and then proving her mettle to have the tag removed in 2003.
Drexel was then its early era as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), as was Delaware, and the two local rivals had terrific battles over the years.
Dillon did her part on the women’s side with the Dragons to inflict numerous losses on Big Five teams, eventually leading the media to take up the name Philly Six when Drexel was in the mix.
A Big Five Hall of Famer, who was also an All-Big East honoree, Dillon is now back inside the group.
“Denise Dillon is not only one of the greatest coaches in the Philadelphia area, but one of the best coaches in the entire country,” texted her neighborhood rival down the street, Penn’s Mike McLaughlin. “She is an outstanding leader, a fierce competitor, and a proven winner.
“More than anything, however, Denise is an amazing person who is hardworking, genuine, humble, and simply awesome to be around. She does things the right way all the time and, for that, I have an enormous amount of respect for her.
“I am thrilled for Denise and I look forward to seeing Villanova excel under her leadership.”
Dillon comes back to the Big East, whose wars will be altered next season with the return to the conference of powerful Connecticut, which is leaving the American Athletic Conference.
“It’s a competitive conference with great coaches,” Dillon said. “UConn returning adds a whole other element. They’ll bring that power back. They’ve got a target (on them) and we’re all going after it.”
Huskies Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma, who coached against her as a player, saluted the hire, saying, “I remember Denise as a very smart and talented player so it’s no surprise that she has done a tremendous job at Drexel,” he said.
“Villanova has a tradition of excellence as a University and in the works of college basketball. (Athletic Director) Mark Jackson has made sure that tradition takes another step forward hiring Denise.”
Dillon acknowledged that from her arrival at Drexel and into a head coaching position, it was a dream to some time to return to her alma mater, though she said other places would have had a tough time trying to pry her away from the DAC.
Nevertheless, Friday’s session to blow the trumpets was not anything she could envision as far apart as it was from normal introductory events with fans, the band and team members.
Instead of a setting with music booming V for Villanova, the current quarantine conditions had Dillon, dressed in a throwback Nova jacket, “I wasn’t going to wear my jersey,” the media, Jackson, all in their separate locations doing the interviewing via zoom video conferencing software.
“This is obviously not what we’re used to in athletics, it’s challenging times for all of us,” Dillon said. “It is a chance to really put things in perspective and understand the world we are a part of right now and the seriousness of the health issues.”
It was an emotional day for Dillon, meeting with the Drexel team via video to give them the news of her departure and then to turn the page through the same method to talk to the Wildcats and then talk to the media, many of whom she already knew.
Jackson cited Villanova president Father Peter Donohue, who, despite current conditions, with the season cut short, wanted the process to fast track to name a successor.
As Dillon looked to the future, for a long time the thinking was that Mallon, who has been her aide for 16 season, would join her until more recent times when it was said Mallon had a guarantee of first refusal whenever a vacancy would occur.
She was a finalist in the Penn search that resulted in fetching McLaughlin from Holy Family, but she pulled out at a time when Drexel had strong interest in retaining her on Dillon’s staff. She was soon elevated to associate head coach back then.
“We might have to fight over some people,” Dillon quipped about them filling their staffs.
In the end blood was thicker than going in a different direction as rumors existed on Villanova desires.
When Jackson came from Southern Cal to succeed Vince Nicastro, now with the Big East, the feeling was Dillon was still a strong candidate but no longer a slam dunk for the day Perretta would finally head to racetrack.
In fact, last year yours truly was chided by her for not dropping Dillon’s name in my Penn State speculation successor story, to which I responded, “Harry wasn’t around to clear it.”
Then with the job open, I told her I would make it up to her and drop her name in any Power 5 opening story so her alma mater would have to step up and pony up the money they thought they could save on moving expenses.
On the call, Friday, Jackson said of Dillon, “Everything kept pointing back to Denise at every turn. And we had a lot of qualified candidates as I mentioned. Whether it was off the court or on the court, everything pointed back to Denise Dillon.
