Greenberg, 4 others named to Big Five Hall of Fame

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.

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.

"She brought an enormous passion for the game," Caramanico said. "When she came, we would lose to Big Five teams by [margins] in the 40s, and our first game with her we beat Temple by some 20 points. With her nothing was impossible.

"Two years later, we swept the Ivy League to Penn's first title."

At Archbishop Wood, Greenberg was a teammate of former St. Joseph's star Debbie Black, who became a WNBA all-star and is now an assistant coach at Ohio State on the staff of former Hawks coach Jim Foster.

Villanova coach Harry Perretta said of Beisel: "She was a tremendous rebounder for her size. She was one of the best defensive players I ever coached."

Coursey, who played the perimeter, helped the Hawks to two Big Five and Atlantic Ten titles during her time, and her senior year saw her make first-team all-Big Five and also MVP honors in the conference tournament.

Temple-St. Joseph's II: The second meeting of the Owls and Hawks for this season is at Temple's McGonigle Hall Wednesday at 7 p.m., and the game also counts in the Big Five.

A St. Joseph's win will end a 12-game losing streak to the Owls and will give the Hawks second place in the Big Five and a chance to finish fourth in the A-10 and earn a bye in next month's tournament, which the Hawks will host at Hagan Arena.

Temple, making another late run at an NCAA berth, is 11-1 and in second place in the conference behind unbeaten St. Bonaventure. With a win on Wednesday, Temple could wrap up the A-10 No. 2 seed. With an additional win at La Salle on Saturday, Temple would gain second in the Big Five behind Villanova.