Three recruits commit to M. Hoops for 2005-06 season

With several weeks to go before the tip-off of the 2004-05 men's basketball season, Penn coach Fran Dunphy has already made large strides in preparing for the 2005-06 season.

In the past few weeks, the Penn coaching staff has received the commitment of three high school seniors -- Tommy McMahon, Brennan Votel and Aron Cohen -- to play for the Quakers next year.

In accordance with Ivy League rules, all three athletes must still be accepted into the University through the regular admissions process.

McMahon will come to Penn from Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif. -- the alma mater of athletic greats Barry Bonds and Tom Brady.

A 6-foot-6, 190-pound forward, McMahon was described by Serra assistant basketball coach Scott Bicker as the "complete package."

"He's got a great inside-outside game," Bicker said. "He has really improved on his three-point shooting."

McMahon -- who will most likely play small forward for Penn -- also received offers from UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and Princeton. The forward made a visit to UCLA on Oct. 8 and, according to Bicker, would have been the last scholarship player on the Bruins' roster.

McMahon ultimately decided on playing for the Quakers for a variety of reasons.

"I really liked the players and coaches," he told the San Mateo Country Times. "And it's a great academic school with one of the best business schools in the country, which was important to my family."

"With the other schools, there would've been a battle for playing time," McMahon added. "I really liked the players at Penn, and they really need a good spot-up shooter."

Bicker said that McMahon will have to build up his body mass before coming to Penn, as well as work on his on-ball defense.

Votel is a 6-7, 210-pound forward out of Covington Catholic in Park Hills, Ky.

"He runs the floor very well," Covington Catholic coach Mike Listerman said. "He has great court awareness. He can handle the ball and also pass it."

As a junior, Votel led his team to the Kentucky state semifinals. In 2003-04, according to Listerman, Votel shot 51 percent from the field last season, and was 13 for 25 from behind the three-point line.

The forward averaged just under 10 points per game last year, an impressive number considering that the entire team averaged just 56 points per game. Six different players averaged between eight and 13 points per game.

Votel also received offers from William and Mary, Cornell and Rice. Listerman said that Yale, Princeton and Harvard also came to watch the forward play.

"I think he really liked the coaches and players at Penn," Listerman said. "Brennan's a very good student and he was impressed with the academic program at Penn.

"He also liked the idea of playing at the Palestra and the type of enthusiasm that's generated there. The fact that the university is in the city was also an attraction."

Listerman described Votel as a quiet leader.

"You would not want to play poker with him because he's about as straight-faced as they come," he said.

Cohen, a 6-1, lefty point guard, comes to the Quakers from nearby Abington Friends School, the same school that produced former Penn players Lamar Plummer and Michael Jordan.

While Cohen's coach, Steve Chadwin, said that the players have very different physical abilities, he said that all three players "can run a team very well."

Chadwin said that Cohen is "very skilled at running an offense, can shoot the three well and has great leadership abilities."

Cohen also received offers from Colgate, UNC-Greensboro and Maryland-Baltimore County.

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