In the history of St. Joseph's University, the men's basketball program has received one at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Like a lot of coaches, I tend to draw from the past and this fact is one that makes are path very clear -- just keep winning.

We enter the second week of February in first place in the Atlantic 10 East, and an overall record of 17-3. But all of that means very little in the bigger picture.

Bids to the NCAA tournament are not handed out in February so we know that there is still much work to be done. We also know that if we do not continue to build on our present success, the selection committee will not post St. Joseph's on the big board.

We are using that thought as our vehicle to win the Atlantic 10 conference.

That's our goal -- win the conference title and get the automatic bid. But there are a lot of teams in the A-10 that have the same goal so it will be anything but easy.

Our success this season has been predicated on pressure defense. All eleven players have been active on the defensive end, which has help to generate a lot of offensive energy.

The reality is that we are not a very talented offensive team so our defense has to continue to be as good as it has been.

This team doesn't have a lot of offensive weapons, but we do have Jameer Nelson.

In my opinion, Jameer Nelson is the MVP of college basketball. Awards are given out for Player of the Year, but if there is an award for National MVP then it should go to Jameer.

Jameer brings so much energy and intelligence to the floor and he makes everyone around him a better player. Without Jameer Nelson we could not even begin to talk about 20 wins, Atlantic 10 championship or NCAA tournament.

As a group, everyone has done a great job of accepting their roles and working as one, with Jameer leading the charge. He is not only a tremendous talent, but Jameer is also a terrific leader.

Last season Oklahoma's Kelvin Sampson wrote a column about Hollis Price and how he was "The Leader on the Floor." Jameer Nelson is to St. Joseph's University what Hollis Price is to Oklahoma.

Do we have room for improvement? Of course we do, but I like the progress this team has made.

We entered the season with very little expectation, but all eleven players have bought into our pressure defense philosophy and the results are evident.

However there are some areas of concern.

We need to be better at the free-throw line, our post scoring is a concern and we are turning the ball over too much for a team with so many skill players.

But while there are areas that need improvement, overall I am very pleased with the progress we have made and continue to make.

We play our final regular season game on March 8, at Massachusetts, but the March 1 contest against Richmond will be a very important day.

It's not our final home game, but March 1 will mark the final regular season game for a very special coach. As most of you already know, Jim Phelan will coach his final as the head coach at Mount St. Mary's.

I think the idea that CollegeInsider.com and Mount St. Mary's have gotten together to make March 1, Jim Phelan Bow Tie Day is a wonderful gesture, which I hope coaches all everywhere get involved in.

Jim Phelan is not only a true gentleman, but he is also the true definition of what a coach should be. When the talking heads discuss the best of the best, Jim Phelan's name should always be mentioned.

49 years ago he got into this business to teach young people and 49 years later he continues to teach.

I applaud coach Phelan because he has never lost sight of what coaching is all about. He is truly a role model for all coaches to follow.

And on March 1, I will say thank you by wearing a bow tie.