M. Hoops prepares for mystery date

The Penn men's basketball team will have to wait until Sunday for Tourney details. At 3 p.m. yesterday, Geoff Owens walked out of the locker room for a shoot-around before practice. A few of his teammates had already filtered onto the court, where Penn women's basketball player Diana Caramanico was also working out. It didn't take long before Owens became the center of attention. A team trainer presented him with headgear that resembled a 1930s-era leather football helmet. Matt Langel sat beneath the basket, yelling for Owens to try on the helmet. Jed Ryan, who had been shooting at the other end of the court, turned to see what the commotion was about. "Put it on, Geoff. It'll be funny," a laughing Frank Brown hollered from the sideline. But the big man, realizing his teammates were teasing him, would have no part of it. Shaking his head, Owens tried his hardest to sternly voice -- despite having his jaw wired shut -- his opposition to wearing the helmet. Some protective gear, however, might not be a bad idea. In addition to his broken jaw, Owens recently sustained a cut above his eye after Princeton forward Gabe Lewullis elbowed him on Tuesday. "It's been a bad week for my face but I guess it's better than my knees or ankle," Owens said. "I can deal with being ugly." Owens' jaw is almost healed enough to have the wires removed but they will remain in place as long as the Quakers stay alive in the NCAAs and continue playing. And Penn's second season is about to begin. "We have a brand new season that starts Sunday once we find out our seeding," Penn guard Michael Jordan said. "We'll start working on what that team does well and start scouting. It's time to get back to work." After having Wednesday off, the Quakers went back to practice yesterday for the first time since cutting down the Jadwin Gymnasium net. But for the first time all year, the Quakers have no control over the rest of their season. Even after falling behind Princeton in the standings after the February 9 loss, the Penn players remained adamant about the fact that they still controlled their own destiny. Now, however, the Red and Blue's destiny rests in the hands of the NCAA Selection Committee, which will determine where and when the Quakers will play next. The Quakers could end up at any of the eight first-round venues: Boston; Orlando, Fla.; New Orleans; Denver; Seattle, Wash.; Milwaukee; Indianapolis; or Charlotte, N.C. Penn coach Fran Dunphy and many of the Quakers have no preference on where the committee sends them. A few, however, have their sights set on certain destinations. "I don't have any preference, but [Josh] Sanger stressed that he wanted to go to Charlotte because that's his hometown," Jordan said. "I'll go with Sanger. Charlotte would be nice so Sanger can see his family." Before Sanger can get together with his family, though, he will gather with his teammates to find out where the Quakers will be going for spring break. After practice on Sunday, the Penn players and coaches will gather in the James Dunning Coaches Center to watch the selection show at 6:30 p.m. While the Quakers will not know their seed until that time, most expect a 12 or 13 seed. If Penn does earn a 12 or 13 and is placed in the East Region, Sanger will likely get his wish of playing in front of his hometown crowd. This will be Dunphy's fourth trip to the Big Dance. His past Ivy champion Quakers squads have been seeded as high as 11 and as low as 15 in the NCAAs. In 1993, the 14th-seeded Quakers -- led by junior Barry Pierce and sophomores Matt Maloney and Jerome Allen -- narrowly lost to third-seeded UMass, 54-50. In 1994, the same cast returned to the tournament as a No. 11 seed. Penn beat Nebraska in the first round before falling in the second round to Florida, an eventual Final Four team. The following year, the 12th-seeded Quakers lost a first-round game to Alabama and Antonio McDyess, 91-85, in overtime. Dunphy believes that this current crop of Quakers also has a chance to make some noise in the Tournament and possibly pull off a few upsets. "I think, in all honesty, there's as much potential for this team to win games in the NCAA as there was for any other team we had," Dunphy said. As the Quakers have proven this season in games with Kansas, Temple and Villanova, they can compete with higher-ranked opponents when they play at the top of their games. "I think our chances are good. We have that balanced attack you need, so they just can't focus on one person," Jordan said. "If we come to play, we'll be all right." And if the Quakers are successful, Owens may not be able to open his mouth for a few more weeks.