Leibovitz confirmed as Penn assistant

Penn officially announced yesterday that Dan Leibovitz would, in fact, be joining is pal Jerome Allen as an assistant for Penn basketball. A few quotes from Penn Athletics news release:

Allen: “I think Dan’s resume speaks for itself in this profession.” “More important to me, though, is the way he treats people in all areas of life. I have been fortunate to know Dan for 23 years—not only do I know him in this profession, but he has always been someone I look up to as a person. To have him on our staff is great, I could not ask for a better person in that spot. Dan will be a great representative of our program and the University.”

Leibovitz: “I could not be more excited to return to Penn.” “A couple of days ago I was walking onto The Palestra floor, thinking about being a part of the Big 5 again, about Penn being 10th in all-time wins and winning the Ivy League 25 times. By the time I reached midcourt, I knew that this is where I wanted to be. “Jerome has been a great friend since high school, and I know he is destined to succeed as the head coach at Penn. The opportunity to help him realize his dreams while helping to restore such a storied tradition was something I just could not pass up. And make no mistake about it; we will work tirelessly to make that happen. “Penn is a special place for me and my family,” he continued. “It goes far beyond my graduating from here. My grandfather went here; my mother went here; my wife got her Master’s here. This is an institution that has given all of us so much. I am honored for the opportunity to finally give something back.”

In similar news, the Hartford-Penn trade appears to be complete as John Gallagher was announced as the head coach for the Hawks. I'm not sure how long it will be up but you can check out this flashy splash page that Hartford put up yesterday.

Since Penn and Hartford essentially traded coaches, the question that begs to be asked is: Who got the better end; Leibovitz, the head coach who moved to be an assistant at his alma mater, or Gallagher, the assistant who jumps up to head coach, at Hartford (where he was a well-liked assistant)?

I can't say. I think this is a probably a good move for both of them. Leibovitz didn't have a ton going on at Hartford, and Gallagher wanted to move onward and upward. However there is one caveat. Gal, as you may remember, took an assistant job under Steve Donahue at Boston College. While I know he wanted to be a head coach — that's what he told the DP last week — I think there was more possibility for big time success at BC.