Penn men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy has said it many times, and he reiterated it yesterday. He does not like the festivities of Senior Night at the Palestra.
But what he does like is the end-of-year banquet for his team, which was held yesterday at the Inn at Penn.
Almost in tears at one point when talking about outgoing senior guard and team captain Tim Begley, Dunphy was awash in pride talking about his 2004-05 Ivy League championship team.
The win was that much sweeter for the Quakers because they were picked by most to finish behind Princeton in the Ancient Eight.
Instead, the Quakers went 13-1 in league play and earned a sweep of the Tigers, who would see their first ever sub-.500 Ivy season.
At the banquet, seniors Eric Heil and Nameir Majette shared the Bus MacDonald Most Inspirational Player award, and Begley was given the Arthur Kiefaber Most Valuable Player award.
After the award presentation, all four seniors -- Begley, Heil, Majette and Jan Fikiel -- spoke about the Penn program and what it meant to them to wear the Red and Blue.
Another loss
The graduating seniors will not be the only ones departing from Penn basketball after this year. Director of Basketball Operations Brian Stanchak will be leaving after one season to become an assistant coach at Farleigh Dickinson.
The Knights, out of the Northeast Conference, made the tournament this year as a No. 16 seed before losing in the first round to top-ranked Illinois.
A third loss
Penn recruit Paul Johnson -- the only remaining Quakers recruit yet to commit to a school -- said that he has ruled out making the Palestra his home.
Johnson, a senior at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., was supposed to make his official visit to Penn this weekend, but decided not to come to campus after narrowing his choices to La Salle and George Mason.
"I wanted to get it down to a couple schools," he said. "And I thought it would be a little bit easier if I had it down to two schools."
Still, Johnson traveled to Philadelphia to visit the Explorers and coach John Giannini.
"When I went up to Penn the first time I just didn't get a real good feel for it," Johnson said, referring to an unofficial visit in the fall. "At La Salle I just felt a little bit better about the people and the campus."
Johnson's father -- Henry, a captain on Penn's 1977 squad -- ruled out any thoughts that Johnson decided against Penn because of its inability to give scholarships.
"I could not be more disappointed in that decision," he said. "But it's Paul decision and I will support him."
Paul, who earned Washington Gatorade Player of the Year honors, said he will make his final decision by Friday.
Award winning
The Penn women's basketball team also took home some hardware last weekend, as senior guard Karen Habrukowich was named first-team All Big 5 and junior center Jennifer Fleischer was named to the second team. Fleischer was also named to the Big 5 All-Academic Team.
