Lyren will not return

The 1996-97 Penn men's basketball captain did not recover from a injured tendon in his foot. Jamie Lyren, the 1996-97 Penn men's basketball captain, announced his decision not to play for the Quakers this upcoming season. The 6'3'' guard from Wadsworth, Ohio, was entering his last year of collegiate eligibility after missing most of his junior year due to an injury. Just when Lyren thought he was fully recovered from the foot injury, he suffered his second major foot injury in as many seasons at Dartmouth on February 21. Injuring his tendon in his right foot, Lyren's inability to fully recover is the main factor in his decision not to play. "It was a decision, both physically and emotionally, that he didn't think he could devote 100 percent of himself to playing, and thought it would be best to step away," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. Lyren only made known his decision a few weeks ago, when he called Dunphy at home, explaining to his coach that he was not healthy, and didn't think he would be up to playing this season. "I encouraged him to rethink what he wanted to do," Dunphy said. "So over that period of time between when he called me on the phone and the time that we sat down in person on Wednesday, he rethought the situation, and came to the same decision." Selected by the players as team captain in 1996, Lyren was the only senior on the squad. His role on the inexperienced, but talented, team was clear. Lyren would be a teacher and mentor to the younger players, showing them the ropes. His main leadership responsibility was to help acclimate the young guards to Penn basketball, especially freshman Michael Jordan. Jordan's quality first season, winning the league Rookie of the Year award, coupled with Lyren's ailing right foot, meant that Jordan took the starting role away from Lyren, who was forced to come off the bench for the rest of the season. Lyren, who was a member of three Ivy League title-winning teams while at Penn, saw limited action during those three seasons. In his first two years, he appeared in 27 games. It was hard to break the rotation with future NBA players like Matt Maloney and Jerome Allen presiding at the Palestra. However, when Allen and Maloney graduated in 1995, it was supposed to be Lyren's time to step up. Lyren's first season as a starter was 1995-96. However, his junior campaign did not go exactly as planned. In only the fifth game of the season, Lyren broke a bone in his left foot against Penn State at the Atlantic City Shootout on Dec. 9, 1995. He underwent season-ending surgery two months later. After last year, Lyren petitioned the Ivy League to allow him an extra year of eligibility. Because he only played in five games and he could benefit academically, he was granted a fifth year of eligibility, which at he time, Lyren said was "something 100 percent that I want to do. I want to get as many opportunities to play as I can get." However, his inability to stay healthy changed his mind. Without Lyren, Dunphy will have to look elsewhere to fill the leadership void left in Lyren's wake. Senior Garett Kreitz and juniors Jed Ryan and Paul Romanczuk are the likely candidates. However, Dunphy is not worried. "I think leadership comes in all sorts of ways. It can come from the younger guys as well," Dunphy said. "I think Michael (Jordan) is a very good leader and I think he will pick up some of that slack as well, but I think it will be more of a team effort than an individual thing and hopefully we will be okay." Whether Lyren's decision is motivated by a continuing lack of playing time is unclear. Lyren did not return repeated phone calls from The Daily Pennsylvanian. "We will definitely miss Jamie," Dunphy said. "He meant a lot to our program and he meant a lot to me personally. I'm disappointed that he won't be with us, but at the same time, I respect him greatly."