Penn Basketball’s resident 'bubbe'

On Wednesdays, Zack Rosen has a standing lunch date at Hillel.

The sophomore eats with Harriet Joseph, who is officially the Associate Director of the University Scholars program. But unofficially, she is the Penn men’s basketball team’s Jewish mother.

According to her husband, a monster was created after he took Joseph to her first Penn basketball game in 1974. She then began working with the university in 1987 and before long became the Athletic Eligibility Officer for the College of Arts and Sciences in 1990.

Given her love for Penn basketball, it was only a matter of time before Joseph befriended then-Penn coach Fran Dunphy and took his players under her maternal wing.

The players would be “out on the road, out at a game, and it would be 11:00 at night, and they’d be starving and I’d say ‘Fran, we have to get them some food,’” she said. “[He would say], ‘Leave them alone and stop being a Jewish mother.’”

One of those players she was quick to tend to was Shawn Trice, now the assistant basketball coach at Temple. Joseph served not only as Trice’s guiding light but also as his academic advisor, as she made (what she believes was) the smart academic decision to move him out of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and into the College.

“She was the mother of the team, and she embraced all of us,” Trice, a Class of ‘95 graduate, said. “I would give her credit for single-handedly helping me move my way out of Penn.”

Joseph also lent a helping hand to Trice’s roommate: current Penn coach Jerome Allen.

After following his career in the NBA and European leagues, Joseph reconnected with Allen in November 2008 when both were standing in line to vote in the presidential election.

Although Allen soon returned to Europe to serve as the player-coach for Italian basketball club Snaidero Udine, he expressed an interest in fulfilling the requirements needed to earn the Wharton degree that he did not receive after leaving the university early to pursue a professional basketball career.

“I said ‘Jerome, you can come back. You need to finish up your degree already. Your mother wants you to have it. This mother wants you to have it. That’s it. Get it done’,” Joseph said.

Allen returned to Penn in time to begin taking classes last summer. In addition, he was hired by former coach Glen Miller as a volunteer coach and began to develop a relationship with the team’s current players.

One day after practice last July, one of those current players, Rosen, received a phone call from his new assistant coach.

“He told me to meet him at New Deck [Tavern] at a certain time and said he wanted me to meet somebody,” Rosen said. “I didn’t question him, and I was there.”

There, Rosen was introduced to Joseph for the first time. According to Joseph, Rosen didn’t say much but was visibly amused by the fun-filled friendship shared by herself, Allen and Trice.

“And about an hour after lunch, I got an email from Zack that said ‘I want the kind of relationship that you have with Jerome and Shawn,’” Joseph said.

That fall, Allen worked diligently on earning his degree. He reached his goal last December, 14 years after leaving Penn for the NBA .

“I would text him all the time and say ‘you better be studying,’” Joseph said.

Meanwhile, Rosen and Joseph developed a friendship reminiscent of that of Allen and Joseph’s back in the early 90s.

“She just gives me guidance on life stuff, stuff around campus — I mean she knows the campus in and out,” Rosen said. “So if I have a question about anything, I know I can come to her.”

Dunphy too recognizes Joseph’s importance to the program from not only a maternal, but academic standpoint. During his tenure at Penn, he often called for assistance, having her speak with recruits and their parents about something which he feels benefits the student-athletes on the squad today.

“She would be somebody that you could take the recruit to and make the recruit feel very comfortable and talk about the academic piece to their careers at Penn,” he said.

Although Joseph was not directly consulted on the decision to name Allen head coach, personnel around campus valued her opinion — she had been involved with all aspects of the program for so long. Needless to say, she was in full support of the decision.

“He’s just — the Jewish word is kvell — which is just sort of bubbling over with pride when you see somebody,” Joseph said. “And that’s the way I feel with him because he’s come so far and he’s done so much.”

Spoken like a proud Jewish mother.

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