Recruits attached to Allen

Miles Cartwright was feeling anxious shortly after he found out that Glen Miller was fired.

The 6-foot-3 guard from Loyola High School in Los Angeles had built a strong relationship with the former coach. But on Dec. 14, 2009, the day the decision to replace Miller was announced, that bond was suddenly broken.

“I was definitely thinking about looking somewhere else after Coach Glen was let go because I didn’t really have any information or guarantees that the staff would be there,” Cartwright said.

But his uncertainty was short-lived.

“Once Coach Allen got the interim job and Coach Martin and Coach Gallagher were still there, I was really set on Penn,” he said.

Cartwright and the six other verbally committed members of the Class of 2014 have endured an often erratic recruitment process that began under Glen Miller. It is still not clear who will be leading them in their freshman campaign.

Yet amidst all of the coaching instability, at least five have thrown their support behind retaining Jerome Allen and his assistant coaches Mike Martin and John Gallagher.

“I’m praying — really praying, honestly, that they stay,” said Dau Jok, who first announced a verbal commitment to Penn in late September.

Although an official decision has yet to be made, Cartwright, Jok and fellow recruit Casey James all expressed confidence that Allen would be offered the head coaching position. Fellow recruits Marin Kukoc and Fran Dougherty have also previously stated their support for Allen.

“I mean, everybody thinks Jerome is going to be there,” said Cartwright, who is perhaps Penn’s most highly touted newcomer.

“I haven’t really heard anything on when a decision is going to be made or who else they are considering, but I just hope Jerome is the guy.”

While the three recruits feel comfortable with Allen at the helm, each cited a different reason for his attraction to the coach.

For Cartwright, it was Allen’s invaluable playing experience; for Jok, it was the coach’s commitment to serving the Penn community; for James, it was his emphasis on hard work.

But the fate of Martin and Gallagher is just as critical, as the assistants were the recruits’ first point of contact.

Of the three coaches, Martin has the most experience with the Quakers. He was brought to Penn during the 2006-07 season after working with Miller at Brown, both as a player and a coach.

“Me and Coach Martin have really built a great relationship, and he has done a lot for me and he believes in what I can do,” Cartwright said.

“I’ll be really upset and disappointed if he’s not there,” Cartwright said. “But I think if Jerome gets the job I don’t see why Coach Martin wouldn’t be there.”

Gallagher, on the other hand, is in his second season with the Quakers. He spent two seasons as the top assistant under potential Penn coach prospect Fran O’Hanlon at Lafayette.

“I really like Coach Gallagher,” James said. “I like the way he emphasizes being a tough player because I pride myself on being tougher than the average Orange County kid.”

Jok believes that the coaching staff needs a full season with the incoming class before they can be properly assessed.

“I think that giving them a chance — the current coaching staff this year — with the freshmen coming in and Andreas, Tyler, Rob and those guys, I think we will make tremendous strides from last year. I can almost guarantee that.”

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