Basketball Supplement | Penn men's basketball welcomes interconnected, multi-talented freshman class

It’s no secret: There are some fresh faces at the Palestra.

Of course, the most visible new addition to the Quakers is coach Steve Donahue. Following the departure of Jerome Allen last spring, the former Cornell and Boston College boss has been entrusted with leading the Red and Blue to their first Ivy League title since 2006-2007.

However, largely lost in the sound and fury of the coaching shuffle has been the arrival of this year’s freshman class. Comprised of guards Jackson Donahue, Jake Silpe and Tyler Hamilton, along with big men Collin McManus and Max Rothschild, the Class of 2019 looks to be one of the most promising in recent Penn basketball memory.

Silpe, a 6-foot-2 guard out of Cherry Hill, N.J., is perhaps the most heralded new man in Red and Blue. A 1,500-point scorer in high school, Silpe was named the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Southern N.J. Player of the Year a season ago. Following the recent departure of Tony Hicks, Silpe looks to get even more playing time than expected and has emerged as a preseason favorite for the Ivy League Rookie of the Year award.

“I’d say my biggest strength is getting into the lane, dishing out, looking for open guys,” Silpe said. “I just have to keep us calm on the floor and keep us poised.”

Donahue (Jackson, that is), a 6-foot sharpshooter out of Massachusetts’ Northfield Mount Hermon — also the alma mater of McManus — is another freshman who will likely get significant minutes right away. The Pawcatuck, Conn., native was undoubtedly the greatest recruiting success of the class, as he turned down offers from perennial Ivy powers Harvard and Yale to come to University City.

“We’ve got a really strong freshman class,” coach Donahue said. “We’ve all known each other for a while now [the five rookies all played against each other extensively in AAU leagues], and this summer we got the chance to really get close.”

Obviously, when a coach leaves a program abruptly, there is bound to be a good deal of instability among committed players, as oftentimes recruits are unwilling and unprepared to play under a new coaching regime. Coach Donahue, however, was amazed that not one recruit from the Class of 2019 decommitted after Allen’s departure.

“I was fortunate to know the [incoming class] a little bit,” the first-year coach said. “I coached Jackson’s brother [at BC.] I’ve known Collin since eighth grade. ... We knew Max’s Prep school well. I knew Tyler Hamilton’s prep school coach for years. And Jake, I recruited kids on his AAU team. It’s nuts. The basketball world is two blocks long.”

“Now, the guys would come up to me and say, ‘I talked to that guy, that guy, that guy, and I asked about you,’” Donahue added. “I got good reports, thank God.”

“And the thing about these kids is that they’re so resilient,” assistant coach Nat Graham said. “As much as it was hard with them with the whole situation with Jerome, they bounced back and they’re looking forward to something new.”

Jackson Donahue, for his part, had no hesitation maintaining his commitment when he heard that Steve, who is of no relation, would be the next Quakers’ boss.

“When he was announced, it was a bit of a relief, in the sense that it was someone I was familiar with,” the guard said. “It would have been great to play for Coach Allen, but it’s just as nice to play for Coach Donahue.”

So, the Palestra this fall will be jam-packed full of new faces — both on the court and on the sidelines.

And while that group has yet to prove anything on the court, they’ve certainly demonstrated one essential trait off of it:

They’re awfully committed to Penn basketball.

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