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PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In the spirit of March Madness, the Philadelphia Sports Fans of the Week on KYW Newsradio 103.9 FM are "Olney Fans."
They are the La Salle University men's basketball superfan group. They are not directly affiliated with the team, but they provide content about their squad through their growing Twitter account and podcast, the Gola Standard.
Rich O'Donnell, 31, and Dennis Grove, 30, are among the ring leaders of the group. They are 2013 graduates of La Salle.
O'Donnell went to St. Joe's Prep and attended La Salle, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Before his days at La Salle, he was a ball boy for Temple and grew up loving Big 5 hoops. It runs in the family.
Grove is from York, Pennsylvania, and is also known for his Sixers #RaiseTheCat movement (RIP, Izzy).
He wanted to become a part of Philadelphia basketball from afar, and then immersed himself in the culture once arriving at La Salle in 2009.
In September 2020, they started their fan group, Twitter account and podcast.
"I noticed that other Atlantic 10 [Conference] schools had a presence. Their fans were on Twitter, and La Salle didn't have any," Grove said.
“I was like, 'Hey Rich, let's get involved here. Let's get a Twitter account. Let's get a podcast. And that's how ‘Olney Fans’ was born."
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'How can we get more people to stand?'
O'Donnell and Grove were prominent in La Salle's student section at Tom Gola Arena during their four years at 20th and Olney.
"I think was our sophomore year," O'Donnell remembered.
"[Former La Salle Men's Basketball coach Dr.] John Giannini actually had [eight of us] in an office…and wanted us to help out [with] how we can get the fans more engaged. Because, you know, it was me, Dennis, and a bunch of our friends who would stand. It was eight of us. So he got us in a room one time, sat us down, and [asked], 'How can we get more people to stand?' He wanted as good of a home-court advantage as he could get.”
The next two years, Giannini’s teams made the NIT and NCAA tournaments.
“I don’t know if we had a part in that success, but it was really cool,” O’Donnell said. “I'll never forget…having the actual coach come to eight guys and helping, [but] that was pretty cool."
In the 1950s, the Explorers won the 1952 NIT and the 1954 NCAA Final Four. In 1969, they finished No. 2 in the Associated Press men’s basketball final poll. They made the NCAA Tournament four times between 1975 and 1983, with two tournament appearances under Philly native and eventual L.A. Lakers coach Paul Westhead.
Related podcast: Westhead joined KYW Newsradio In Depth to discuss his basketball coaching career and his portrayal in a new HBO series.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, during and just after the era of superstar and eventual NBA player Lionel Simmons, they were regulars in the tournament.
Since 1992, they have lacked success, and that might be putting it kindly. They have had only six winning seasons in 30 years.
But in one of those years, 2011-12, they made the NIT. One year later in 2012-13, O’Donnell’s and Grove’s senior year, they qualified for the First Four of the NCAA Tournament, as they made their first time in the Big Dance since 1992.
The Explorers beat Boise State 80-71 in their first contest, before upsetting Kansas State 63-61 as a 13 seed. Then, they faced 12 seed Ole Miss in their third game. The contest included Tyrone Garland's legendary "Southwest Philly Floater" to win 76-74 and move on to the Sweet 16.
"Extremely memorable," Grove, now a Philadelphia Flyers employee, said of that time.
"It's the reason we're still huge La Salle fans today. And sadly to say, I don't know if that will ever happen again. That's the paradox here. We're fans of a team that hasn't been over .500 in a very long time."
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In fact, their last .500 season came in 2019-20.
"I feel like we were like the darlings of Philadelphia," O'Donnell, who works in accounting, added.
"It's a pro sports town and I feel like for that small week, we had the city, which usually doesn't happen."
La Salle men's basketball hasn't been back to the NCAA Tournament or NIT since. They dismissed Giannini and, on March 21 of this year, parted ways with his successor, Ashley Howard.
Only by coincidence did our conversation with "Olney Fans" come last week.
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'Bridging a gap in the coverage'
The person who nominated "Olney Fans" for the Philadelphia Sports Fan of the Week was Kevin Hyslop. He graduated from La Salle in 2005, eight years ahead of Grove and O'Donnell.
"They're bridging a gap in the coverage," Hyslop said of how "Olney Fans" helps fulfil his La Salle fandom.
Hyslop recognizes La Salle men's basketball doesn't get much coverage anymore in the media. Frankly, the Big 5 as a whole doesn't.
Instead, Grove and O'Donnell bring that to him through their Twitter account and podcast.
"These guys, win or lose, they're out there trying to get the pulse of the fan base and trying to just kind of bring all of our spirits up collectively," Hyslop explained.
"Coverage that they provide is, even though it's a little bit nonsensical, it's always entertaining."
They create constant material on their Twitter page. Their content was described as "unfiltered through the lens of a true fan," Grove said.
They clearly care about the program and the team they root for, but they also offer humor, such as bringing to light (no pun intended) how the neon "L" sign in Tom Gola Arena is humorous.
"It flashes if they win," O'Donnell said. "An 'L' in basketball means a loss. But we defend it. We love it."
They say they engage and meet fans of their opponents. They want to bring attention to La Salle basketball, and clearly they do with a growing following, as Hyslop shows.
"I found that, even though we have a losing season again this year, that they keep me looking forward to the next game," Hyslop said.
The Big 5: 'Definitely Not In a Great Place Right Now'
You don't have to do a deep dive to recognize Big 5 basketball isn't what it used to be.
Look at the coverage amount. Look at the stands. For example, La Salle only averaged 1,857 fans per game in 2021-22. Even in the last pre-pandemic season of 2018-19, the program averaged just 2,113 fans each game.
Look at the lack of success of the teams, not including perennial power Villanova.
In yesteryear, the Big 5 was a huge deal. Philadelphia is the only U.S. metropolitan area where five teams have made the Final Four, and such success - along with the incredible atmosphere of games at the Palestra - fueled passionate devotion to college basketball in the city.
Hear more on our Philadelphia Sports Fans of the Week on the Jawncast!
Dating back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, it still was huge. The attention on it has declined in recent seasons, despite it's rich history.
"It's definitely not in a great place right now," Grove said.
"It's very tough," O'Donnell acknowledged. "It's a pro sports town, and you go the Sixers and they have stars like James Harden and Joel Embiid, it's kind of tough to compete with that."
Grove and O'Donnell have further thoughts on the popularity of the Big 5, which are worth listening to near the end of our extended conversation at the end of this article.
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It's clear they're going to keep going with their brand and growing their content, trying to bring awareness to their team.
What will it take to bring the Big 5 back to prominence? That's an entirely different, in-depth discussion for another day.
But it doesn't seem like Grove and O'Donnell plan on stopping their momentum.
"They just work tirelessly, for both home and road games, to be in the social media spaces, to get the La Salle name out there again, and I think they do it respectfully," Hyslop said.
"I wish them well and I hope they have much continued success."
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