Phil Martelli guided Saint Joseph's to a magical season in 2003-04, as the Hawks went undefeated in the regular season, reached the pinnacle as the top-ranked team in the nation, and earned the school's first-ever number one seed in the NCAA Tournament, as the Hawks advanced to the Elite 8.

Led by Player of the Year Jameer Nelson, the Hawks became the first team since 1990-91 to go through the regular season undefeated (27-0), while setting school and Atlantic-10 records for the best start.

Martelli joined with Nelson to sweet the National Coach and Player of the Year awards, a feat which is a rarity. Martelli won the 2004 Naismith Award, the Henry Iba Award (USBWA), the inaugural Rupp Cup, the Coach of the Year awards by both Associated Press and Chevrolet, and the NABC Co-Coach of the Year Award. The Hawk mentor was also chosen as the Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year for the third time and won the Harry Litwack Award as the top Eastern coach.

A 1976 graduate of Widener, Martelli was a point guard on the Pioneers' NCAA Tournament teams in both 1974-75 and 1975-76. He was inducted into the CYO Hall of Fam in 2004 and is also a member of both the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Catholic School Hall of Fame and the Delaware County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

Martelli and his wife, Judy, have three children: Philip, Jimmy, and Elizabeth.