Greenberg, 4 others named to Big Five Hall of Fame

February 21, 2012|By Mel Greenberg, For The Inquirer
  • Boston University coach Kelly Greenberg , who starred at Archbishop Wood and later at La Salle, will be enshrined along with Jenn Beisel, Melissa Coursey, Marc Jackson and Matt Maloney.

Three more women will join the Big Five Hall of Fame on Tuesday afternoon during the induction class luncheon at the Palestra, and former Temple star Marc Jackson (1995-97) and former Penn star Matt Maloney (1993-95) also will be enshrined.

Kelly Greenberg, who was a standout at Archbishop Wood, was selected for her exploits at La Salle from 1986-89. It's worth noting that she returned to the Big Five as a coach at Penn, where she guided the Quakers to two Ivy League titles and NCAA appearances before moving to Boston University, where she currently has the Terriers in first place in the America East.

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The other two women inductees are former Villanova star Jenn Beisel (1995-98) and former St. Joseph's star Melissa Coursey (1996-99).

Beisel and Greenberg will become the third and fourth individuals with other family members in the Big Five.

Kathie Beisel also played at Villanova (1980-83), while Greenberg's brother Chip played at La Salle (1983-86). The other family duos are former Villanovan Joe Ryan (1956-59) and his sister, former St. Joseph's assistant athletic director Ellen Ryan, who retired last summer; and brothers Bill Mlkvy of Temple, aka The Owl without a Vowel, (1950-52) and Bob of Penn (1958-61).

Former La Salle women's coach John Miller recalled Kelly Greenberg, who was on the roster as a freshman when he arrived to succeed Speedy Morris, who had become the men's coach at La Salle.

"[Morris] told me he had this player who was on a partial field hockey scholarship and that he had given her a full scholarship," said Miller, whose Mount St. Joseph Academy girls team is currently in the PIAA District 1 playoffs.

"When I took over and we had our first couple of practices, I knew quickly Kelly was going to be my point guard," Miller said. "We won three Big Five titles when she played and in 1988 we were the first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference school to go as an at-large team when the NCAA field was 40 teams."

La Salle made a second trip to the tournament in 1989 under Miller.

"Kelly's assist-to-turnover ratio was a ridiculously high 4-1," Miller recalled. "Usually when I coach now I think it's fine when the number is 1.5 to 1 and I try to get my point guards to improve to 2-1."

Diana Caramanico, Penn's all-time scoring sensation and a Big Five Hall of Famer, recalled when Kelly Greenberg took over the Quakers as coach.

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