Nine days until M. Hoops tipoff

With just over a week remaining until the Penn men's basketball team kicks off the 2000-01 campaign at North Carolina State, the anticipation is beginning to heighten. And many Quakers fans do not realize that the Red and Blue's first on-court action is coming sooner than one might think. Penn will take on an Israeli national team next Monday at 7:30 p.m. just up 33rd Street at Drexel's John A. Daskalakis Center. This game will not take place at the Palestra because Penn's historic arena is still undergoing renovations. "This was an opportunity to play against a team from another country and to develop relationships with other countries that might involve some of our players in the present and also in the future," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. * Former Penn guard and 2000 Ivy Player of the Year Michael Jordan expected big things when he graduated last May. And when he signed with Besancon of the French first division last month, he looked to be on track for success. But Jordan was released after one week, and one game, from this French squad -- a victim of a rule in European basketball that limits each team to two foreign players. "I don't know if he fully knew then what he was getting into," said Quakers senior center Geoff Owens, Jordan's close friend and former roommate. "Everything was just happening so fast for him -- he was over there, and he was home, and it was kind of whirlwind there for a second. Obviously, I think he didn't feel like he got a fair chance." Released primarily because his French squad decided they would be better served by a foreign shooting guard than a foreign point guard, Jordan returned to the States and quickly found other work. Jordan has latched on with the California All-Stars -- a traveling team of former college stars that includes Temple's Mark Karcher. The roster changes frequently on this team, which has defeated Rutgers and Princeton in exhibition games. "They played Temple on Sunday and he didn't play in that game, but he's going to play against George Washington [tonight]," Owens said. "He's going to try to see if he can do the CBA or IBL." * Many of Penn's basketball recruits hail from the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic and are able to play in front of friends and family many times in their collegiate careers. For Quakers senior center Josh Sanger, who hails from Charlotte, N.C., it looked like he might never get that chance. But thanks to creative scheduling by Dunphy and the Penn Athletic Department, the Quakers will take on Davidson on November 29, and Sanger will be going home -- in his 88th college game. "Davidson is only about 40 minutes from my house, and it's just really nice to go back home and play against them," Sanger said. "Davidson recruited me, and it'll be nice to play against some people who played on my AAU team. "[Growing up], my team was UNC-Charlotte. But I did go to a Davidson camp, and one of my AAU coaches used to play for Davidson." Ironically, one of Penn's potential opponents in the season-opening CoSida classic is this same UNC-Charlotte squad. * One word that any coach loathes is "injury". But a positive sign during practice yesterday was the sight of shooting guard Duane King -- despite a large black "boot" on his right foot -- practicing his shooting form at one of the Palestra's side hoops. The timeline for the sophomore's return remains at five-to-seven weeks. * Yesterday's news that Penn was the unanimous selection to win the Ivy League in the annual media poll came as no surprise to the Quakers. "As we've said, that's our goal; we set out to win the Ivy League," Owens said. "When someone else backs us up, that's pretty good, but we're not really too concerned with what people think, because I think we all believe we can win the league."

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