Temple men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy wanted former Owls star shooting guard Dionte Christmas to pursue his dream of playing professional basketball. But he also wanted Christmas, who was only three credits short of earning a degree in African American studies when he left Temple in 2009 to play in NBA summer leagues and then later in Europe, to complete his coursework. So Dunphy made a promise: If Christmas graduated, Dunphy would do what many people in the world of college basketball would consider unthinkable — shave his iconic mustache.

Christmas earned his degree in August, and Dunphy kept his promise. One of Philadelphia's most famous mustaches disappeared yesterday in front of a packed house in the media room in Temple's Liacouras Center, with Christmas in attendance.

"The bigger story of me shaving this mustache is that this young man graduated from Temple University and I'm really proud of that," Dunphy said. "I'm proud of him for the hard work he put in."