A final chance at the crown

A first trip to the NCAAs is the goal for the team's seniors. Senior forward Paul Romanczuk thinks his mom might know where his 1996 men's basketball Ivy League co-champions ring is located, but he doesn't have any idea where it might be hiding. Jed Ryan, also a senior forward and one of only two other members of the current roster who was on the varsity team that year, at least knows where his is. "The co-championship ring that I have, I think I put it in my dad's drawer at home and I've never looked at it again," the senior forward said. When Penn plays Princeton at the Tigers' sold-out Jadwin Gymnasium tonight at 7:30 p.m., Ryan, Romanczuk and their Quaker teammates will have 40 minutes to win their 1999 Ivy League championship rings outright. A win will propel Penn to an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 1995. And with a one-game lead over Princeton going into the contest, a loss gives them another co-championship and sends them to a one-game playoff Friday night at Lehigh University. But tonight is the only chance the Class of 1999 has to erase the word "co" from its Ivy League championship record. "A co-championship doesn't mean anything," Ryan said. "We're going to go and play to win at Jadwin. [Tonight] is the night it needs to get done." Tonight is the last time that this core of players can accomplish that goal. Unlike the rest of society, which measures generations in decades, a college generation lasts just four years. It's also the last chance for a generation of Penn seniors to be a part of what many thought was their God-given right when they sent in their first tuition checks -- an NCAA men's basketball tournament berth. The Class of 1999 inherited three straight undefeated Ivy League seasons. Those wide-eyed freshmen then saw two wins over Princeton, including a 63-49 victory at the Palestra at the final game of the 1996 regular season to force a one-game playoff. Then, the wheels fell off the proverbial wagon that seemed destined for a fourth straight trip to the NCAAs. Princeton won the one-game playoff at neutral Lehigh's Stabler Arena 63-56 in overtime, ending the Ivy League co-champion Quakers' season and sending the Tigers to the first of three straight NCAA appearances. "Paul and I talk about [the title drought] all the time," Ryan said. "We didn't go when we were freshmen and probably should have. The next two years were kind of rough. We haven't done it, no one in the senior class has ever seen Penn in the tournament, so it's big for us." Despite the disappointments, the past two years would be above average for any Ivy League school except Penn or Princeton, who together have won 33 out of the last 36 Ivy titles. The Quakers, starting mostly freshmen and sophomores, went 8-6 in the Ivy League in 1997 after losing Ivy Player of the Year forward Ira Bowman, first-team All-Ivy center Tim Krug and second-team All-Ivy guard Donald Moxley. Last year, again starting just one senior -- guard Garett Kreitz -- Penn improved to 10-4 in the league and finished second to a dominant Princeton team that was ranked as high as No. 8 nationally. This season has seen another dramatic boost in both record and quality of play. A veteran team led by Romanczuk, Ryan, junior guards Matt Langel and Michael Jordan and junior center Geoff Owens owns a 12-1 Ivy League record, nearly swept the Big Five and beat nationally ranked Temple University for the first time since 1982. And now, all that is left is to beat a Princeton team that despite recent upset losses to lowly Harvard and Yale, has beaten Penn six consecutive times during a 35-game Ivy winning streak that began with the '96 playoff game and ended with last month's 50-49 Palestra shocker. "Looking back a month ago, I didn't think [the Tigers] were going to lose to a Harvard or a Yale, I didn't think they were going to lose at all because they haven't in the past," the 6'7" Romanczuk said. "This is it for us. This is it." It's also the only chance for forward Mike Sullivan and guard Brendan Cody -- the other two Quakers set to graduate this year -- to be a part of a championship season. Sullivan joined the team his sophomore season, while Cody's three solid campaigns on the JV squad earned him a promotion to varsity status for his final year. "It all comes down to [tonight]," Sullivan said. "We know it [and] Princeton knows it, so it will all play out [tonight]." It is unlikely Cody will remove his warmups, but depending on Penn coach Fran Dunphy's substitution pattern, Sullivan could have a key role in tonight's game. In the first meeting against Princeton, Sullivan logged 13 minutes and made his only field goal attempt. He will likely split time with the third remaining player from that '96 season, forward Frank Brown. Although he joined the team the same year as Ryan and Romanczuk, Brown has a fifth year of eligibility because of injuries during his sophomore season and is expected to return next year. But most seniors, whether on the court or in the stands, don't have a fifth year to think about -- their only chance is now. "We kind of feel like ambassadors for the school," Ryan said. "We feel like we have let everyone down for too many years. Now it's time to step up and do what we have to do." And fan-favorite Romanczuk, who became the 26th player in Penn history to score 1,000 career points earlier this year, said a trip to the NCAAs remains his only goal. "I don't want to hear the word 'co' at all," Romanczuk said. "This 'co-champs' means nothing right now."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.