Herbie Magee was the best pure shooter I ever saw. He was a peer of mine – even though I never met the kid or the man, or played against him. He was two years older than me. He played on the courts in West Philly and I played in Delco. When we ventured outside our area, we didn’t go to West Philly; we went to “The Cage” in Chester to play against the black guys.

But I knew who Herbie was and I saw him play for Textile quite a few times. As a gym-rat myself, I marveled at his stroke.

Back in high school, Herbie played at West Catholic with Jimmy Lynam and Jim Boyle. Think about this – all three of them became stars in college – Lynam and Boyle at St. Joe’s and Magee at Textile – and they all became big-time coaches – Boyle at St. Joe’s; Lynam with the Clippers, Sixers, and Wizards; and Magee at Textile/Philadelphia University. Textile changed names in 1999. If you watch Sixers games on Comcast, you’ll see Lynam discussing the games.

Herbie had that text-book perfect stroke. His right arm was like a lever, bent at the elbow. Like a dart-shooter, he held the ball off to the side of his head so that he wouldn’t impair the sight-line to his target. And the release was ease of motion – and often resulted in a swishing noise at the other end of its trajectory.

Herbie Magee played for Textile from 1959 until 1963. He was an All-American in 1962 and 1963. He set school records by averaging 29.2 ppg in 1962 and by racking up 2,235 career points – and that was before the introduction of the 3-point shot. The world champion Boston Celtics selected him with the 62nd pick in 1963 NBA draft. But that placed Herbie between the proverbial rock and the hard place.

The Celtics were loaded with all-star caliber guards. At 5-10 and 150 pounds, he was a longshot to make a mediocre NBA team – but making the Celtics was a huge reach. And then he broke a finger prior to the beginning of training camp. Herbie considered his options, turned down the tryout with the Celtics, and took a job as an assistant coach at his alma mater under his former head coach Bucky Harris. When Harris retired in 1967, Herbie Magee took over and has been the head coach ever since.

Last Saturday night, he picked up win #999 when his Philadelphia University Rams beat the Caldwell Cougars 77-47. His Rams (14-5) will be going for win #1,000, tonight, at home, against the Wilmington University Wildcats (7-16).

Win #1,000 would put him in an elite – albeit minuscule – group of NCAA men’s basketball coaches. At this point, only three other coaches have won 1,000 games. You’ve probably never heard of two of them – I know I hadn’t until I researched this piece. They are:

– Harry Statham tops the list with 1,086 wins – and counting. Statham has been coaching at McKendree University, a small, private, liberal arts school in Lebanon, Illinois. He’s been coaching at McKendree since 1966.

– Danny Miles has 1,017 wins – and counting. Miles has been coaching at Oregon Tech, the only public institute of technology in the Great Northwest. Miles has been coaching at Oregon Tech since 1971.

But I’m sure you’ve heard of the third coach. He’s Mike Krzyzewski, the head-man at Duke, who picked up #1,000 just ten days ago. Krzyzewski differs from the other two in that he’s coached at two schools – Army (1975-1980) and Duke (1980-present).

Like Statham and Miles, Magee coached at only one school.

Over the years, Herbie Magee has been known as “The Shot Doctor” because he’s been commissioned to help a litany of NBA players with their shooting technique – and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Today Herbie Magee is known as Herb Magee – and tonight he should pick up win #1,000.

Barry Bowe is the author of 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant.