Phil Martelli received an added bonus before tipping off his 21st season as head coach at St. Joe's: a new contract.
The school announced on Thursday that Martelli has agreed to a multi-year extension. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"Basically, it's been done for a long stretch of time. It just became relevant because basketball is now here," Martelli said Thursday during the Hawks' annual media day. "I'm appreciative. I enjoyed working through it with (former president) Father (C. Kevin) Gillespie and then (first-year president) Dr. (Mark C.) Reed coming on and working with (vice president and director of athletics) Don (DiJulia) and other people.
"I'm still responsible to represent this university in a positive fashion and to lift the spirit of the students, alums, the fans, the parents and the players. And that's what I'll continue to do, whether I had a piece of paper that said X number of years or I had a piece of paper that said X number of games."
Martelli is the program's all-time leader in wins with a 375-265 career record. He has recorded 20 or more wins in a season eight times to go along with 12 trips to the postseason and 17 postseason victories — six in the NCAA Tournament and 11 in the NIT.
"We are excited and privileged to have stability in the continuing leadership of the men's basketball program, especially in this volatile time in college athletics," DiJulia said in a statement. "Phil has demonstrated a commitment to student-athlete, team success and the university community over his long and distinguished career. In doing so, Phil has earned a well-deserved place in the storied history of Hawks basketball."
St. Joe's was recently picked to finish seventh this season in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll.
While Martelli wouldn't make any predictions on where his team would end up, the coach admitted the conference's depth should make for an interesting season.
"It's a league without a lead. We don't have a lead, we don't have a national-level team to begin the year," he said. "But we have a lot of teams capable of finishing first through sixth or seventh. Then that middle pack, six through 11, is really tight. So the league is going to be extraordinary night in and night out."