Quaker men 'got game' over summer

The Sonny Hill League allows area college basketball players to keep playing during the summer. When Fran Dunphy was tearing up the Big Five as a guard at La Salle in the late 1960s, the NCAA prohibited college players from participating in summer basketball leagues. These days, Dunphy patrols the sidelines for the Penn men's basketball team and organized leagues are an integral part of the summer training regimen of most Division I basketball players. This summer, seven Quakers will be playing in the Hank Gathers College Division of the Sonny Hill Community Involvement Basketball League, one of the premier college summer leagues in the country. "When I was a player, you weren't permitted to play in the summer leagues. Of course, that was a few years back," said Dunphy, who graduated in 1970. "The Sonny Hill League gives players a nice opportunity to play with a shot clock, game clock and referees." Though Dunphy sees the league as an opportunity to play with real game conditions unavailable in playground pick-up games, many of the Quakers view the league as an enjoyable component of their summer training. "The Sonny Hill League is serious, but it's a really good time," said Penn guard Matt Langel, who plays for Pittman/Scott in the Gathers Division. "The most fun games are the ones against your [Penn] teammates. You know those guys the best, the way they play. You talk a little trash in those games." The Gathers College Division is just one of many divisions of the Sonny Hill League, which has divisions for youths and future stars from high school and college, in addition to its professional ranks. The Baker League, the professional division of Sonny Hill, featured such players as Eddie Jones, Lionel Simmons and Alvin Williams in 1997. The 12-team Gathers Division attracts both local college players, such as St. Joe's Rashid Bey -- who played with Penn's Jed Ryan on the 1997 Jurin Distributing squad -- and Philadelphians who play their college ball elsewhere. Among these players returning home is Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Cuttino Mobley of the University of Rhode Island, who played on last year's WDAS team with Penn's Paul Romanczuk. The 11-game schedule of the Sonny Hill League is just one aspect of the summer training for its Penn participants. While Fran Dunphy recognizes the value of playing in summer leagues, he realizes that the limited playing time available on the 11 and 12-man rosters means players must make additional training efforts. "If it were a 20-game season and our guys were going to play 35-40 minutes each game, then it alone would be enough to help them be in great shape for next season," Dunphy said. "They need to do other things too -- play against other teams, walk over as a group and scrimmage the guys at Drexel or go play the guys at St. Joe's. That's really how they'll get better over the summer." Though the NCAA prohibits official team practices in the summer and restricts coach-player contact in the gym to watching games between July 8 and July 31, many Quakers will be working out and playing together this summer. "Sure, we can't practice as a Penn team," Langel said. "But there's a lot of guys around, so at nights, I'm sure we'll get together and play a little 3-on-3, 4-on-4, even some 5-on-5." In addition, three Quakers -- Langel, center Geoff Owens and guard Michael Jordan -- are participating in daily workouts led by Gathers Division Commissioner John Hartnett and Fred Douglas, commissioner of the Baker League. These selective workouts, unaffiliated with the Sonny Hill League, feature instruction and scrimmages and attract many Philly college and NBA ballplayers, such as Jason Lawson, Arthur "Yah" Davis and Jones, a 1994 Temple graduate and a 1998 NBA all-star with the Los Angeles Lakers. "Playing in the Sonny Hill League, you showcase the skills you have, you use the moves you feel comfortable with," 1997 Gathers Division All-Star Owens said. "Right here [at the workout sessions] we do drills and work on things you might not be as good at. This is where all your work comes in." Jordan, also a 1997 Gathers Division all-star while playing for the Camille Cosby team, takes a slightly different view of the relationship between the Sonny Hill League and the workout sessions. "You work on your game down here [at the workouts], playing against guys like Cuttino, Al [Williams], big guards like that, Rashid Bey, guys that are trying to go to the NBA," Jordan said. "Then when the Sonny Hill games come around, the stuff that you learn down here [at the workouts] you get a chance to try in those games." Lynn Greer, who led Temple in three-point shooting and averaged 8.1 points per game as a freshman this past season, believes that the workout sessions and Sonny Hill League games are each equally important aspects of his summer preparation. "The best part about the workouts and the league is that you get to play with and against a lot of different people, not just the same guys on your college team or the guys you're used to," said Greer, who will be playing for WDAS this summer. "Being here [at the workouts] and playing in the Sonny Hill League helps my game a lot and gets me ready for the season." Competition in the Gathers Division of the Sonny Hill League begins June 15. Gladys Rogers, led by Penn State's Danny Earl -- last year's Gathers Division MVP -- of Penn State and his brother, Princeton's Brian Earl, looks to defend its crown. Games in Saturday's quadruple-headers begin at 10:30, 11:45, 1:00 and 2:15, with one-minute halftimes. Games are played at Temple's Arthur McGonigle Hall and there is no charge for admission.