California Sunshine at Penn?

After Penn nabbed its second 2010 recruit earlier this month, it appears that Glen Miler has grabbed two more recruits.

And just like Austin Kelly, these new recruits hail from the Los Angeles area.

According to the LA Times,  Capistrano Valley (Mission Viejo, Calif) teammates Casey James (6-foot-3 guard) and Kevin Panzer (6-8 forward) have both committed to Penn. James originally gave an early verbal commitment to San Diego back in 2007 (according to ESPN insider), but he's since backed out of that.

ESPN gives James a 76 grade and in December 2007 called him  "the most prolific shooter in the west" alongside a Santa Clara signee. But perhaps Panzer is the bigger catch. For one, he definitely is coming to Penn, as ESPN insider, Rivals and CBB all have him listed as a Penn commit (ESPN has yet to change James' status from the SD verbal). Though he's just the 164th best forward, Panzer gets a 78 from ESPN, which last September said "At his size there may not be another 4-man around the country that can shoot like him." He looked at four Pac-10 schools (Cal, Arizona State, Stanford and Washington) as well as San Diego, Colorado and Gonzaga (the last two schools were on his short list with Penn).

If nothing else, check out this myspace video with Panzer and James. It looks like Penn is going to get some more dunkers.

But with the addition of Panzer -- will there be Panzer tank-inspired roll outs?-- and probably James as well, Penn would have six players from California on its 2010-11 roster: Panzer, James, Kelly, incoming freshman Malcolm Washington (Denzel's son), and rising juniors Conor Turley and  Tyler Bernardini.

Of course, that's assuming no more Californians transfer away.

* * *

In other Ivy recruiting news, it appears that Pe'Shon Howard has backed down from his earlier statement (see #3) that he'd attend Harvard if admitted. Now, in an email to ESPN.com, he said after discussing the matter, he's "wide open and considering every school in the country." In addition to the Crimson, he's looking at Maryland, Stanford, Arkansas, Xavier and other big conference schools.



Basketball notes

After my football recap, here’s my roundup of Penn Hoops news:

1) Over the last few weeks, it looks like Penn’s schedule is finally firming up. In fact, it appears that all but one game has been set. Unfortunately for the Quakers, getting that last game might be a little troublesome. According to the team’s twitter account, they can’t find anyone to play at the Palestra on December first. So if any ADs from Mid-Atlantic Mid-Majors read this blog, I'm sure Glen Miller would be happy to hear from you about that date. (On an aside, here's an article about some of the challenges of creating a Division I basketball schedule.)

2) Mid Major Madness is ranking every team in Division I, and Penn came in at 262 out of 344. The description of the team talks about the high hopes of last year, but says the Quakers went 10-18 since they weren't "able to handle the pressure" and "due to their poor performance at home in conference play" (can't argue with that). As for this upcoming year, they make the bold prediction that Harrison Gaines' transfer will affect the team's chances to rebound.

Previously, Dartmouth at No. 329, Brown at No. 307, and Columbia at No. 291 were ranked. That means Penn is behind Cornell, Princeton, Harvard and Yale (my guess for who they'll rank as the top four Ivy teams).

3) Sports Illustrated notes that several elite basketball recruits are considering Harvard due to its expanded financial aid package and Tommy Amaker's recruiting techniques. But that might come back to haunt Amaker. The former Michigan coach, according to the Cornell Basketball Blog, has recruited many players by promising playing time. As you can imagine, this is quite an attractive pitch. Yet it might just be false promises since the Crimson now have a surplus of players (possibly as high as 14--all juniors or younger--in 2010).

So far Amaker's stay in the Ivy League hasn't been great, as Harvard came in tied for sixth in the league last year (with Penn) and in a three-way tie for last in 2008. We'll see going forward whether or not Amaker finally breaches the top half of the league (I guess Mid Major Madness thinks that'll happen this year).

4) Looking at the Big 5 wire, Villanova senior Reggie Redding will be suspended for the fall semester after police found marijuana in his car. While that might not affect the Wildcats’ chance of returning to the Final Four, it does mean he won’t be able to suit up against Penn in December. Then again, he only scored two points on 1-for-6 shooting in last year's Big 5 game.

5) In other City news, the three enshrinees in this year's Big 5 Hall of Fame class are some of the biggest coaching names in the history of the unofficial conference: Chaney, Massimino, and “Speedy." Or for full disclosure: Temple's John Chaney, Villanova's Rollie Massimino, and La Salle's William “Speedy” Morris. The three have a combined 58 years coaching in the Big 5, as well as over a combined 15 Big 5 titles.



