Aerial marksman: football or basketball?

Princeton's junior quarterback Jeff Schiffner drops back to survey the defense on a frigid Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field.

He checks his first two options and sees that they are locked up. With a strong pass rush almost on top of him, he takes off and runs for four yards before being tackled by Penn's Vince Alexander.

Hey, it could have happened.

"It's kind of ironic," said Schiffner, a swingman on the Penn basketball team. "Princeton recruited me for football but not for basketball. Penn recruited me for basketball but not for football."

Fortunately for the Penn men's basketball team, Schiffner decided against fulfilling dreams of gridiron glory at Princeton stadium.

Instead the versatile 6'6" talent, who led the team in three pointers made a year, is a returning starter on a Quakers' team that faces the most expectations in nearly a decade.

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"Schiff" -- as he is known to his teammates, coaches and friends around campus -- was a senior at Mendham high school in Chester New Jersey when the dilemma to pick a sport became pressing.

"It was kind of a last minute decision to play basketball," Schiffner admitted.

To call him a two-sport star would be short-changing him by a little bit, as he also lettered three times in baseball.

Quarterback Schiffner spent the fall leading his school as starting quarterback, safety and captain to the State Semifinals of Group II.

When winter rolled around Schiff changed jerseys and had even greater success.

He averaged 25 points, nine rebounds and seven assists per game. This time he did not have to settle for a loss in the semifinals, as Mendham won New Jersey's Group II championship.

However, with this success came a decision to make. He was attracting the attention of virtually every Ivy and Patriot League school, for one sport or another.

But the Ivies had the edge from the start.

"It wasn't exactly down to Duke and Penn," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "Schiff had a sense he wanted to go to an Ivy League school and he had that kind of academic development behind him."

In the end it came down to choosing the most successful program in Ivy League sports: which tends to be Penn basketball.

"Penn pretty much was the biggest deciding factor," Schiffner said. "I just thought that playing basketball here would be a great experience. It's a big-time schedule, a big time program and the Palestra just made for a great situation. I decided that I would be all right not playing football.

"But I would really miss not playing basketball."

Which is not to say he made the decision and has never looked back.

"I do. I miss [football]." Schiffner said. "Especially on game day, every Saturday when I go down there [to Franklin Field] to watch the game. I'm friends with a lot of the guys on the team. I especially miss it with how well they're doing now."

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This nostalgia for his football past in no way tempers his, or anyone's, enthusiasm about his basketball future.

"He was just kind of blossoming as a basketball player," Dunphy said. "Because he played just about every other sport that he could get his hands on. Once he started to concentrate on basketball, he's started to really blossom."

Schiffner himself readily admits that the divergence of his focus early on left him behind his classmates in terms of preparedness on the court.

"I never got involved with playing year round like a lot of the other guys did," he said. "I never got involved with the AAU which is big for college recruiting. I never had the time growing up playing three sports. I played during the season but I didn't spend a whole offseason like the other guys did. So, I still had a lot to learn when I got here."

The team as a whole joined Schiffner struggling through his rookie learning process.

Despite their status as preseason Ivy favorites two years ago, the Quakers struggled all season. Eventually Penn finished 12-17 and watching the NCAA tournament from the sideline.

Junior center Adam Chubb remembers those less than glorious times.

"We've been hanging out since frosh year," Chubb said. "[The camaraderie] definitely helped us get through freshman year. We were all dealing with issues and we could help each other get through some issues."

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But in that 2001 offseason, Schiffner finally began to be able to do more than scratch the surface of his basketball ability.

"Schiff is a guy who has really improved his shooting over the last year and a half," Dunphy said. "Whenever he shoots the ball I'm almost surprised when it doesn't go in. But I think that's a result of a lot of hard work. He's a really competitive guy who wants to win."

Not only hard work but the time in which to do it.

Free from focusing on other sports, Schiffner spent that offseason improving his shooting.

Highlighted by a career-high six three pointers against Dartmouth -- a large contribution to that cheesesteak winning effort -- Schiff led the team in three pointers made a year ago.

However, some rave even more about his defensive and rebounding efforts of last season.

"He's 6'6" but he plays like a guard," senior David Klatsky said. "Those extra couple of inches make a big difference because he can go in and rebound and can bang around some. But he can also go outside and hit the three and go by you. He makes the [defensive] stop when you need it."

Despite last year's impressive numbers, starting every game and finishing with just under 10 points per game on a team that advanced to the tournament, no one sees Schiff's basketball potential as being tapped out.

Especially after this past summer. Playing with fellow New Jersey native and Penn guard Andrew Toole in a Jersey Shore summer league, Schiffner left his all-Ivy teammate in awe.

"He shot the heck out of the ball," Toole said. "He had like 50 points in one game. He had like 14 threes in just one game. He had an unbelievable summer, and I hope he carries it into this year."

However, Schiffner was quicker to dismiss his own success.

"Coach Dunph called me the next day and said 'What was up with that?'" Schiffner said. "But things get a little crazy in those leagues. Not a lot of defense is played."

The Quakers still need someone to consistently step up behind their senior All-Ivy stars -- Koko Archibong, Ugonna Onekweye and Toole. Schiffner as a junior with his talent level seems to be the obvious choice.

And finally having summer success on the hardwood -- as opposed to the gridiron or the diamond -- can only help the versatile athlete develop into a versatile basketball player.

"I always like to think that especially on this team I just like to give whatever they need in a certain situation," Schiffner said. "Maybe they need me to step up and guard some guy. One of my biggest responsibilities is to keep the defense honest and to hit shots... Each game is different and I view myself as very versatile."

And now, that's just on the court.

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