Hoops Powers to Play Quakers

The Palestra will host next year's match-up between Penn and Kansas. Move over, Rice. Step aside, Lafayette. Penn's non-conference home schedule will get a shot in the arm in 1998-99 when perennial national-power Kansas brings its show into town to match up with Penn at the Palestra. While Quakers hoops diehards relish each home opponent, next year's beefed up home schedule has excitement brewing. Empty seats look to be a forgotten entity as Penn hopes to begin a trend of big-time home opponents. "We're really excited about Kansas coming in here," Penn sophomore guard Matt Langel said. "The Palestra will be packed. It's going to be a loud game, a fun game." The Jayhawks' arrival highlights a strong schedule which also includes a home contest with Big Five rival Temple. John Chaney's Owls appear destined for a top-15 ranking in 1999. The Palestra is sure to rock in 1999-2000 as well, with Penn tentatively slated to entertain ACC power Maryland and Big 10 foe Penn State. While coach Fran Dunphy has always sought to schedule the toughest competition possible for his squads, this has traditionally meant competing in early-season tournaments like the Fiesta Bowl and Cable Car Classics. This year proved no different, as Penn began the season playing big-time opponents on the road at the Franklin National Bank Classic in Washington, D.C. Yet it was this very tournament that enabled Penn fans to have an opportunity to see national powers at the Palestra. Prior to Penn's first-ever meeting with Kansas, Jayhawks coach Roy Williams approached Dunphy with a proposition. "We met each other in the hallway and Roy said, 'I like to bring my team to different parts of the country, and I really like the Palestra and I'd like our kids to play there,' " Dunphy said. The two coaches entertained ideas of playing a home-and-home series over two seasons. According to Dunphy, Williams decided Kansas would travel to Philadelphia first, while the Quakers would play at Phog Allen Arena the following season. "Because I'm asking you to play in the game and play in the home-and-home, it's only right that we should play at the Palestra first," Williams told Dunphy. The three-time National Coach of the Year surprised Fran Dunphy with his offer to play Penn on the road. "Typically, the top-20 programs in the country don't need to go on the road and play these kinds of games," Dunphy said. "It's increasingly unusual for those caliber teams to go on the road first. I think that speaks for the quality of Roy Williams and the kind of person he is." Fran Dunphy is not the only one to comment on Roy Williams' hardwood chivalry. In its "Scorecard" section last week, Sports Illustrated expressed a wish that more coaches at big-time programs follow Roy Williams' lead, taking the risks of playing away games at schools like Penn. In past years, the risk of dropping a game to Penn, David vs. Goliath style, has been the biggest obstacle in the Quakers' quest to attract high-caliber opponents to the Palestra. Penn sophomore center Geoff Owens, who sat out last season due to medical problems, commented on the nature of this situation. "It's hard sometimes to get big schools to come in because we're a team that is capable of beating them at any time. A loss to us would really hurt them in the rankings," Owens, a native of Audubon, N.J., said. "It's really great when we get the chance to play a top-10 team at the Palestra. We're really excited, we love it." Initially, Kansas planned to come to Penn in 1999-2000, with the Quakers returning the favor the following season. However, a recent shift in the '99 Kansas schedule provided an opportunity for Penn to host Kansas next season. The Jayhawks were slated to play a game at Middle Tennessee State's Murphy Center in December 1998 until the Blue Raiders called Kansas to request a one-year delay. Roy Williams called Dunphy immediately to inform him of the schedule opening that had developed. The details of the meeting are currently being finalized. "I called and left a message for Coach Dunphy to give us some date options that worked for him and we played phone tag a little bit," Richard Konzem, associate athletic director at Kansas, said. "We're both trying to schedule the game around finals. Tentatively, we're looking at December 22." While high caliber programs may fear a loss to Penn on the road, several factors work to the Quakers' advantage in scheduling home games. Foremost is the legendary status of the 71-year-old Palestra, deemed a "basketball cathedral" by New York Daily News basketball writer Dick Weiss. "It's certainly a draw for Roy Williams. A lot of people recognize the Palestra as one of the great college basketball facilities in the country," Dunphy said. "When I talked with [Maryland coach] Gary Williams, he was excited about coming to the Palestra as well." The Palestra has also left strong impressions on Jerry Dunn, coach of Big 10 member and 1998 NIT runner-up Penn State, who will play at Penn in 1999-2000 on the back end of a home-and-home series. Dunn began his PSU career as an assistant in 1983, when the school was a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. "When we were in the A-10, we played all of our conference tournament games at the Palestra," Dunn said. "The Palestra is just a great place to play, and I think Philadelphia is a great city to play in." Dunphy also cited Penn's Philadelphia location as being a key element attracting teams to play the Quakers at home. "Not only do we have the Palestra, but being in a big city helps as well," Dunphy said. "Philadelphia is a college basketball town." KU's Konzem echoed Dunphy's citing of Philly's city status while discussing the multiple benefits of playing a diverse road schedule. "This gives us an opportunity to get back to the East coast, where there's tremendous population and a large number of KU alums," Konzem said. "We try to play all over the country for exposure. You never know when someone happens to see you play in their hometown arena and the game helps you out in a recruiting situation." Finally, Dunphy, who served as an assistant coach under Gary Williams at American in '80-'81, has developed a network of connections and friendships that has helped him schedule tough opponents for Penn. "Our relationship is really the reason why Gary Williams has decided that Maryland is going to play a home-and-home series with Penn," Dunphy said. "Jerry Dunn and I are pretty good friends, too. We get together in the off-season and just talk the game often." Many of the Quakers feel that this tough home schedule is what they have been awaiting since their arrival at Penn. "Coach Dunphy tells you right from the get go that you're going to play these teams, he's going to bring them into the Palestra," Langel said. "That's the reason that guys like Mike Jordan and Geoff Owens come to Penn, to play those big time games." For graduating captain Jeff Goldstein, the arrival of nationally recognized programs to the Palestra will be bittersweet. "With all these teams coming in, it's going to be awesome, I'm going to miss it so much," Goldstein said. Though he'll be busy next year, Goldstein hopes to stop back in for the big games and has made a personal vow to "get there for the first game Geoff Owens plays." "A lot of the games with big-time teams in recent years have been close, but none have been in this building," Goldstein said. "I think the Palestra could make the difference for the upset." For the Palestra, top-notch teams like Maryland and Kansas mean the best competition to take the court since the heyday of the Big 5. While weaker teams like the Owls and Leopards will always occupy space in Penn's home schedule, the arrival of big-time teams like the Terps and Jayhawks mean packed crowds and frenzied excitement for Quakers fans in the coming seasons.