The Quakers can now take that sigh of relief after getting their first win last night. But they'd better not take too long exhaling, because No. 23 Virginia comes to town Friday to take on Penn in the first round of the Philly Classic.
The date kicks off a markedly difficult stretch in Penn's nonconference schedule, in which it plays the Cavaliers, either Seton Hall or Navy the next day, then Villanova and North Carolina a week later.
And for a team that had struggled through its first three games, that win couldn't have come at a better time. Virginia comes in with its own share of momentum, having beaten No. 17 Arizona on the road last weekend before handing Drexel its first loss last night.
"Virginia is a great team, but there have been a lot of upsets in the NCAA this year," senior guard Mike Kach said. "We have talent, we showed it [last night]. We came together as a team, and I think that when we start playing like that, we can beat some teams."
But although the positive result may have bolstered Penn's confidence, coach Glen Miller admits it may have been nicer to get the ball rolling a little bit more before facing the likes of Virginia.
"Would it be better to be playing Virginia, or someone of that caliber, down the road when these guys have had a chance to grow? Sure," he said last night. "But that's our schedule and we're excited to play Virginia on Friday."
It is safe to say that the Cavaliers will not be star-struck by the atmosphere in Penn's historic gym. Virginia has plenty of Philadelphia connections of its own.
For one, the Cavaliers' ties to the City of Brotherly Love trace back to third-year assistant Steve Seymour.
Seymour served as an assistant coach at Drexel for eight years before becoming head coach for the next two, then later spent a year as an assistant at La Salle.
"He's very familiar with Philadelphia hoops," Virginia assistant coach Bill Courtney said of his colleague. "He's been an integral part of why we have a lot of the Philadelphia players down here at Virginia."
Among those three Philly transplants, who Courtney says "fully understand what Philadelphia basketball is all about," is three-year captain Sean Singletary, who attended Penn Charter. The senior will likely be a handful for the Quakers come Friday.
"He's probably a lottery pick, maybe the best guard in the country," Miller said. "And he's coming home to Philly, so you know he wants to have his best game here, back home. It will have to be a team effort, there's no one player on our team that's going to slow him down or stop him."
But the Penn-Virginia connections don't stop there. Ryan Pettinella, now a senior with the Cavaliers, will face the Quakers for the first time since leaving the University after his sophomore year.
And Miller will be staring down an old friend on the opposing bench. He and Virginia coach Dave Leitao served as an assistants under Jim Calhoun at UConn for seven years. The two maintain a strong relationship to this day.
"We try to help each other be successful, we root for each other," Miller said. "There's a lot of people you can play besides your close friends, but it's a tournament so we'll compete for those 40 minutes and then when it's over, it's over."
In the second game of that tournament Saturday, the winner of the Penn-Virginia matchup will play the winner of the Seton Hall-Navy contest after the losers square off earlier that day.