Football roundup

I've been on vacation for the last couple of weeks, so I'm sorry there haven't been too many updates on The Buzz. So here's a post recapping some of the big football news of the last two weeks. I'm also going to post some basketball updates later.

The Ivy League announced its preseason media football poll, and Harvard is the clear favorite, receiving 10 out of 17 first-place votes. However, right behind them was Penn, receiving four, count 'em four, first-place votes. Brown came in third and received the remaining three first-place votes.

Though Penn does return a talented team, for them to match their preseason expectation, let alone win the league, they'll have to win on the road, as they travel to Providence and Boston (not to mention Hanover). In fact, the team will travel 1, 908 miles just for those three games alone (that's farther than Philadelphia to Denver). You can read some thoughts of Penn coach Al Bagnoli and Harvard coach Tim Murphy about the traveling over at Soft Pretzel Logic.

Some other highlights from Ivy media day include audio with the coaches, the list of games Sirius radio will cover (Penn gets three), and the master list of individual and team preseason honors.

Lastly, you might recall there was a fire at 40th and Spruce two weeks ago. Turns out that Penn football players, including preseason All-American CB Chris Wynn, lost their apartment in the blaze (no one was injured). However, they're already on the road to recovering.



Penn versus Ivies not on VERSUS

The Athletic Department announced the football television schedule today, with the Quakers appearing on Comcast Sports Network against Villanova (Sept. 19), Yale (Oct. 25) and Princeton (Nov. 7). In addition to those three home games, Penn's Sept. 26 game at Lafayette will air on RCN and, with a tape delay, on MASN.

What's interesting, though, is who will not carry these games: VERSUS. Before the 2008 season, the Ivy League began a partnership with the former Outdoor Life Network and current home of the NHL (insert joke here). Last year's Penn-Brown Homecoming game reached VERSUS's 73 million-home audience, even if none actually tuned in. And last year, all eight schools received a national TV showing. (Because of The Game, Harvard and Yale each got on twice.)

No love for Penn (or Columbia, or Dartmouth) so far this year. The only confirmed games on VERSUS are Cornell at Yale on Sept. 26, Princeton at Brown on Oct. 17, and The Game on Nov. 21.



Random Ivy notes for 8/9

1) The New York Times ran a profile of new Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris. I'm sorry it's a little late, as I know a few readers have sent this in as a tip. Among some highlights: she talks about possibly redesigning ivyleaguesports.com (which definitely could use a change); she plans on going on a "listening tour" of every Ivy campus (similar to the Glen Miller town hall?); referring to extending the football schedule to include the NCAA postseason, she says "I want to be very clear that it’s not on the table ” (guess she didn't get my letter from a few weeks ago).

2) Remember Fire Glen Miller? Well after a three-month layoff, they've returned. Loyal Buzz readers already know everything the post mentions except for one item: Glen Miller was active on all 20 of the offiicial recruiting days during July. He was one of just 24 coaches in Division I to do so.



The newest member of M. Hoops

It might still be over 15 months before he ever plays for Penn, but Austin Kelly is going to be a Quakers hoopster.

Californiapreps.com, a service of Rivals, is reporting that the North Hollywood, Calif., shooting guard from the class of 2010 has verbally committed to Glen Miller's program. (You'll need an account for that site, so see the full text of the article after the jump.)

According to the report, the 6-foot-2 Kelly decided on Penn because of the strong academics, as well as  "a strong relationship with the coaches."

ESPN Insider gives Kelly a 74 grade, which is in the 70-79 range that states: "Player either can earn a scholarship to a top national Division I program or contribute significantly as a freshman at the mid-major level." Specifically,

Kelly has a wiry frame with decent length. He has solid speed and quickness, but he does get great lift on his jump shot. His strength is his jump shooting ability and he is equally efficient in the mid-range area as he is out to the stripe. He has a tendency to shoot off the dribble to get into rhythm, especially in the mid-range area. His shot has a solid release, but he'll need to get stronger to pull-up in traffic. In addition to increasing his strength, he definitely needs to address his perimeter handle. He is solid going right, but overall his handle is shaky, especially when he's trying to separate from defenders.

Fortunately, Kelly realizes he needs to improve his strength. "I have to get a lot bigger to be effective at the Division I level. My biggest challenge is going to be my strength," according to the report.

