Jerome Allen speaks on season

Penn coach Jerome Allen participated in the Ivy League's preseason media teleconference yesterday, as Penn was voted to finish fourth with 89 points, following No. 1 Princeton (128), Harvard (120), and Cornell (96).

His comments:

On the upcoming season:

This upcoming year is going to be an interesting one throughout the league. Now more so than ever, in my opinion it's well balanced and all eight schools this season will represent themselves very well. I think in particular here at the University of Pennsylvania it should be a very interesting one for us. We have a combination of some veteran guys along with some youth and it’s our job as a staff to try to blend that and mix together the best way we possibly can.
We have a solid core of guys that have taken on the leadership to really help the younger cast know what it’s going to take to win. I’m excited, I’m looking forward to this coming season, not only for us here at the University of Pennsylvania but throughout the league. I can’t wait to get started.

I just think currently, right now, we have a number of guys that not necessarily we had to make decisions on, but it's the nature of the beast, this is the business that we’re in. I think we got this opportunity as a staff to try to get back to the brand of basketball that so many people are used to seeing here at the University of Pennsylvania. For lack of a better way of saying it, there are some individuals that may be left off the final roster.

On who on the Penn roster might be surprising this year:

You never really know how she is until you marry her. We’ve been dating for a while, and we’re really only two weeks or so into our relationship, so who can we count on to really be present or constant contributors to this team? I'm not really sure. We have some guys coming back that we’re counting on, but I hope I’m surprised by several others because I think they all have a tremendous opportunity, not only to help this program but to compete and play division I basketball and I think that’s really where the focus should be and maximizing the opportunities they have.

I think all those guys have done a tremendous job of working on the bodies and following up with rehab and really just buying into just getting better to 100% to try to just contribute to the program and I’m excited for them because you never really know what you missed 'til it’s gone. The fact that they weren’t able to contribute due to injury and have an opportunity going forward to really be a part of the program is exciting for them and hopefully they’ll come back and really take advantage of the things that are in front of them. I think the biggest thing any time you have to spend time away from the game, it’s a process to get back to a) where you once were or b) better than you once were, and they’ve all embraced that process and hopefully they’ll come back if not the same then hopefully a little better.

From a coaching standpoint nothing has really changed. We said dec. 14 that we just want to get back to playing the brand of basketball that so many are used to seeing, and even today, Oct. 27 this is kind of our focus. We just embrace the process. We want to go from point A to point B. that’s really our focus right now. We know it won’t happen over night. Eventually we will get from point B to Point C but we want to first master that first step. Comparing that to last year, that’s kinda how I approach it as well, to have as many winning experiences as we possibly can in terms of playing the right type of basketball. It’s the same thing, its just the forecast is different, but I don’t really know. I still come to work everyday with real appreciation for this opportunity and appreciation for the guys that I have to work with in terms of players and also appreciation for the other guys on the staff that are committed to helping Penn basketball get better, so that’s how much as changed.

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