The closest Harry Perretta â95 MA ever came to leaving the Main Line was in the summer of 2003. The Villanova Womenâs Basketball head coach had received an attractive offer from a school in the Atlantic Coast Conference, so he sought out the advice of then Villanova President the Rev. Edmund J. Dobbin, OSA, whom he considered a friend more than a boss. Their conversation did not last long.
âHarry,â Father Dobbin told him, âget up and go back to your office because youâre not going anywhere.â
âThatâs all I needed to hear,â Perretta says. âI just wanted somebody to say to me, âHey, you donât want to do this.ââ
Besides, Villanova felt too much like his home.
Perrettaâs office on the first floor of the Davis Center feels more like a living room. On a clear and cold Wednesday morning in January, he sits in a black leather chair and snacks on Tom Sturgis pretzel sticks while he regales a visitor with stories from his 42 years leading the Villanova Womenâs Basketball team. Perretta was 22 when he beat out 65 applicants for the job. âIâll do it for a couple of years and then Iâll try to get a teaching job at a high school,â he recalls thinking.
He never left. Heâs in a white long-sleeve Bonner and Prendergast basketball shirt thatâs tucked into his lengthy navy blue shorts. Heâs surrounded by memories of his teamsâ achievements. To his left thereâs a picture of the sold-out Pavilion on Feb. 28, 2004, when the Wildcats topped the dynastic University of Connecticut Huskies. To his right there are numerous Big East Coach of the Year awards. Behind him on a windowsill is a blue and white painted basketball, which he received for his 200th win. That was in 1987.
âI guess it went faster than I thought,â Perretta says. âI donât know how to gauge it.â