Cohen | Allen wins points for style

Seated directly behind the away bench during both Ivy contests this weekend, it was easy to pick up on each opposing coach’s leadership style.

Observing their actions put Penn coach Jerome Allen’s dynamic nature into context.

Friday, there was Brown coach Jesse Agel, who would gesticulate wildly with his shirt collar half turned up, dropping obscenities loudly and profusely.

Beads of sweat trickling down his perpetually aggravated visage, Agel seemed upset even when his team was ahead by as much as 16 points.

Contrast that with Yale coach James Jones, Saturday, whose sharp blue shirt was not once out of place, matching his collected demeanor.

Jones had his moments of frustration, but despite a blowout loss, he always gave off a positive energy and calmly encouraged his players even when they made mistakes.

And then there was Allen, a mix of the two.

While the coach showed intensity like Agel, he kept it in check when on the bench or the court.

“I think every coach has their own identity,” Allen said after the Quakers’ loss to the Bears. “Sometimes guys may need pats on the back, sometimes they may need to be challenged. The good [coaches] find a balance.”

If Agel was too hot and Jones too cold, where is the Goldilocks ‘just right’ median?

Enter Allen’s swanky style, calm personality and unrelenting desire to take Penn back to the heights it saw when he was playing for the Red and Blue.

Sporting a wardrobe that sophomore point guard Zack Rosen claims comes straight from Italy — perhaps a remnant of his professional playing days in Europe — Allen’s shirts, shoes and ties suggest a unique flair.

“My name is Jerome Allen. And the only thing I can do is try to be who I am,” Allen said after the Brown game.

Who he is, or at least appeared to be against the Bears and Bulldogs, is a leader who knows when and how to dial up the thermostat in order to motivate his squad when the game is on the line.

In both games, the Quakers began the second half with a renewed intensity, allowing them to stay in the contest against Brown and expand their lead against Yale.

Indeed, Allen’s normally calm attitude belies a fire that he unleashes at the right time.

When asked what he said to his team during halftime of the Brown game, Allen bluntly admitted, “I’m gonna try to hold the obscenities.”

Few players have a more in-depth view of Allen’s duality than does Zack Rosen.

“He is [reserved and soft-spoken] on the surface,” Rosen said. “Come to practice … it would be a much different tone, a much different demeanor.”

According to his players, Allen’s ability to recognize the right time for soft speech and the right time for expletives translates down to them.

“You look to your leader in times of distress,” junior forward Dan Monckton said after the Yale victory.

Monckton added that his coach strikes an even chord with the team. “He keeps it real.”

This authenticity — along with his being a ‘Penn person’ — has convinced the Quakers players that Allen should be around for a long time.

Both Rosen and Monckton expressed hope that Allen is awarded long-term security at his current position, a possibility that Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky discussed recently. “We told him, ‘Just do what you’re doing,’” Bilsky said, “which is really get the players to play with enthusiasm and lead the program as it should be led.”

How the Penn basketball team “should be led” is something Allen is figuring out.

But if his coaching style turns out to be even half as impressive as are his threads, Penn fans may not have so much to worry about in seasons to come.

ELI COHEN is a sophomore philosophy major from Washington, D.C. He can be contacted at dpsports@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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