Langel returns to Quakers as coach

This season, you can expect to see a new face -- though a familiar one to some of the Quakers faithful -- on the sidelines for the Penn men's basketball team. That face will not emerge from the pool of new freshmen and transfer players. Matt Langel, the former Penn basketball star, will make his return to the program as an assistant coach.

Langel was a guard for the Red and Blue. He graduated from Wharton in 2000, after helping the team to two straight Ivy League titles. He ranks among the great Ivy League distance shooters. Langel's 201 three-pointers place him 11th on the all-time list.

Directly after graduation, Langel looked to continue his career in basketball, seeking opportunities in the NBA and other professional leagues. He was drafted by Atlantic City of the United States Basketball League in 2000 and went to the Seattle Supersonics 2000 rookie summer camp. He was unable to make the Sonics roster, but he took a positive attitude out of the experience.

"I played alongside some great players, and played for some great coaches for a week that summer," he said.

Langel was persistent in his search for a professional career in basketball, and he ended up going to Europe. He played for Chene BC in Switzerland and ALM Evreux Basket in the France Pro A League.

Later, Langel returned to the United States and worked out for the Philadelphia 76ers summer camp in 2001, but decided to go back to Europe to play for MBC, as well as Hagan in the German Bundesligia I League. Most recently, Langel had a stint with the Eiffel Towers of Holland, and also tried out for an Italian team. But Langel's bid in Italy fell short, and he started looking for alternative career paths. That was when coaching entered his mind.

"I think it was a great opportunity," Langel said. "This position [at Penn] opened up, and coaching is something I had always thought I wanted to do when my playing days were over, so I called coach Dunphy and we sat down and talked about it.

"I decided that it was a great chance for me to get involved in coaching."

Part of Langel's decision to come back to coaching was helped by his familiarity with Penn and the coaching staff. He looks backs on his undergraduate years fondly.

"I learned a great deal about basketball, life, about people," Langel said. "I think the University is largely responsible for that."

Red and Blue fans may remember two of the more successful seasons in recent history, the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons, when Penn won back-to-back Ivy League titles by winning 27 of 28 Ancient Eight games over two years. The team went 42-14 overall, with Langel complementing star guard Michael Jordan in the Quakers' backcourt.

Langel looks to bring some of his winning experience to the team this year. He noted that while basketball took up most of his time in college, some of his best memories were off the court.

"It is a great place to be a student. [There were] a lot of different types of people, and a high standard of academics.

"I was fortunate, I got to play a lot early in my career. A few minutes my freshman year, a little bit my sophomore year. Michael [Jordan] and I really learned how to play as an effective backcourt, and do well. Our hard work kind of paid off those last two years."

With his time as a professional player in Europe and a college player at Penn, Langel looks to bring a fresh perspective to the Penn student-athletes this year. The Quakers lost some key contributors to graduation this year, but Langel does not see the team slowing down.

"With the [seniors] leaving, there is more opportunity for someone to step up and prove what they can do on the court for us."

Admitting that Princeton is this year's league favorite as reigning Ivy League champions, Langel hopes to help the Quakers reach the level that the Tigers achieved last season, the level of dominance he tasted in the last two years of his college career.

"The rest of our staff, coach Dunphy, coach [Gil] Jackson and coach [Dave] Duke have won a lot more championships than [teams] I've been playing on. But I'm a little closer to the players' age, and that gives me an interesting perspective to give them information.

"I think I can offer to the players what it takes to get to that level, how to get back to that Ivy League championship, the hard work, the year round commitment as a basketball player."

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