COLUMN: There is still hope for Penn next season

From Andy Meran's "Meran's Law," Fall '95 Just a day after the heartbreaking overtime loss to Alabama, the work had already begun. As I walked into the Palestra to shoot around, I saw next season taking shape. Working on his game, sophomore Nat Graham spent hours taking shots and driving to the hole at the other end of the court. Yesterday at Gimbel, it was freshman Garett Kreitz draining jumpers and running up and down the floor playing pick-up games. With 6-foot-5 forward Jed Ryan already heading Penn's way and speculation that the Quakers may also land Rob Hodgson, a 6-7 forward who left Indiana after a disagreement with coach Bob Knight, there is promise in recruiting as well. After all, the Quakers are in a perfect position to recruit. With its recent explosion into the national spotlight as a top-notch basketball program, the word about Penn basketball is out on the street. And what could be a better selling tool than Fran Dunphy telling a kid not one starter will be returning? Sounds pretty good to me. Unfortunately, I can't shoot the rock as well as those guys. Time will only tell, but more recruits could and should be on the way. All these players will fit in around the two proven returning players. Ira Bowman and Tim Krug will be the leaders, and if last Thursday's game was any indication, they're both going to do an incredible job. Each one stepped up in the pressure of an NCAA Tournament game to deliver clutch performances. Certainly Yale and Columbia do not have players as good as those in the SEC. Bowman and Krug are going to dominate the league next year. As good as this duo is, the Penn basketball team is going to be a mere shade of its former self next year. But the situation may not be all that bad. Let's face it, we play in one of the worst basketball conferences in all of America. Bottom line -- although we may not be that good, nobody else will be, either. With 14 games against teams the caliber of Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, Yale and Princeton, we may be able to post a winning overall record. No, next year's team is not going to offer anything close to what the basketball team has given us over the past three seasons, but there is still something to look forward to. With a 43-game winning streak on the line, it will be interesting to see how long the Quakers can defend their turf. We can be pretty much assured we will not get the chance to sit around and watch Penn blow out victim after helpless victim next season. It's been a long time since there has been even a somewhat competitive Ivy game played at the Palestra. After winning every league game by a double-digit margin this season, close Ivy games will be a novelty and more exciting for us fans. So don't get all depressed quite yet. Yes, it is tough to deal with the harsh reality that not one of the five seniors who have made this program so special will ever play in a college basketball game again. It is even harder to deal with the fact this team hung in so well against Alabama, but ultimately saw its season draw to a close with a first-round loss. It's hard to start thinking about next year after the cruel ending to this season. But Nat Graham has. So has Garett Kreitz. And so have the rest of the returning players. There's no way the team's going to be anywhere close to this year's level, but with players like Krug and Bowman returning, there's no reason Penn can't find itself in the middle of March Madness this time next year. As long as you don't expect too much in out-of-conference play, you'll be rewarded. Next year's Ivy League campaign could be the most exciting in years. Andy Meran is a Wharton junior from Boca Raton, Fla., and a sports writer for The Daily Pennsylvanian. He is also the DP's King Swami and damn proud of it. Meran's Law appears alternate Tuesdays.