DONALD MOXLEY: Worth the Wait

Senior Donald Moxley did not break into the starting lineup until this season, but now the guard has given the Quakers some much-needed offensive firepower Imagine you are a high school basketball star. You are a do-everything guard that leads your team to a sectional championship. You gain personal recognition as well, being named a third-team all-state player. Then you go to college, and for three years, you sit and wait on the bench., with most of what little playing time you get coming in garbage time. Sound frustrating? Donald Moxley doesn't have to imagine what it would feel like. It happened to him. "I think he's done well, particularly well offensively," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "We're needing him to tighten up on defense. We need him to add a certain solidness to the team. But I'm happy he's taking advantage of his opportunity." It was a long time coming for the 6-foot-3, 180-pound Moxley. He came to Penn out of Irvington (N.J.) High School, where he averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds a game while playing point guard, shooting guard and small forward. Dunphy had first seen Moxley at a basketball camp during the previous summer. Dunphy continued to recruit during Moxley's senior season, and Moxley maintained an interest in playing for the Quakers. After applying and gaining admission to Penn, Moxley eventually decided to enroll. "His parents decided to make the sacrifice for him to attend," Dunphy said. Then came the waiting. Moxley had the personal misfortune of playing behind one of the best backcourt combinations in the nation. During his first three seasons, he watched as Jerome Allen and Matt Maloney led the Quakers to three Ivy League titles. "Playing behind players of that ability can only help you, but no one likes to look at it like that," Penn swingman Ira Bowman said. "No one likes to think that anybody is better than them." Over those three years, Moxley played in 53 games, with no starts, and averaged 1.3 points per contest. "He was certainly a talented player," Dunphy said. "He just wasn't given an opportunity. One, he had two very good guards in front of him, and another part of that is bad coaching." But all of that has changed this year. Allen and Maloney have moved on the the NBA and CBA, respectively, and Moxley has moved into Penn's starting lineup as the two guard. Both Moxley and the Quakers started the season slowly. After five games, the team was 1-4 and he was shooting just 28.9%. But Moxley has come on lately, and so has Penn. In his last five games, he has hit 26-of-47 shots, including 6-of-11 three-pointers. He is now third on the team in scoring (11.3 ppg) behind Bowman and center Tim Krug, and his shooting percentage has risen to 42.4 percent. In the important league-opener at Princeton Jan. 6, Moxley led Penn with 19 points. "We needed someone like him to step up," said sophomore guard Garett Kreitz. "We can't rely totally on Tim and Ira, or teams will key on them and we'll lose." "Over the last four or five games he's really started to pick it up," Dunphy said. "I think that's been a key to our 3-0 start in the Ivy League