Want to see Penn forward Steve Danley dunk on last season's NCAA Freshman of the Year, North Carolina's Tyler Hansborough?
Most Quakers fans probably would. And though Danley may not be able to achieve that lofty goal, he will at least have a chance to when Penn visits the Tar Heels next season.
Head coach Glen Miller confirmed yesterday that he and legendary UNC coach Roy Williams have agreed to play a two-for-one series in the next three years, ending a negotiation process that began under former Penn coach Fran Dunphy.
Williams most recently brought his team to the Palestra in 1998, when he was still head coach of Kansas, and he was there in January to observe two of his recruits playing for their Philadelphia high schools.
Penn and UNC will alternate hosting games for the next two seasons, with the Quakers making the trip to Chapel Hill next year. Penn would then play another away contest in the 2008-09 season.
Miller said that the tentative date for next year's game is January 3, though he was quick to add that both sides were still working out the final time.
The last time the Quakers and the Tar Heels faced off was in the first round of the 1987 NCAA Tournament, when UNC was a No. 1 seed. Penn was coached by Tom Schneider at the time, and the team did not fare well, dropping a 113-82 decision to make the all-time series record 3-2 in favor of UNC.
Miller also said that he has been working on getting Penn into an exempt invitational tournament hosted by a high-major program in order to bring some more difficulty to the Quakers' nonconference slate.
"It's going to be a very competitive schedule. It will be on par with last year, if not more difficult than last year in my opinion," he said.
"We'll release [the schedule] in the near future -- I'm anxious to get it done."
Penn will definetly play games against Fordham, Navy, and the Citadel, as well as the Big 5.
Jumping ship
The final member of Penn's coaching staff from last year has moved on.
Dunphy, now the head coach at Temple, hired former Quakers assistant Dave Duke last night. Duke, who could not be reached for comment, joins former co-workers Matt Langel and Shawn Trice across the Schuylkill.
Duke had applied for the vacant head coaching position at Brown, but was apparently not offered the job.
"We are fortunate that he is able and willing to make the move to Temple," Dunphy said in a statement.
A Philadelphia native, he has spent the last eight years serving as an assistant coach to Dunphy, and prior to that he served as the head coach at Lehigh for eight years.
Summer schooling
While most Penn students are busy working on their tans and earning some extra money, for the men's basketball team, the season has already begun.
Juniors Brian Grandieri, Joe Gill, senior Mark Zoller, and sophomore Kevin Egee will be competing in a summer league of nearby Media, Pa., with play set to open in the second or third week of June.
Meanwhile, senior Ibrahim Jaaber, sophomore Aron Cohen, and fifth-year senior Adam Franklin will play in Philadelphia's highly-regarded Sonny Hill League.
And according to Miller, "the rest are up in the air" as of now, though sophomores Cameron Lewis, Brennan Votel, and Tommy McMahon are still working out at the Palestra while they take classes. Miller said that they will still play over the summer once they return home in a few weeks.
"I'm not sure what leagues they're going to play in," he said. "But we'll have to get that straight and figure out what they're doing."
"We have a large nucleus of guys that are around right now -- some taking summer classes and other guys are local, and they're coming over [to the Palestra] on a consistent basis."
Toole joins Leopards
One former Penn player took a definitive step up the basketball ladder yesterday.
Lafayette announced yesterday that Andy Toole, who played for the Quakers from 2000-03 and was a two-time All-Ivy and All-Big 5 selection, has been hired as an assistant coach.
Toole has never coached on the collegiate level. Prior to taking this job, he had held several management positions with instructional groups, such as the Hoop Group and the Eastern Invitational Basketball Clinic.
Miller confirmed that he had briefly considered Toole for a job on the Penn bench, but his lack of experience prevented him from becoming a serious candidate.
Lafayette's head coach, Fran O' Hanlon, served as an assistant at Penn from 1989-95.
