The road from Explorer to expert

Bill Raftery, '63, Tim Legler, '88, and Mike Sielski, '97, returned for the Voices of La Salle panel and a discussion highlighting legacy, storytelling, and the power of community.

Pictured from left: Mike Sielski, '97, Tim Legler, '88, and Bill Raftery, '63. The event was introduced by former La Salle men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy '70. As the event concluded, Dunphy summed up the pride felt throughout the auditorium, saying "I was proud of La Salle 60 years ago when they gave me a chance to come here. I'm even more proud today."

La Salle University welcomed home three of its most accomplished alumni on Thursday, Dec. 4, for the second installment of the Voices of La Salle series. Held in the Founders' Hall Auditorium, and organized by the Business of Sports Club, the panel featured college basketball icon Bill Raftery, '63, ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler, '88, and award-winning author and columnist Mike Sielski, '97.

The event was introduced by former La Salle men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy, '70, who set the tone with heartfelt stories about each panelist's career and connection to the university.

Dunphy on Legler: "He said he was going to make it. You know what he did? He made it."

Dunphy opened with a personal memory of coaching Legler during his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons.

After Legler's standout La Salle career, Dunphy recalled, people questioned whether he could reach the NBA. But Legler never hesitated.

"People would ask him what he was going to do, and he would say, 'I'm playing in the NBA'," Dunphy said. "The mindset was it's not going to be easy, but this is where I'm going…He had that skill that separated him from the rest of the group, he had the other thing that I think was so critical, it's the grit it takes to make things happen."

Dunphy also spoke emotionally about Legler's father driving from Richmond, Virginia to attend nearly every game.

"It warmed my heart," he said. "His father saw just about every game in his college basketball career, and his father lived in Richmond, Virginia, so it wasn't around the corner, wasn't a 20 minute drive, it was four and a half to five hours - an amazing part of that story."

Sielski: "One of these things is not like the others."

Moderating the discussion, Sielski joked that sharing the stage with two of the most recognizable voices in basketball felt a bit surreal.

"I feel a little bit like that person in the old Sesame Street skit - one of these things is not like the others," he said.

The Philadelphia Inquirer columnist and sports writer noted that he has to keep a certain level of detachment from Philadelphia sports as he writes about them, something which he tries to apply to La Salle on the rare occasions that he covers them, but that doesn't take away from his Explorer roots.

"I have to say, I feel a tremendous amount of pride today, because I don't think it goes too far to say that what we have before us, these two guys, are the preeminent analyst on the NBA in America and the preeminent analyst on college basketball in America," Sielski said. "And they're both alumni, which is pretty cool."

Legler: The unexpected journey to ESPN

Legler shared that broadcasting was never part of his plan. The turning point came after he tore three ligaments in his knee while playing in Washington. During his recovery, he frequently appeared on local shows hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon.

"That was the first indication I kind of felt like, I like this. This is fun," Legler recalled. Kornheiser, he joked, "still takes all the credit" for launching his broadcasting career.

Legler eventually earned an audition at ESPN - a moment he said, "changed the entire course of my life." Now entering his 25th season, he emphasized the three traits that define longevity in broadcasting: preparation, recognition, and articulation.

"It's preparation, recognition, and then the last one is articulation," he said. "You've got to be able to present it in a way that's understandable, where you're not talking over people's heads with terminology or too many numbers. You're just making them smarter by your ability to relay what you just saw."

Raftery: Preparation, spontaneity, and the art of the call

Sielski highlighted Raftery's legendary preparation habits, referencing a Wall Street Journal profile that described his "tiny, crowded scrawl" of diagrams, notes, and predictions for each game.

Raftery shrugged it off with humility - and humor. His well-known catchphrases, he said, were rarely pre-planned.

"The 'send it in' was nothing more than a reaction to something that we had not seen other than Darryl Dawkins in high school pulling the glass down," he explained. The now-famous "onions," he admitted, "I had never said that before in my life."

A candid discussion on NIL, the transfer portal, and the future of college basketball

Both analysts offered frank assessments of the rapidly changing college sports environment.

"There's a disaster ahead for a lot of young people, but I can't fault them for this exposure to money" Raftery said about the new landscape, noting players who bounce between multiple schools without earning degrees or meaningful opportunities.

"The rules were made for NBA players, kids with that potential, not for the student-athlete, but I can't blame the youngsters for wanting more," he said, while also acknowledging stories of student-athletes who have used NIL for good.

Legler added that constant roster turnover creates challenges for coaches, alumni, and fans.

"I played with the same core group all four years, with the addition of a few freshmen each year," he said. "You build things that way as a program, you build up to something."

That's harder to do now, he said, adding that he has a lot of empathy for everyone involved.

"It's great for the players if they're able to put some money in their pocket, good for them," he said. "It's difficult for college basketball. The landscape is, it's harder to be a fan of it when there's so much change."

He relayed a story from a college coach who discovered and developed an under-recruited freshman - only to fear good performances will lead to a quick transfer.

"It seems like everything's been flipped upside down," he said.

Remembering the Big 5 - and what was lost

When asked whether the Big 5 can ever reclaim its former glory, the panelists were sentimental but realistic.

Legler described a night during his visit to La Salle when he was taken to the Palestra to watch a Big 5 doubleheader.

"I turned to my parents and I said, 'this is the environment I want to play college basketball in.'," he said. "It was really transformative for me, sitting in there and watching that."

Raftery and Sielski both noted structural challenges - scheduling, conference realignment, and finances - that make a full revival unlikely.

The discussion closed on a poignant note with reflections on the late Michael Brooks, '80, whose brilliance and tragic story were recounted by Sielski and Dunphy.

"I coached a lot of guys in my lifetime. No one played harder without thinking about playing," Dunphy said about Brooks. "He never thought about it, he just played hard. He thought every rebound was supposed to be his. An amazing characteristic of a basketball player."

As the event concluded, Dunphy summed up the pride felt throughout the auditorium.

"I was proud of La Salle 60 years ago when they gave me a chance to come here," he said. "I'm even more proud today."

-Brandi Camp, '26