100 years of Penn hoops

On March 20, 1897, the Penn Red and Blue lost a 32-10 basketball game to Yale. One hundred years later, the memories are unforgettable. One hundred years ago, a group of basketball pioneers boarded a Brooklyn-bound train to play Adelphi in what would be the first intercollegiate basketball game in Penn history. Clad in uniforms borrowed from the football team (shoulder and elbow pads were optional) on that December evening, the Quakers also recorded the first win for the fledgling program by the score of 14-9. That much has changed since that inaugural season a century is to be expected. What's surprising is how much the Penn has stayed the same over that period. There have been many common threads which have sewn together generations of Quakers basketball teams. Among them are a tradition of both academic and athletic excellence, a history of great coaching, the team's Big 5 and Ivy League rivalries and, of course, the Palestra. Great Coaches One of the most instrumental factors to the consistent success of Quakers basketball teams year in and year out since the turn of the century has been the coaches who have stood at the program's helm. Since the earliest days of basketball at the University, Penn coaches have had to use all their wiles to recruit players who could juggle both the heavy academic and athletic expectations the school brought to bear. One of the first greats was Lon Jordet, who coached between 1915 and 1943, credited with implementing basketball's first zone defense. Following Jordet in the 1950s was Howie Dallmer, the first of many great recruiters to prowl the sidelines of the Palestra. Dallmer's biggest success came when he recruited 6-foot-3 center Ernie Beck out Philadelphia's West Catholic High in 1953. He managed to woo Beck to Penn with a financial aid package too attractive to pass up. The value of Beck's scholarship -- $1,000, with $700 covering tuition and $300 for room and board. Beck sighted his respect for Dallmer as one the decisive factors in his choice of Penn over other Ivy and Big 5 suitors. Other greats to follow included such names as Dick Harter, Bob Weinhauer and Chuck Daly, all of whom would use Penn as a springboard to NBA coaching careers. Also instrumental in helping the Quakers build arguably the school's best squad in 1971 and inaugurating Penn's most successful decade of basketball, was an assistant by the name of Digger Phelps. "Digger Phelps was the one who first exposed me to Penn," said David "Corky" Calhoun, an NBA first-round draft pick in 1972 who helped lead the Quakers to the No. 2 spot on the Associated Press college basketball poll in 1972. Success On and Off the Court Perhaps the most unique aspect of the basketball program at Penn has been the combination of athletic and academic achievement it has always offered players. "Penn does a tremendous job of bringing in players with high character," said Ron Haigler, the first ever recipient of the Ivy League Player of the Year award in 1974-75. "That's been a very consistent feature of the program for many years." John Wideman, who captained the team in both 1961 and 1962 stands out as one of the best examples of the program's multi-disciplinary approach. Wideman graduated Phi Beta Kappa, was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and went on to win the prestigious Faulkner Award for literature twice, in 1984 and 1991. "The type of player Penn gets is a special person, a good student and good athlete," said Bob Morse, a teammate of Calhoun's. Morse himself was no stranger to success on and off the court. The leading scorer on the great Penn teams of the early 1970s he received the Class of 1915 award as the member of the student body who, "most closely approaches the ideal University of Pennsylvania student-athlete." Penn's dual appeal of academic excellence and athletic competitiveness has been the unifying link for generations of Penn basketball players. "I was impressed by Coach Dunphy and his staff as well as the reputation Penn had both academically and basketball wise," said current freshman guard Mike Koller, a second-generation Quaker whose father, John, played with both Calhoun and Morse. The Rivalries The most defining moments of the Penn basketball mystique have spawned from the team's traditional rivalries amongst other Ivy and the Big 5 schools. From the era of Ernie Beck to that of Steve Bilsky and on to Jerome Allen, games against archrivals like Villanova and, especially, Princeton, have come to define the essence of college basketball. Bilsky, currently Penn's athletic director, will forever be remembered by the Penn faithful for his instrumental role in an improbable victory over Villanova in 1969. At the time, the Quakers were 6-6 and coming of a dismal season which saw them finish sixth in the Ivy League. Facing the then seventh-ranked Wildcats at the Palestra, Penn had a lot to prove. It was a 25-footer by Bilsky with three seconds left to play in the face of All-American Howard Porter that lifted Penn to 32-30 upset. "That shot was my best memory of Penn, but not for the reason most people would think," said Bilsky. "[That shot] signaled that Penn was a winner. Prior to that, it had sort of been the Big 4 and Penn." Bilsky's shot announced a changing of the guard in the Big 5, as the Quakers amassed 78 wins and only six losses in the three seasons to follow and dominated Big 5 play throughout the '70s. Penn capped its most successful decade with a trip to the NCAA Final Four in 1979. Penn's Ivy League grudge matches date back to that inaugural season a century ago, when the Quakers squared off against Yale. Beck, who still holds the Quakers single game scoring record of 47, recalls his own teams battles with it Ivy opponents as the fondest of his playing days. "The greatest memory I have was defeating Princeton at Princeton and Columbia at Columbia in the same year," said Beck. "For us, the biggest games were Ivy League games." The Palestra Though the basketball program turns 100 this year, one could argue that basketball at Penn was truly born when the Palestra opened its doors in 1927. Since then, hosting countless Quakers home games and Big 5 doubleheaders, the building has become the Mecca of college basketball. Its aura is unmistakable, and has been so since day one. "When you come to Penn and the crowd starts getting into it, you can't help but get the chills," said freshman guard Matt Langel, who admitted it was the arena's atmosphere that convinced him Penn was the right choice. Bilsky too admits being attracted to Penn after experiencing the Palestra on a pre-college visit to campus. It's difficult to pinpoint what exactly has made the Palestra the quintessential shrine to college basketball. Beck credits its singular use as a basketball arena for its staying power, while other current and former players sight the "magical" atmosphere it lends a game. "The first impression I had of Penn was of the Palestra being such a historic, great place to play," said Morse. "Every time I step foot in the Palestra, there's a special feeling." Indeed, what better monument could there be to a basketball program such as Penn's which itself represents such a powerful institution?

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