CLEVELAND -- When the Penn men's basketball team walked onto the court at the Wolstein Center yesterday, they looked like a completely different team. It was not because of anything they did with the basketball -- it was what they were wearing.
The Quakers had new shoes on, the And 1 Rekanize -- which sell at a retail price of $80 -- as well as a new set of practice uniforms.
The uniforms were the same color as the game uniforms Penn wears, a change from the lighter blue -- the same color as the Franklin Field end zones and the lettering on the women's basketball team's home uniforms -- that they had been wearing throughout the year.
But were the Quakers at all wary of changing uniforms, as athletes, after all, are notoriously superstitious?
Apparently not.
"We don't get to pick when we get new shoes and new jerseys and stuff like that so when they put on the new kicks in our lockers we were excited to get them on," senior guard Tim Begley said.
However, Begley also added that the new gear would not give the Red and Blue any additional inspiration today.
"We don't need too much motivation revolving [around] our sneakers."
A change in attire has already worked once for the Quakers this season.
After losing five games in a row including a heartbreaking loss in overtime to Rider at the Palestra, Penn coach Fran Dunphy told his players they could no longer wear headbands.
At the time, Dunphy said if his team was winning his players could wear whatever they wished. However, with the string of losses, he wanted to make sure the Quakers had their minds on the court, not on their attire.
The strategy appeared to work as the Red and Blue ripped off 16 wins in 17 games.
Hopefully another change in attire will bring the Quakers game even higher.
