Solomito solidifies front line for Quakers

Dan Solomito, Penn's lone recruit this season, will provide added depth at the small forward position. Penn freshman Dan Solomito is used to going it alone. In his father's pursuit of better job opportunities in the television production industry, Solomito and his family moved from Boca Raton, Fla., to Montclair, N.J. months before his freshman year in high school -- leaving behind his home, his friends and his life of the previous 13 years. In his pursuit of a high school basketball program, Solomito moved back to his old school in Boca Raton for his junior and senior years -- leaving behind his family and his two-year-old New Jersey life. And tomorrow night, when the Penn men's basketball team steps onto the floor of the Palestra for its home opener against No. 8 Kansas, Solomito will be going it alone again -- as the only freshman on the '98-'99 Quakers squad. Taking a circular route to West Philadelphia, for the past five years the 6'6" Solomito has been without a full-time home -- torn between a life in Florida, a life in New Jersey, and summers with friends in between. "My father had worked at ABC in soap operas and was a technical director for 15 years on All My Children, and he won three Emmy Awards for that, which I think is pretty incredible," Solomito said. "We moved to Florida thinking it would be a better place to raise kids, and my father wanted to start his own company. Unfortunately things didn't work out, so we moved back to the same town my parents had lived in." After spending countless hours searching out academically solid schools that offered worthwhile basketball programs in northern New Jersey, Solomito and his parents settled upon Montclair-Kimberly Academy. "When we started looking at schools, academics was a given. However, it was just as important to find a school that had a strong basketball program because that's who Dan was," Judi Solomito, Dan's mother, said. "But the Montclair-Kimberly program [turned out to be] terrible. I was really disappointed because they had told me it was a strong team, and it wasn't. "Dan would have rather played for a team where he was on the bench, striving to get better and working at getting better than being on a weak team where he was the star." And so, after two years in New Jersey, a 16-year old Solomito made the decision to return to Florida and his middle-school basketball coach as a live-in boarding student at Boca Raton basketball power St. Andrew's. A difficult decision for Solomito, he was away from his parents, his older sister Kate -- who simultaneously moved away to the University of Rhode Island -- and his family's basketball-nurturing environment for the first time in his life. "It was kind of devastating that my parents couldn't see any of my games," Solomito said. "But I kind of made a little deal with them. I told my parents I'd be back up here for college [basketball]. I promised I'd be in the northeast." Two years and 1,200 miles later, the small forward is indeed back in the northeast, on the floor of the Palestra shooting mid-range jumpers and playing defense. Based on reactions coming out of practice this fall, the coaching staff, for one, is glad he chose to come back to the area. "Dan has good skills. He's a good shooter, he's a good passer, and he knows the game well," Quakers coach Fran Dunphy said. "When I first saw him last year, I said to him, 'Dan, you've got to get into the weight room because this adjustment that you've got to make from high school to college is a tough one.' So a couple of weeks later, I talked to him and I said, 'Are you in the weight room three days a week now?', and he said 'no'," the coach continued. "And I shook my head for a second, and he said 'I'm in there five days a week'. So that's really what I like to hear -- that dedication to playing the game and playing it well." Solomito's dedication to the game has never been a question to those around him. His family, his coaches and his friends all realize that basketball is the center of this young man's life. "Ninth grade -- Dan's already living in New Jersey and been away from us for a year. [St. Andrew's] wins seven rounds and makes it all the way to the state finals in Tallahassee," John O'Connell, Solomito's coach at St. Andrew's, recalled. "The night before the championship, Dan, as a 14-year old freshman, shows up at our door, 'Coach, can I sleep on your floor?' That was unbelievable." "Dan is one of the most dedicated people I know," Penn sophomore and friend from Montclair, Jen Fink said. "We'd go to games down the Jersey shore this summer, and we'd be waiting around for 20 to 25 minutes after the game for him to finish up, get off the court and get his shit going. And then he gets up the next day and does it again. "He doesn't care where he is or what he's doing -- if there's a basketball hoop, then he's there." Previous to playing this summer in the heralded Jersey Shore Basketball League, Solomito flourished in his years back with O'Connell and St. Andrew's in Florida. Solomito averaged 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists per game as the team's primary ball-handler, and earned First-Team All-Boca Raton honors. As a team, however, St. Andrew's did not enjoy the success of years past. A strong program which has former players currently rostered on three Division I teams, St. Andrew's finished 12-13 while playing their "strongest schedule ever". "Last year we played the No. 2 team in the country, Miami, senior," O'Connell recalled. "The team was clearly overmatched, but Dan wasn't. "Once you got the right matchup, boy you could really take advantage of it with a guy who can handle the ball so well at 6'6"." The fact that he is a former point guard, as well as the only new player on the '98-'99 team, works to Solomito's benefit -- more time can be dedicated to sharpening his play and working him into an historically winning system. "The last three years we've had two and three guys that coach is trying to prepare for a game situation, so it takes a little bit of pressure off of Dan," Quakers senior tri-captain and starting small forward Jed Ryan said. "We try to help him out as much as possible, and he's learning pretty quickly." Despite being a quick learner, Solomito remains near the bottom of the Quakers depth chart. Ryan is a three-year starter, and seniors Frank Brown and Mike Sullivan will both see significant minutes. The freshman likely will at first assume the role of the ninth or tenth man -- crucial at times, but superfluous at others. "We are relatively deep at that position this year," Dunphy agreed. "But it's [good in a way], since it's not like we need him to play right away and get us 15 points a game and seven rebounds and four assists and never turn the ball over." Solomito agreed with Dunphy's assessment of this scenario, passing on Ivy rival Princeton to spend a year as an understudy to a large and talented Quakers senior class. "One big factor when I was choosing college was looking at who's there, and who will be there in the future," Solomito said. "Right now, I don't know where I fit in as far as playing time -- I'm just trying to take it all in, learn, and work my hardest to hopefully get a chance to prove myself out there." For the freshman who seems to have finally found a long-term home as the Quakers small forward of the future, tomorrow night will mark Solomito's first appearance of many in the Palestra. "The first game is Kansas; it's home, and my family will be there. It just adds to it all. I'm really looking forward to the season, and to a fun four years here."

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