Kelly led Harvard-Westlake to the Division III California State semifinals before losing to Ocean View, 79-63. Kelly had a team-high 16 points in the game. Overall, his team was 28-7, and won the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section championship with a 13-1 league record.

(HT Basketball U boards)

Jerica Williams CaliforniaPreps.com Staff Writer

In a search for an institution where he could flourish as a student and an athlete, rising senior Austin Kelly of North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake has verbally committed to the University of Pennsylvania (Ivy league).

Major factors in Kelly's decision were the appeal of strong academics and the importance of a strong relationship with the coaches.

While attending the University of Penn's basketball camp, Kelly got a chance to see firsthand how much the coaches wanted him to come there. "The coaches and the staff really liked me and I knew they had my best interest in mind." As a player, one might enter the recruiting process not really knowing what to expect. But to Kelly, it was exactly what he expected. "It was hard, but I expected it to be hard".

The final decision-making process came down to a night out to dinner with mom and dad, Meme and Rennie. The Kelly family wanted to make sure that the pressure of the recruiting process didn't make Austin's decision too stressful. The family dinner solved that worry. According to Meme, "We wrote down a pro con list on a napkin at the restaurant. In a very informal manner, we listened to Austin intently." In a very relaxed setting, the Kelly family didn't want anything to seem forced, and with a list where the pros outweighed the cons, the decision seemed easy.

In asking Austin who inspired his decision the most, he replied, "My mom. She has good vibes and knows me better than I know myself." Good vibes can definitely go a long way, especially when your youngest son is going off to college on the opposite coast. But with Austin's maturity and encouraging vibes, Meme Kelly is excited about her son going to school in Philadelphia. "I am happy that he's going to be able to experience a different lifestyle".

With one more year left to play at Harvard-Westlake, Austin is excited to compete for a State title in his senior season. In doing so, he is also anxious to prepare his body physically for competition at the collegiate level. "I have to get a lot bigger to be effective at the Division 1 level. My biggest challenge is going to be my strength." Austin's work ethic will definitely enable him to improve and excel as a player in his final high school season. And not to mention, prepare him for competition in the Ivy League.

The Ivy League is also a good place to be for a young man who demonstrates promising ambitions as an athlete and a person. In speaking with Austin, he appears to know exactly where he sees his experience at Penn taking him in the next 5 years. "In 5 years, I see myself playing overseas for a few years, then coming back to be a sports agent of some sort." With a degree in business from such a prestigious institution, that should be no problem for this humble young man.

Playing basketball since the age of 6, Austin and his parents are eager to enjoy his senior season without any added pressure of picking a college. "Basketball should be fun", says Meme. It should be! Although most may forget that aspect, especially during the recruiting process, Austin is excited about having fun on the court this year.

With a smart, mature, and talented son and brother, Austin's entire family (which includes brothers Rennie, Jr. and Corey) is exuberant about watching him excel as a player, a student, and a person at the University of Pennsylvania.



Brennan Votel makes ESPN

...But not for anything related to basketball. The former hoops forward who graduated this past May apparently took a trip to Europe after graduation and participated in the annual Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling race. It sounds simple enough: 15 people race to the bottom of a hill, trailing a large wheel of cheese. First one to the bottom wins the cheese.

Yet it's not that easy. Since the hill is steep and uneven, the vast majority of participants in any given race fall down. Multiple times. In fact, the race has been described as "twenty young men chase a cheese off a cliff and tumble 200 yards to the bottom, where they are scraped up by paramedics and packed off to hospital."

Votel raced in the event, as seen in this E:60 segment on ESPN. You can see him briefly at :58 seconds getting some "Dutch courage" and also briefly at roughly 5:56. But if you want to see him tumbling down the hill, in all his Robert "Tractor" Traylor Michigan jersey glory, then watch from roughly 4:45 to 5:30, including an interview at 5:15 with Jeremy Schaap.

(HT Neil Fanaroff)



Ancient Eight and the Association

Often the universities that make up the Ivy League get knocked for being too pre-professional. (Of course, Wharton doesn't help that stereotype.)

However, one profession in which the Ivy League apparently doesn't train its students well is professional basketball. Specifically, the Ancient Eight hasn't  had a basketball player drafted by the NBA since 1995, when Penn's Jerome Allen went 49th overall.

So when's that going to happen again?

In fact, as the article above mentions, the Ivy League is currently one of six Division I conferences that doesn't have a single current NBA player (regardless of draft status).

