ARLINGTON, Texas — The hallmarks of Philadelphia hoops culture are famous for a reason.

And before their time coaching the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, the Koclanes siblings lived it. Chris Koclanes is in his first year as Wings head coach, and Belle is an assistant.

Early in Belle’s career, she was an assistant coach at Penn from 2004 to 2008. Calling the Palestra home was moving — and educational — for her in what has become a 22-year coaching career.

“Penn was my intro to Philadelphia,” she said. “That’s when I met [now-Villanova coach] Denise Dillon and [Drexel coach] Amy Mallon. We were a block away from each other. That’s when they were just beginning at Drexel. [St. Joseph’s associate head coach] Melissa Dunne, she was with them at Drexel at the time. … So it was those four years, where I was introduced to the Big 5 and Philadelphia world, and all these years later, [I] had an opportunity to come back to Drexel for three years, from those relationships 20 years ago.”

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After assistant coaching stops at Old Dominion and American, seven seasons as the head women’s basketball coach at Dartmouth, and a stint in the nonprofit world, Belle joined Mallon’s staff at Drexel in 2022. Though they never played together, they both starred at Richmond before their time in Philly.

“I feel like I’ve known her all my life,” Mallon said. “We’ve known each other through the basketball world for so long … We have a lot of different things that have bonded us, and then, obviously, having the opportunity to work with her on my staff. I tried to hire her like three other times, but each time, she was not in the right position.”

Mallon appreciated the experience — and ability to read a room — that she brought to the Dragons players and coaches alike. Belle’s run included a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2024, after the seventh-seeded Dragons stormed to a Coastal Athletic Association tournament title.

“What I really loved most that she added was a leadership quality, really growing them as leaders, and I think that’s so important because that allows them to be the best version of themselves on the court when they’re leading at a high level as well,” Mallon said.

Chris didn’t have as long a stay in the city, but it had an impact on him nonetheless. He worked as a video coordinator for Cindy Griffin at St. Joe’s from 2013 to 2015 before coaching at Southern Cal and multiple WNBA stops.

“Philly basketball, it’s just an incredible tradition, so to be able to experience that for a couple years at St. Joe’s, [I’m] extremely grateful and lucky,” he said.

“Those were my really formative years there, and Philly is hard, tough-nosed, blue-collar,” he said. So that’s the work ethic, that’s the grit, that’s the toughness and determination, so I take all that with me and try to embody that, day in and day out, with how I show up and how I put in my work for our staff and our players.”

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Before that, though, he was a financial adviser in his native New York. It wasn’t the right fit, and Belle gave him the push he needed.

“He called me one day, I’ll never forget it,” she said. “He said, ‘Belle, I want to coach.’ And I was like, ‘You can only run from your blood for so long, brother.’ We’re all educators, coaches, in the family, so it’s in his blood. He’s excellent at it.”

Chris, 35, is the youngest of five children, with four sisters — Belle is nine years older. So what’s it like having your younger brother as your boss?

“Him and I are very similar in a lot of ways and then different in others, but have just the utmost respect and appreciation of one another,” Belle said. “We’ve been talking about, over the course of both of our careers, if there was ever an opportunity to be able to do this, in any manner, we would love to. So here we are. [I’m] just grateful that he wants me by his side.”

It hasn’t been the easiest year in the Lone Star State. The Wings, who, as of early June, were the WNBA’s second-youngest team, are 9-24 (11th in the 13-team league) and have battled injuries to key players like Paige Bueckers and former Villanova star Maddy Siegrist all season.

But Drexel’s Mallon believes there’s still valuable growth to be had in a tough season and hopes to see that core group stay together and build on the philosophy the Koclanes siblings — like many before them — forged in the city’s basketball tradition.

“There’s like this link,” she said. “It all seems to come back to Philadelphia. It’s kind of cool how you see that, and you don’t realize it until you start talking to people. … You definitely feel it and feel what it’s about and why there’s terms like that’s Philadelphia basketball.”