Palestra turns back clock with rare doubleheader tonight – NBC Sports Philadelphia

Anyone that’s followed college basketball in this town for a while will tell you that the Big 5 isn’t what it used to be.

Villanova is crushing the competition to the tune of 13 straight city series wins -- one shy of the all-time record in 60 years of Big 5 basketball. Hardly any of the games are played at the Palestra anymore. There are fewer rollouts. No streamers. Smaller crowds. Etc.

But tonight, the Big 5 is almost certainly going to feel, well, big again. For the first time since 2004, the Palestra will play host to a doubleheader with Temple facing La Salle in the opener (7 p.m.) and Penn meeting Saint Joseph’s in the finale (9:30 p.m.).

It’s a very cool thing.

Back in the Big 5’s heyday, of course, doubleheaders were a regular occurrence. It’s perhaps the thing that old-time players talk about most when they reminisce about the glory days of the 1960s and 1970s when Philly boasted some of the nation’s best teams in some seasons.

One of those old-time players is Steve Bilsky, who was Penn’s athletic director for many years before recently becoming executive director of Big 5. As the point guard on the 1970-71 Penn team that had a perfect regular season before getting blown out to Villanova, 90-47, in the NCAA tournament (in one of the most famous games  between Big 5 teams), Bilsky understands the famed history better than most -- which is why he organized Wednesday’s doubleheader in honor of the Big 5’s 60th anniversary.

He’ll also be joined by scores of other famous players from each school -- one from each decade. Per a release from Penn, the players who have committed to be on hand for the festivities are as follows.

1950s: Ernie Beck (Penn), Charlie Greenberg (La Salle), Joe Spratt (St. Joe’s), Jay Norman (Temple), Joe Ryan (Villanova)

1960s: Stan Pawlak (Penn), Frank Corace (La Salle), Clifford Anderson (St. Joe’s), John Baum (Temple), Jim McMonagle (Villanova)

1970s: Corky Calhoun (Penn), Jim Crawford (La Salle), Pat McFarland (St. Joe’s), Ollie Johnson (Temple), Keith Herron (Villanova)

1980s: Paul Little (Penn), Lionel Simmons (La Salle), Rodney Blake (St. Joe’s), Mark Macon (Temple), Harold Jensen (Villanova)

1990s: Ira Bowman (Penn), Doug Overton (La Salle), Rashid Bey (St. Joe’s), Aaron McKie (Temple), Eric Eberz (Villanova)

2000s: Ibby Jaaber (Penn), Yves Mekongo (La Salle), Marvin O’Connor (St. Joe’s), Lynn Greer (Temple), Tony Chennault (Villanova).

Lots of good players on that list. If you don’t know some, you can either use Google or find longtime hoops scribe Jack Scheuer (the all-time leading scorer in Palestra history!) on press row and he’ll give you the rundown.

Jack, a walking encyclopedia of Philly hoops, is one of the many great things about the Big 5. And the cool thing is there are so many people like him that love the history, the city and the sport. The coaches, even if they now prefer to play at home instead of neutral-court Palestra games, love the tradition too. And the younger fans and students will always carry a healthy dislike of fans and students from nearby schools, bolstering rivalries that will never go away.

Still, it is fair to say that the Big 5 has been diminished in some ways, which is why a doubleheader in the Palestra will be an exciting throwback. Perhaps, we’ll even see “corners” -- Jack Scheuer’s way of indicating a filled-to-capacity Palestra (a rare sight at most games these days).

Or, as current Temple coach, former Penn coach and former La Salle player Fran Dunphy told Inquirer columnist Mike Jensen:

"You remember 9,208 every night," Dunphy said of his La Salle playing days, referring to the official capacity at that time. "That really wasn't the case, but the electricity in the building made it feel like it was."

Something says that electricity will return, at least for a few hours on a frigid January night.