I think we can all agree that gone forever are the days when Ivy League players like Bill Bradley could dominate a Final Four game. But at the same time, it's not like the athletes in the Ivy League are playing at a vastly inferior level. In fact the Ivy League has a handful of NFL players drafted recently (granted there are almost four times as many draftees in football than basketball).

So do you think there's any chance an Ivy League school could have some true NBA talent anytime soon?



DeRosa told Lee about trade

Funny story. Former Penn QB and third baseman Mark DeRosa was the person who informed Cliff Lee that he'd been traded to the Phillies.

"I actually called him," DeRosa said. "He hadn't heard the news yet. I said, 'It's coming across the ticker that you got traded to the Phillies.' And he was sitting in the clubhouse in Anaheim with Kerry Wood and said nothing had been told to him yet"



Penn Basketball on Twitter

Two months ago Steve Donahue, the Cornell basketball coach, launched a Twitter account. I joked that maybe a Glen Miller account would look something like our joke issue Buzz post. Well turns out I'm wrong.

Although technically Miller's name doesn't appear anywhere, a Penn Basketball twitter account has been launched. Again, it doesn't say it's from Miller, but I don't know how it could be from anyone else. There are 40 tweets from the last month, which isn't a bad amount. However, it remains to be seen if Miller will post that often during the actual season. But regardless, it will be quite interesting to see if this account has some degree of the transparency that I know the alums want from the athletic program's premier team.

(HT Kushol Gupta)



What goes around comes around

After spending two years as a Penn assistant and seven very successful years at Haverford College, Mike Murphy is returning to the Quakers as head coach of the men's lacrosse team, according to an athletic department announcement today.

Murphy is a former Penn assistant who could not have been any more successful in his first head coaching opportunity at Haverford. He leaves the Black Squirrels having been one win away from becoming their all-time winningest coach, but was by far the most successful coach in terms of winning percentage, wins per season, national rankings and postseason appearances.

Avid Buzz readers probably recall that I predicted this move after former coach Brian Voelker left for Drexel two weeks ago. OK, so I didn't exactly predict it, but I did mention Murphy as the most likely candidate. According to Insidelacrosse.com, other candidates for the job included Towson's Tony Seaman (sound familiar?) and current Penn assistant Chris Wojcik. Murphy has already said he would definitely like to keep Wojcik as an assistant (Voelker's other assistant, Conor Ford, is joining him at Drexel).

I like this move for Penn on every level. His history at Penn and tremendous success at Haverford made him an obvious choice in my mind, with the only hindrance being whether he would be willing to leave a program that he had built to such great heights. His transition back to Penn should be seamless, as his family lives nearby and he is already very well-established on the local recruiting scene. As I implied in the aforementioned post about Voelker's departure, I believe this move justifies the decision to let Voelker leave. Obviously only time will tell, but to me this seems like a step in the right direction for the Quakers.

On another positive note, Murphy seemed to contradict the impression I got from Voelker that Penn is not committed to its M. Lax program.

“I’m ecstatic,” he told Inside Lacrosse. “I think the Penn administration has proven that they support lacrosse and Coach [Brian] Voelker has put together a great deal of talent. For me, this is the ideal position.”

Whether he was being sincere or simply trying to say the right things and get off to a good start in his new job, that statement and his hiring should certainly bring a sigh of relief to frustrated Penn fans.

Stay tuned for more information and analysis on Murphy's hiring in this Thursday's issue of The Summer Pennsylvanian.



Random Ivy notes for 7/23

1) Despite the recent installation of a carousel at the Dunning Coaches Center, one Penn coach is raking in national honors. Not surprisingly, Karin Brower won her second-straight W. Lax Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year award after Penn went 15-3. It would've been interesting to see if Brower still prevailed had Maryland coach Cathy Reese been in Brower's region. Reese led a very young Terrapins team to an undefeated regular season and Final Four berth, before falling to North Carolina in the semis. (She did win Southern COY honors.)

Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller won National Coach of the Year, after the Wildcats went undefeated en route to a fifth-straight NCAA championship.

2) In what's got to be considered an upset (or at least proof that there are more University of New Mexico voters than Penn voters), the Palestra almost certainly will lose its matchup against the University of New Mexico's "Pit" on CBS' Arena Wars. And it's not even close, as Penn has 42% of the vote to the Pit's 58%. I guess people believe in separation of church and sports since somehow the Cathedral of College Basketball can't beat a Mountain West gym.

