A glimpse of 1997 hoops at summer league

Incoming frosh Langel, Owens play for South Jersey all-star squad Tuesday night, Penn basketball players performed in a Big 5 gymnasium in front of crowd of less than 100. No, the Big 5 has not been hurt that much by the end of the round-robin format. These Quakers, actually recruits, were participating in what Penn coach Fran Dunphy calls "a Philadelphia institution", the Sonny Hill league. The league, playing its games at Temple's McGonigle Hall, is open to all players who have not yet entered college. Geoff Owens and Matt Langel were part of a South Jersey all-star contingent that met a similar group from the Main Line. Although the two have played in all-star summer leagues before, this summer, the future college teammates are stressing their own interaction. "Fortunately, we've had the opportunity to play a lot together through the spring and the summer," Langel said. Langel, a natural shooting guard from Moorestown, N.J., spent most of the night as South Jersey's point guard. Although his play this night was up-and-down, Dunphy had to be pleased with his fluid release on the jumpshot, if not his tendency to disappear from the game for stretches. Langel, tall for a guard at 6-foot-4, was heavily recruited within the Ivy League and drew some interest from scholarship schools like Ohio State of theBig Ten, before deciding to make his way to West Philly. He cited the location as a key part of his choice, separating Penn from the pack. "My decisions all came down to the Ivy League," Langel said. "Academics were real important to me -- I worked really hard in high school." The more impressive of the two on the court, however, was Owens. The 6-foot-11 Owens was a force on the defensive end, early and often. Just thirty seconds into the game, one of the Main Line forwards had a clear path to the hoop. Owens left his man and shifted to the other side of the hoop, where he pinned the clear layup to the backboard and pulled down the rejection in one motion. Unlike many big men who post high shot-blocking averages solely because they routinely get beaten to the hole, then swat the shot from behind, Owens's blocking prowess was a result of good defensive positioning and quick reflexes. After five minutes, and four rejections, the Main Liners stopped taking Owens on in the paint. That kind of play caused the Bishop Eustace product's coach to call him the "most skilled big man I've ever seen in the state." Penn beat out the Naval Academy, Vermont and Penn State, among others, for Owens's services. "At a lot of schools, academics was just so far below basketball, I just wouldn't have gotten anything out of it," Owens said. Both players have been regulars on Penn's campus this summer. Each has spent some time working at Dunphy's summer basketball camp, and Owens, who carried only 180 pounds on his nearly 7-foot frame throughout high school, has been lifting weights at Penn. In addition, they have scrimmaged or played in other summer leagues with many incumbent members of the squad. Although neither figures to feature prominently in the Quakers line-up immediately, one thing is for certain. The first time Langel and Owens step onto a Big 5 floor in Penn uniforms instead of tee-shirts, there should be more than 100 people in the building. · Although he is a good friend of Princeton's Brian Earl, himself a South Jersey native, Langel had little insight into whether the disenchanted guard will return to the Tigers next season. Apparently not pleased with the atmosphere at Old Nassau, Earl had announced plans to examine other options during the spring. Earl even mentioned Penn as one of the many candidates for his services, although he said it was a long shot. "I don't think Brian knows what's going on with him," Langel said. "I think he's waiting for something to dawn on him, like wake up one morning?" Although he did not rule it out entirely, Earl, who was reportedly prized by Dunphy two years ago, has expressed reluctance to join Penn so as not to fight with his friend for playing time.