Patient Patrick

As a sprinter and all-county point guard in high school, you might say that speed is an important part of Patrick Haddan's game.

One of two freshmen on the 2002-2003 Penn men's basketball team, Haddan will provide some youthful energy off the bench.

"As a point guard, I think I'm pretty athletic. I'm pretty quick," Haddan said.

"I like to play a fast-paced, up-and-down game -- I like to be quick more than slowing the ball down and walking it up."

The 6-foot-1, 160-pound native of Irvine, Calif., looks forward to showcasing his talents, but understands that the Quakers return all of their starters from last year and have a remarkably deep team.

And they were the easy pre-season choice to repeat as Ivy League champions in most polls.

"Our starting lineup is pretty good, so I don't expect to play a whole lot," Haddan said. "We have a lot of good players coming back."

Penn coach Fran Dunphy has therefore not assured his younger players that they will be seeing a lot of time on the court.

"Anything can happen, but right now he's got two pretty experienced guards in front of him, so he's got to be patient," Dunphy said.

"We have to be patient with Patrick, and he'll have to be patient with himself."

Dunphy is hopeful, however, that Haddan will realize the benefits of his understudy-type role. He'll have the opportunity to watch two solid veterans at the point every night and identify what makes them successful.

"Patrick's got a chance to develop a little bit more slowly than if we needed him right away," Dunphy said. "He's playing behind Andy [Toole] and David [Klatsky] at this point.

"If he looks at it closely, and I hope that he is, Andy and David will not be here next year, so this is a great learning experience for him and hopefully he'll use it as such."

Haddan joins senior Koko Archibong as the only Californians on the roster, and the former was a highly touted basketball and track star at Woodbine High School in Irvine.

As a senior last year, Haddan averaged 14.7 points and 3.8 assists per game, good enough to earn him Los Angeles Times All-County and All-City honors.

That club, which Haddan captained, also went on to win the league championship.

Perhaps equally impressive, Haddan also was the Serra League track champion in the 400-meter dash in just his sophomore year.

For all of his exploits in southern California, Dunphy first saw him play in a summertime tournament in Las Vegas.

"That's where he first came to light as far as us recruiting him -- that was before his senior year," Dunphy said. "We really liked him, and he showed us some interest. And we're very happy and grateful now that he's here."

Since Haddan was also considering attending Princeton, Yale and Cornell, his decision to come to Penn was especially appreciated.

"I like the tradition here," Haddan said. "And they have a good basketball team -- obviously they've been the best in the Ivy League for the past couple of years."

Haddan suffered a preseason setback a couple weeks ago when he partially dislocated his shoulder, but is now once again a full participant in practice and will be ready if called upon for the opener against Penn State.

"Patrick is the kind of kid who really knows how to play the game," Dunphy said. "He can make shots, he can get other people shots and I think once he gets stronger, he's going to develop into a pretty good defensive player as well.

"He's just a good guy, he's a good player, and his best days are in front of him."

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