The men's basketball team continues to get even bigger. No, they didn't sign a seven-footer, the team is just gaining players.
Last Monday, men's basketball head coach Glen Miller officially announced the five incoming freshmen who will make up his latest recruiting class. And they have all the pieces to make a starting lineup themselves.
The frontcourt committed early on. Point guard Zack Rosen - likely Penn's most heralded incoming freshman - announced his intent to play for the Quakers almost a year ago. And swingman Rob Belcore followed suit in September.
Toward the end of October, Miller locked up his big men in center Garvin Hunt and forward Mike Howlett. And late in joining the group was versatile guard/forward Larry Loughery, who signed on in early May.
Rosen was a standout playmaker for St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, N.J. - a top-ten program nationally - where he earned all-state prep honors twice. He chose Penn because of its prominence on the national basketball scene in combination with its academic reputation.
"[Penn] is probably the only type of Ivy League school that plays the schedule that they play," he told the DP in September. "I didn't feel like I was going to a typical Ivy League program; I felt like I was going to a really good basketball program that was going to go out and play everyone."
In the end, Rosen opted for the Quakers over such programs as Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Stanford and Vanderbilt.
Belcore, a 6-foot-5 guard from Chicago, turned down a scholarship from Big 5 rival La Salle to join the Quakers. His mother Deb cited his selflessness and shooting ability as strengths.
"He shoots the three like none other," she told the DP in October.
Hunt, originally from the Bahamas, has only played basketball for three years. Despite attending high school in Weston, Fla., the 6'10" center will become the first Bahamian to play basketball for the Ivy League, according to his high school coach Darrell Sears.
Hunt highlights his rebounding and passing skills as the highlights of his game, noting that he needs to improve on his offense.
Howlett, a 6-foot-10 forward, originally committed to Lehigh's class of 2011. However, he dropped that commitment just before the school year began after then-head coach Billy Taylor left the school. Howlett chose to return to prep school for another year.
"Mike's unique in that he grew late," his father Jay told the DP in October. "He's been playing guard for many years . He's a big strong kid who shoots the three pretty well and can handle to ball."
Loughery began his high school career at St. Joseph's Prep - the alma mater of former all-Ivy Mark Zoller - before transferring to Academy of the New Church before last year.
The group replaces graduating seniors Brian Grandieri, Michael Kach and Joe Gill. Miller has now brought in 11 new recruits in two years despite losing only seven players over that span.
They will join a squad that went 8-6 and finished in third place in the Ivy League last season.
- Senior staff writers Andrew Todres and Andrew Scurria contributed reporting to this article.