3) Temple has released its men's hoops schedule, and Fran Dunphy's going to be in for a rough year. The Owls host Kansas, which almost certainly will be a top 5 preseason team, as well as Siena who has won NCAA tournament games in each of the last two seasons. In addition, Temple faces five other Power Conference teams, hosting NIT champion Penn State Dec. 5, playing at Georgetown Nov. 17, taking on Virginia Tech and St. Johns at the Palestra Nov. 27 then 28 and of course battling in the annual Big 5 matchup with Villanova at home Jan. 2. (As a side note, the link also confirms Penn's recruits, though Noah already commented on that.)

4) In case you're ever quizzed on terms related to Cornell Athletics, here's your Big Red sports glossary. I guess it's supposed to be funny, though saying that Dartmouth excels in ice sculpture isn't exactly back-breakingly hilarious, especially considering this exists. Penn's entry:

Pennsylvania: Slimy Ivy rival in Philadelphia. It has strong athletic teams and questionable recruiting ethics. Learn to hate them. They’re ruthless, bad sports and play to win at whatever cost — even if it means throwing toast on the football field. And they call themselves Quakers.
So I guess we are Cornell's biggest rivals?



Honebein abandons ship

In a move that should please many disgruntled fans and alumni, heavyweight rowing coach Fred Honebein announced his resignation today. Honebein expressed regret over his resignation, though the athletic department's statement did not give any reason for the departure. Despite a lack of success in three years at Penn, Honebein said "I came to Penn to make an impact on athletes' lives and move the program forward and in some ways I think I have."

Director of Athletics Steve Bilsky echoed positive sentiments, saying “While Fred has only been here for a relatively short time, he has made a positive impact on our rowing program. I know Fred would have liked to have seen better results on the water, but I know he has laid a foundation that will benefit his successor."

“Fred is a man of integrity and pride, and I know his resignation is done for what he believes is in the best interest of Penn Rowing," Bilsky added.

This announcement comes just a week after a new lightweight coach Nick Baker was hired, and represents a complete makeover of the coaching staff in the rowing program. It also represents the fifth Penn team with a head coaching change this summer, joining the lightweights, W. Hoops (Mike McLaughlin), W. Tennis (Sunela Kunovac) and M. Lax.

Is this extensive turnover among Penn coaches alarming?



Four days, four games, for the win [Updated July 22, 2:07 p.m.]

The U.S. Maccabiah basketball team is one win away from reclaiming the gold medal. Coach Bruce Pearl's boys defeated Canada in the semi-finals today, 123-76, after jumping out to a 64-40 halftime lead. New Hampshire's Dane Diliegro led the Americans with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Bucknell's Bryan Cohen (brother of former Penn hoopster Aron) added 17 points and three rebounds. Zack Rosen contributed two points, six assists and four rebounds and committed zero turnovers in 20 minutes.

Now the U.S. must play its fourth game in as many days as it gets set to play Israel in the gold medal game tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. local time (12:30 p.m. EDT). The game will be broadcast on DIRECTV channel 366 (Jewish Life TV) or streamed online at www.jltv.tv.

[Updated July 22, 2:07 p.m.] Team USA won the gold medal today with a 95-86 victory over Israel. The game was a hard-fought, back-and-forth matchup that went to overtime. The U.S. led most of the way, with a three-point halftime lead that ballooned to as many as 13 before going into the fourth quarter at 62-57. With the game on the line, Israel stepped up and took a six-point lead with five minutes remaining. Rosen cut the deficit to two on an acrobatic shot, but committed a turnover on a similar attempt on the next possession. Grunfeld finally tied it for the US on a three-point play with 20.7 seconds left and the game went to overtime. In OT the U.S. took control as Rosen scored three of his six points and added two assists in the extra period, while Grunfeld nailed his free throws down the stretch to ensure the victory. He led the way with 25 points and 12 rebounds for the U.S. and was named tournament MVP.



Hoops notes for 7/20

1) Penn Athletics finally made its official announcement regarding the men's basketball recruits for the Class of 2013. As I mentioned in a post  last week, the official class only includes three of the five incoming freshmen: Carson Sullivan, Brian Fitzpatrick and Sean Mullan. The other two players, Denzel Washington's son Malcolm and Jack Eggleston's brother Tommy, were not listed because they are considered "preferred walk-ons." None of the five newcomers are listed yet on the 2009-10 roster.