“ I have every confidence she is the right woman to take on this next great era of Villanova women’s basketball.”
Dillon certainly had her fans all across the country and many noted that Villanova should remember where (men’s coach) Jay Wright came from, Drexel’s CAA rival Hofstra, though both were then in the America East, and, of course, he has since won two NCAA titles.
Dillon referenced her having coached five Dean Ehlers Leadership winners in the CAA, an award that honors character and academics.
She has been able to recruit both internationally and locally.
Romanian Gabriela Marginean became the city’s all-time women’s scorer and led the Dragons to their only CAA title and NCAA tournament. Several years later Dillon took Drexel to the WNIT title in the postseason.
This season, led by Archbishop Wood’s Bailey Greenberg, Drexel had the No. 1 seed after tying James Madison for the regular season title. Then the CAA tournament was cancelled.
Asked how she was able to navigate one of the better seasons in the program’s history while rumors existed all year about her ‘Nova prospects, she said, “obviously, it was a distraction, but it’s also about being a professional,” in terms of coaching the Dragons to a 23-7 record and 16-2 in the CAA.
Overall, Dillon, the winningest coach at Drexel was 329-211 in her 17 seasons, of which seven had at least 20 victories.
Because of the long, successful stretches at both places, Dillon becomes only Villanova’s fifth head coach, while Mallon becomes the sixth at Drexel.
“Amy is a great choice to be Drexel’s next head coach,” said Drexel athletic director Dr. Eric Zillmer. “I know her very well and think the world of her.”
If things somehow get back to normal, Drexel and Villanova play a return game next season following this past winter when Drexel beat Villanova at the DAC on the last play in overtime.
“I wonder who scheduled that game,” Dillon quipped from her home.
Dillon gets a terrific player in Maddy Siegrist, the Big East freshman of the year who fared well among all freshmen in the NCAA.
“The important part of coming into a program or returning with a group is counting in the veteran leadership,” Dillon said as she looked forward. “We have a great player on a young Maddy Siegrist. She has a lot on her shoulders and she wants that. She is capable of it. Then you look to the veterans. You always start at the top with the veteran players then work your way down. With Maddy were counting on her ability and experience to help the team from the beginning.”
Over the year’s she has been called “Little Harry,” by opposing coaches because of her teams’ styles, though she has placed a major emphasis on defense.
“I’m at a loss for words when people reach out asking me how I feel,” Dillon said. “It’s surreal. It’s hard to believe that I am in this position. To be the successor to the person who started this for me. What you (Perretta) has taught me has opened the door to many opportunities.”
Back when NCAA rules were different Perretta made numerous trips to Drexel watching Dillon coach and getting himself all worked up when her games were close.
“How much I have learned from Harry is forever, ” said Dillon. “It didn’t end with me as a player. He is so great about helping everyone in the game and in helping me. I was settled when Harry said to me it doesn’t matter where you are, the relationships you built will continue. You’ll remain close to any player as you continue to work on it, and appreciate people outside of the wins and losses.”
“I really hate having them as the next game,” UNCW coach Karen Barefoot quipped on the team bus last year heading up from Delaware to play Drexel on the road swing. “They’re the toughest team in the CAA to scout.”
After her Cardinal O’Hara graduation, Dillon scored 1,355 points with the Wildcats and took down 677 rebounds, and was named all-Big Five three-times, entering the Big Five Hall of Fame in 2018.
Mallon played for former Villanova star Stephanie V. Gaitley, now at Fordham, on two CAA title teams in Richmond, then followed her coach up here where she was Big Five player of the year after Gaitley took charge of the Hawks.
She was on the Philadelphia Rage in the defunct ABL in 1998.
Mallon has been head coach at Rosemont, an assistant at Saint Joseph’s and Villanova, coach and assistant AD at Episcopal Academy before joining the Dragons.
