Cohen, committed to Penn, sits out

POTTSTOWN, Pa. -- The future of this season's Penn men's basketball team looks very promising, especially since the Quakers have a two and a half game lead in the Ivy League. But, at least for last night, the long-term future of Quakers basketball was riding the pine.

In a game between Abington Friends School and The Hill School, which was supposed to feature at least five Ivy League prospects, Aron Cohen, who has committed to Penn, did not play for Abington.

But Hill's Noah Levine and Evan Harris certainly did, and they played well. Harris, who has committed to Harvard, and Levine, who has committed to Princeton, combined for 30 points and 11 rebounds.

Cohen was unable to play because he was ejected from Tuesday's game against Moorestown Friends School and, as a result, received an automatic one-game suspension, after getting involved in a small skirmish.

"My brother [Bryan Cohen] was guarding their best player and he was basically shutting him down and the kid, who's a senior, decided to give him a cheap shot," Cohen said. "So I came over there and had to protect my teammate.

"I did something I shouldn't have done, but I had to stick up for a teammate."

With Cohen and junior Jason Love, who was out with a sprained ankle, on the bench for Abington Friends, Levine and Harris controlled the game from the start and Hill won, 67-41.

Although Cohen did not play, his competitive attitude was obvious as he sat with a frustrated look on his face knowing that he could do little to help the Kangaroos besides being positive and chatting up teammates during timeouts.

"He's scrappy," Levine said of Cohen. "He fights real hard."

Cohen, who said he received a letter confirming his acceptance to Penn last month, lives in Jenkintown, Pa., and has been following Quakers basketball for years.

"I just know there is great history," Cohen said. "I walk around the Palestra and see all the different stuff on the wall and it's just amazing, all the different players that played in there, and I'm just looking forward to being a part of that."

Cohen did get to be a part of that experience, at least to some extent earlier this year, when he attended the Penn-Princeton matchup at the Palestra. After Penn's miraculous comeback, Cohen rushed onto the court alongside many of the 7,821 in attendance.

"That was probably the best basketball game I have ever seen," he said. "It was a great experience and I'm not even a part of the school yet."

Although Cohen, Levine and Harris should all be seeing time on the Ivy League hardwood at some point next season, a few players in last night's matchup might enter the Ancient Eight in 2006.

Abington Friends' Love, a 6-foot-8 250-pound forward/center, and Andrew Jones, a 6-9 210-pound forward/center, are both considering attending Penn.

"I've met with [Penn coach] Fran Dunphy on a few occasions," Jones said. "I think he's a good coach. He's going to make the best out of his players."

"I like the atmosphere; I like the Palestra," added the junior, who is from Southwest Philadelphia.

It should not be a surprise, however, that Abington Friends is churning out Penn prospects. Former Penn guard Michael Jordan, who is fourth on Penn's all-time scoring list, and former forward Lamar Plummer are both Abington Friends alumni.

Cohen is already trying to help out his new team by pushing Penn to Jones and Love.

"I told them after the day I committed that that's my next goal, to get them in there," Cohen said. "They're great players and they are good kids."

Jones backed up his teammate, saying he would welcome the chance to put on a Quakers uniform.

"If I can put myself in that situation as far as my academics," Jones said. "The sky's the limit."

Cohen was also recruited by Colgate, North Carolina-Greensboro, Lehigh, Bucknell and Princeton. But the Big 5, the Palestra and Dunphy -- whom Cohen describes as "straightforward" -- were to much to keep the guard away from Penn.

"One of his strength's is he's a great hard worker in practice," Kangaroos coach Steve Chadwin said. "He has great potential as a point guard, he can shoot the outside shot and he has some good leadership qualities."

Those leadership qualities along with his scrappy, blue collar mentality seem to be what led Cohen to stand up for his brother against Moorestown on Tuesday night. It is also that kind of hard-hat attitude that Penn lacked during its five-game losing streak, but has been a large part of its latest run.

So, it appears that at least from a mental standpoint, Cohen should fit right into the Quakers system.

Still, Chadwin acknowledged that his point guard has some aspects of his game that could be improved.

"He would tell you he has to work on taking his man off the dribble and getting the shot," the veteran coach said.

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