Katy Cross, Tim Begley, Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan, Matt Valenti and Mark Zoller.
These are just five Penn athletes in recent years who not only were integral to their teams' success as freshmen, but also acclimated themselves into student life in West Philadelphia.
However, a coalition called the Knight Commission claims that this is not the case with most freshman student-athletes, which is why it plans to petition the NCAA to eliminate freshman athletic eligibility.
The commission met in Washington earlier this month with college faculty, basketball coaches and NCAA officials to hear their views on such a dramatic change in policy.
Among the notable panelists was Dean Smith, former basketball coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels and the winningest coach in NCAA men's basketball history.
Even after coaching such talented young athletes such as Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Sam Perkins to stardom, Smith supports the move to make freshmen ineligible.
"Dean Smith has consistently argued this point of view," said William Friday, chairman of the Knight Commission and president emeritus of UNC. "It's a subject that just won't go away."
At the meeting, such topics were raised as the recent increase in reported academic fraud among athletes and many schools' desire to "commercialize" their athletic programs.
While problems with college athletics are certainly visible, some think that making all freshmen ineligible is not the answer.
"Ideally, it would be great if freshmen didn't play," Penn basketball coach Fran Dunphy said. "If they just came and got acclimated to the school situation, but I don't know how we could do that now."
Dunphy noted that a freshman ban on basketball and football was once in place but was thrown out in the 1970s.
The Ivy League was the last conference to part with the rule.
While the task of finding time to do homework between classes, practices and games can appear daunting, many students thrive in such high-pressure situations.
"You find the ability to balance your academics with athletics," junior guard Begley said. "It's more challenging, but I think in the end it benefits you more."
This is one of the reasons why Begley said the Knight Commission proposal was "a terrible idea."
Begley -- who said his first year was his "best year of college" -- started all 32 games as a freshman and said that the coaches would not have put him in that situation if they thought he was struggling academically or socially.
"If the coaches think you're ready to play, then he's going to put you out on the court," he said. "If they don't, they won't put you in that circumstance."
Dunphy echoed this sentiment.
"If a young man is struggling academically and needs time, he takes it," he said. "That's why we have six weeks of practice [before the season starts], so we can see that along the way. ... We're here for education first."
During Dunphy's interview at practice, freshman forward Ryan Pettinella was not playing -- instead, he was preparing for an economics test he had later that day.
Keeping freshmen like Pettinella off the court would have dramatically altered Dunphy's game plan this season.
Zoller, a freshman forward, is currently a starter, while guard Ibby Jaaber and forward Steve Danley currently average more minutes per game than many upperclassmen on the Quakers' roster.
"We have four freshmen that could be starting pretty much anywhere in the league," Begley said. "If we can't play them, we are at a loss."
The question that remains is whether such schools as Penn are the exception to or the definition of the rule, given the current climate of college athletics.
"I think the consensus is that there's a lot wrong with college sports today," Friday said. "Pick up the paper and there's a different story each week.
"What we have done is allow universities of this country to become the developers of an entertainment industry, and it's out of control. It's an issue that's paramount now for the integrity of the university."
Dunphy said that the desire to revert back to the old rules is in response to "five percent of the issues. ... The other 95 percent of programs out there are hard working and appreciate the opportunity to go to college."
"Most people do it right."
