10 reasons to remember Steve Bilsky fondly

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1. Penn Park

Steve Bilsky may be remembered for poor head coach hirings following the departure of Fran Dunphy, but his mark was made in the creation of Penn Park. Bilsky always had an eye for new facilities, and Penn Park is the crown jewel of them all. He took what used to be an unattractive practice field and an essentially unused parking lot and turned it into a huge selling point for the University. For athletes, it makes practicing a lot easier. For club sports, teams finally have a place to practice. And for members of the Penn community, it’s a beautiful place to go run, walk or sit and watch a game.

2. Basketball’s glory days

Nine Ivy titles. While it’s easy to look at where the men’s program is currently — fallen behind a Harvard team that is willing to do whatever it takes to make it to the NCAA tournament — Penn used to be the team in the Ancient Eight that others feared. During Bilsky’s tenure, the Quakers made it to the Big Dance nine times, including a stretch of seven in nine years between 1999 and 2007. Bilsky is a basketball mind, playing for the 1971 team that made a splash in the NCAAs.

4. Football dominance

While coach Al Bagnoli should be credited the most with the football program’s resurgence, Bilsky has worked hard to make sure that the product on the field stayed the course while trying to make the atmosphere at football games as fun as possible. He struck the right cord this year, scheduling Princeton for Homecoming on a day when Penn basketball tipped off its season as well. It paid off, as Penn had the largest Homecoming crowd since 1996.

5. Keeping the old looking new

The Palestra and Franklin Field are engrained in Penn culture. Nothing is going to change that. Still, it’s the job of the Athletic Director to make sure that the fan experience doesn’t feel old. Bilsky has made numerous upgrades in Penn Athletics’s two largest structural assests. The Palestra feels like a modern arena now, what with the new sound system, new chairbacks, a large scoreboard and a Chickie’s and Pete’s. Franklin Field has been taken care of under Bilsky’s watch as well, with turf being replaced every few years and additions to the scoreboard and concessions as well.

6. Rhodes Field

With Penn men’s soccer playing in a NCAA tournament game later today, Bilsky’s creation of Rhodes Field seems more pertinent now than ever. The field is in an accessible location, has a great view of the city and has enough amenities to hold a big game like the one tonight.

7. Donations

According to Penn Athletics, Bilsky’s last fundraising campaign earned the University $125 million, allowing for all of the most recent projects completed during his time as Athletic Director.

8. Ivy League’s deal with NBC Sports

9. Ivy League Digital

Penn’s own streaming network had been strong for a few years when Ivy League Digital launched before this semester. The release was a culmination of pushes from Bilsky and other athletic directors to build one online network that would allow for fans to watch any Ivy game they may choose.

10. The number speaks for itself

Bilsky’s teams have won 71 Ivy League titles under his watch. His focus has been on football and basketball — that’s the barometer Penn Athletics uses for success — but success has been far reaching.