Jasner to be inducted into Big 5 Hall of Fame

BEFORE he did such a wonderful job covering the Sixers that he was given the Curt Gowdy media award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Phil Jasner covered the Big 5 for the Daily News.

He did it as he did everything - all out, with passion and heart. There was no detail too small to overlook, no phone call unmade, no story not crafted with precision.

Jasner's last story for the Daily News before he passed away in December 2010 was a Saint Joseph's-Western Kentucky basketball game, because the paper was understaffed. He had come full circle.

For his Big 5 coverage, Jasner, a Temple grad, has been selected to the Big 5 Hall of Fame as a media member. It will be his sixth Hall of Fame. His son, Andy, will be at the Palestra on Jan. 25 for the formal induction, accepting on his father's behalf.

Joining Jasner in the Class of 2013 will be Marvin O'Connor (Saint Joseph's), Angela Zampella (Saint Joseph's), Jen Ricco (Temple) and Trish Juhline (Villanova).

As a St. Joe's junior in 2001, O'Connor did something that may very well make him unique in basketball history. Nobody knows for sure, but who else could possibly have scored 18 points in a minute, as O'Connor did in the final minute of a game at La Salle. A few weeks later, O'Connor put on an amazing 37-point show in San Diego as the Hawks played No. 1 seed Stanford right to the wire in a second-round NCAA game. O'Connor was the Big 5 Player of the Year in 2001 and was a three-time first-team All-Big 5 selection.

Juhline was the Big 5 Player of the Year in 2003. She was a key player on Villanova's Big East champion and the team that made the Elite Eight. Zampella was three-time first-team All-Big 5 from 1999 to 2001. Ricco was first-team All-Big 5 in 1998.