Super sub Solomito is electrifyin'

Solomito put up seven points and three assists in the last three minutes against Brown. With 3:40 remaining in the Penn men's basketball team's 86-55 romp over Brown on Saturday night, the chants began. "SOL-O-MI-TO, SOL-O-MI-TO!!!" The fans wanted a glimpse of the future, and the future delivered. In fact, he did more than deliver -- he put on a show. Welcome to the Dan Solomito show. It was obvious to everyone in the Palestra that the game was over. Penn led 70-50 and Solomito and guard Brendan Cody remained the only unused players on the Penn bench. With 2:59 left and Mike Sullivan at the foul line, Penn coach Fran Dunphy sent Cody and Solomito to the scorer's table. The crowd erupted. "It's great to see those guys get some time," Penn forward Paul Romanczuk said. "They work just as hard -- maybe even harder than we do -- in practice." Sullivan hit both free throw attempts and then took a seat on the bench, as Solomito checked in for just the third time this season. His first appearance in the Palestra was not very memorable. Along with Cody and Jon Tross, Solomito saw action at the end of the Lehigh game on December 3. Against the Engineers, however, the reserves looked nervous and tentative, committing turnovers and missing shots. "It was obviously my first minutes in a college basketball game," Solomito said. "It was something that I tried not to show, but no matter how hard I tried, I was definitely nervous." The subs did not give an encore of the Lehigh performance this weekend. Instead, they looked sharp and confident, especially Solomito. Seven points and three assists would be a respectable game for many players. But amassing those stats in a mere three minutes is quite an impressive feat. Solomito did put up those numbers against bench players for one of the worst teams in Division I and the result of the game had already been well-decided. Despite the surrounding circumstances, it's is hard to find fault with Solomito's breakout performance. The former high school Jewish All-American compiled a virtual highlight reel from the time he stepped onto the court until a few seconds after the final buzzer sounded. The first hit came with 2:16 remaining. Solomito received a pass from Tross and buried a three-pointer from the right side. The trey represented the first points of his collegiate career. "It was the first time I really got a chance to prove myself, so it was a good feeling," Solomito said. He did a few more things to prove himself in the final two minutes. He showed that he can pass the ball as well, dishing the ball to a few other Quakers. He hit Lamar Plummer for a layup for his first assist, but it was his second which opened people's eyes. Driving the lane, Solomito flipped the ball behind his head to an open Josh Sanger, who scored on an easy layup. Plays like that brought the crowd to its feet. In fact, after the chants and the cheers, it seemed that Solomito -- not unlike George Mboya, the man who wore his No. 13 jersey last year -- had become a favorite of the Palestra fans. "It's a definitely a compliment," Solomito said. "It's nice to hear, but I'm just trying to go out there and play my game." Solomito recorded his third assist of the evening when he threw a baseball pass to a wide open Tross on a breakaway. Tross slammed the ball home for the first points of his own college career. The Tross dunk put Penn up 83-55, but the Quakers were not done, especially Solomito. He took a pass from Plummer and buried a three from the top of the key with 9.1 seconds left, pushing the Penn lead to 31 points. That was his last official score of the night, but not his last highlight. Brown guard Joe Bucci brought the ball upcourt with time running out when Solomito stole the ball. He took off and raced towards the basket. The buzzer sounded, but Solomito did not stop. He dunked the ball anyway, adding one last exclamation point as the final act to his short performance. What Solomito did this weekend, however, did not win the game for Penn. What it did do was give the Quakers a coming attraction for the next few years. It also made more of a case for the lone member of the men's basketball class of 2002 to see more playing time this season. "What you see tonight is a reflection of the kind of talent that Danny has," Dunphy said after the game. "He's certainly a guy that we have very much in our future. When the opportunity comes, if he does get those crunch-time minutes and he's responding that way, you can rest assured that we'll be seeing a lot of him."

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