EAST LANSING, Mich.
So far this season the Quakers have traveled around Spain playing professional teams, kicked off the year against defending Big Ten champion Wisconsin and participated in a tournament to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1979 Final Four.
Not a bad way to start.
Before the season, Penn coach Fran Dunphy talked about the opportunity that the Quakers would have traveling to East Lansing and commemorating the heroics of the 1979 Penn squad.
"In 25 years from now our kids are going to remember going to Michigan State," Dunphy said before a fall practice in November.
"Unfortunately for all of us, our time spent playing goes by so quickly, so all you really have left is your memories."
The Coca-Cola Classic certainly didn't disappoint.
Penn had the game of its young season against Indiana State Sunday and may not have such a shooting performance -- 61.1 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from beyond the arc -- for the rest of the year. Combine that with Indiana State's inability to find the bucket, and the Quakers cruised to victory.
Of course, they had a little history on the side this weekend as well.
"They put me in a great situation," 1979 DePaul superstar Mark Aguirre said of the ability to return for the rematch.
In the consolation game of the 1979 NCAA Tournament, Aguirre scored 34 points while leading the Blue Demons to a 96-93 victory over the Quakers in overtime.
"We were in a rare period in our lives. A lot of the people that I've known that participated in that experience have been really good to me," Aguirre said.
But the win in this year's consolation game was more than a win over a team that couldn't convert offensively -- it was a direct response to Penn being upset over their output on the previous day.
Granted, the Sycamores posed a different challenge talent-wise than the Spartans, but they weren't slouches, either. On Saturday, Indiana State held a 10-point lead with 16:10 remaining, and looked like the superior team during that time, before succumbing to DePaul, 78-66.
The next day the Blue Demons played evenly with Michigan State for the duration of the game before ultimately falling, 89-81.
Like the Quakers will have to do on six different weekends during the Ivy League season, Penn regrouped on one day's rest and went out with a new attitude. From the opening minutes against the Sycamores, it was clear that Penn was ready.
The Quakers' tough early schedule of three top-25 teams in their first five games has forced a young lineup to gel quickly to make up for the deep void left by the graduation of four key players from last year's squad.
Sunday's game against Indiana State showed how the Quakers will play when they execute the offensive scheme. Senior Charlie Copp seemingly couldn't miss in the first half -- that he chose to stop shooting in favor of other players getting the attempts shows the team mentality that swarms around this squad.
Penn coach Fran Dunphy has quickly integrated the freshmen into the lineup, with Ibby Jaaber demonstrating that he could develop into a consistent point guard in a reserve role.
Senior Adam Chubb has evolved into a player who can bang down low, but also who will use his speed and agility to his advantage with every opportunity. Junior Tim Begley has stepped up as a go-to-guy, especially with teams swarming around senior Jeff Schiffner. Against the Spartans, Begley led the Quakers with 18 points.
Of course there are the role players as well, and as Copp showed, on any night, they can erupt to be a scoring presence.
The trip to Michigan State tested the Quakers against an elite basketball squad, the likes they will not see for the rest of the regular season. That Penn was able to recover in such resilient fashion the day after falling to the Spartans highlights the team's mentality in the young part of this season.
This may be a year of parity in the Ivy League, but the Quakers proved this weekend that they are going to be a tough squad to beat during the stretch of the Ivy season.
Penn has quickly molded into a team that converts with its back against the wall, and it all began with a trip down memory lane.
During the time between the consolation game and finals of the tournament on Sunday, Copp approached 1979 DePaul coach Ray Meyer, who is currently in his 90s, and paid his respects to the legend of college basketball.
The Quakers understand their history and are ready to march into the season having played against some of the best squads in the nation.
The Coca-Cola Classic may just be the jump-start for a banner year. (Click here for photos from this weekend's action.)
