St. Joe's to host H.S. hoops games

Penn's lack of a response forced the Philadelphia Public League to find a different venue for the games. After waiting months for Penn to make a decision, the Philadelphia Public League this week selected St. Joseph's University as the host for its boys and girls basketball championships -- finally ending speculation of whether the Palestra would host the event one year after a fatal shooting marred the games. On Tuesday, Public League officials announced that they will hold their annual championship games on February 28 at the St. Joseph's Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, instead of at Penn, where the event had been held for the past two years. The Fieldhouse, located on the western outskirts of the city, is much smaller and less accessible than Penn's venue. With the games about a month away, Penn had not yet responded to requests, forcing the Public League to change its venue. The University's non-decision has drawn criticism from some league officials and local newspaper columnists, but will likely be praised by many of the Penn students who called on the school to avoid a potentially dangerous event. Penn's hesitance in the matter stems partly from a fatal shooting outside the Palestra following last year's city game, which left one person dead and three others, including a Penn student, wounded. The March 1 violence -- ruled by police to have no connection with the actual game -- prompted Drexel University to back out as host of the Public League all-star games one week later. At the 1997 championships, gunshots were also fired, but no one was injured. Jury selection began this week in the trial of the two men charged with the 1998 shooting. Despite claims by some that Penn deliberately did not answer the league in order to avoid making a controversial choice, University officials maintained that they were not stalling and simply had not made a decision. It was not clear, however, when Penn was planning on announcing its choice or what exactly caused the long delay. "It wasn't going to be an easy decision," said Penn spokesperson Ken Wildes. "We understand that [Public League officials] had to do what they had to do." But those close to the championship games strongly disagree -- accusing the University of giving Public League officials the run-around. "By not saying anything, the people conducting the tournament had to make a decision," said Mitchell Kurtz, head of the Philadelphia Public League Basketball Coaches Association. "Penn is off the hook because they never gave an answer." St. Joseph's Athletic Director Don DiJulia explained that, while officials at the Jesuit school are happy to be hosting the championships, the games virtually ended up in his school's lap, despite capacity and location problems. The Fieldhouse holds just 3,200, compared with the Palestra's almost 9,000. In addition, the St. Joseph's site is less centrally located. "[The Public League] didn't have any other place," DiJulia said. "They contacted us and other institutions as backup if they couldn't get their top site, which was Penn." John Koskinen, the Public League's boys basketball chairperson, recently told The Philadelphia Daily News his opinion of Penn's actions, or lack thereof. "If I was a betting man, I'd say we were never going to get an answer," Koskinen said. "[Penn] took the easy way out." Kurtz went on to say that the University absolutely should have made a decision "one way or the other" and that the community is likely to perceive Penn's silence during the process as "a cowardly act." However, citing University projects like the West Philadelphia Initiative, Wildes defended Penn and its relationship with the community and the public school system. "I think the reasonable person would say Penn is a good community citizen, a good community neighbor," he said. "The school is an asset to the city of Philadelphia." Wildes left the door open for sporting contests to be held on the Penn campus, stressing that the recent developments had no bearing on potential University decisions. "I am certain that we would be open to holding high school sporting events," Wildes said. "This situation doesn't have anything to do with future events."