2) If you read my story a few weeks ago, you already know that all the freshmen except Mullan have been playing in the Delaware County Pro-Am summer basketball league. The current Penn players' team is Trad Jazz, which has gone 2-6 so far. Their next game is tomorrow against UNUM (6-2), which includes a number of notable former Penn hoopsters like Brian Grandieri, Mark Zoller, Michael Jordan, Geoff Owens and Jeff Schiffner. Trad Jazz will play its last game Sunday as the league's playoffs begin Monday, though the squad is unlikely to make the postseason.

3) Trad Jazz got both of its wins before Zach Rosen left for Israel. Rosen and Team USA got off to a great start at the Maccabiah games with a blowout win over Mexico, 112-13 (that is not a typo; they actually won by 99 points). Rosen put up eight points and four assists. The next game was a revenge match against France, which beat the  US and forced them to settle for Bronze in 2005, and returned most of its players for the 2009 games. The US won 131-77 behind 25 points by Todd Golden and 23 points by Dan Grunfeld (son of Wizards GM Ernie). Rosen's line -- five points, four assists, three rebounds.

The US was finally tested in its third game of group play against Russia. It was a close game that came down to the end, with the score tied at 71 and just seven seconds remaining. Russia missed the last shot, but they managed a tip-in with .5 seconds remaining and held on for the win. With the loss the US had to beat Argentina to advance to the semi-finals, and the rules are such that a 4-or-more point victory would yield them the first seed and a semi-final matchup with Canada while a less-than-4 point victory would have meant the second seed and a semi-final bout with defending champion Israel.

Team USA  beat Argentina 97-89 today behind Grunfeld's 25 points and eight rebounds. Rosen added eight points and four assists. Now the US is set to play Canada tomorrow at 4 p.m. Israeli time (which is 9 a.m. EDT) with a chance to play the winner of Argentina-Israel in the championship.



Analyzing Voelker's move

If you don't already know, former M. Lax coach Brian Voelker decided to leave Penn for Drexel. I wasn't able to include much analysis in my story, so after the jump I give my take on the matter.

First of all, I have to give Voelker some credit that he deserves. I spoke to him for the first time when I interviewed him for this story, and it was one of the most pleasant conversations I've had with a coach (though Bruce Pearl definitely tops that list). Our M. Lax beat writers for the last two years, Neil Fanaroff and Joe Sanfilippo, were both very sad to see him go as well. They almost always came back from lacrosse games with a good story to tell from an interview with Voelker. By all accounts he is a stand-up guy who is very well-liked by his players and the media, and in that sense he is definitely a loss for Penn.

When it comes to the right decision for the future of the men's lacrosse program, I don’t question the Athletic Department for letting Voelker cross the street. The last three years under Voelker have seen a noticeable decline for the program, so  Steve Bilsky and Co. had reason to not aggressively try to keep him (they offered him a two-year contract and would not renegotiate after he got a better offer from Drexel). There are other coaches out there who can probably come in and turn things around better than Voelker would have. Some names that have been rumored already are David Metzbower and Mike Murphy. Metzbower is one of the most respected lacrosse coaches in the country who has been considered for numerous head coaching vacancies in his career, but it’s doubtful he would take the job at Penn after ending his 20-year stay at Princeton to spend more time with his family. In seven years at Haverford, Murphy has led the Black Squirrels to just about every major milestone they could have possibly reached: first victory over a top-10 team, first 10-win season, first national ranking, first top-10 ranking, first postseason appearance, first NCAA tournament bid, etc. He was an assistant coach at Penn for two years, and was actually considered for the head coaching job that was given to Voelker seven years ago. Now he sure seems like a great option for the Quakers. If the AD brings in one of these guys, or someone comparable, the Voelker decision may end up being the right one for a team that had become rather stagnant. Voelker was the most successful and longest-tenured coach in a while, which cannot be undervalued for a team that has had 5 coaches since Tony Seaman left in 1990. Not matching Drexel's offer creates a lot of pressure to hire an even better coach than Voelker, but if a better coach is had than the decision will ultimately prove to be a good one.

Meanwhile, Penn has not helped itself by continuing to be silent on this news. It removed Voelker's bio from the coaches page on the Penn Athletics web site, but has not made any statements regarding his departure. I don't expect ADs to come out and discuss the coaching search, but a public statement announcing Voelker's departure, thanking him for seven years of hard work, and wishing him luck at Drexel was the least they could do.

While I think the AD had reason to let Voelker leave, the decision and the way it went down expose some alarming negative circumstances.

Voelker insisted that one of the biggest reasons why he switched to Drexel was that they made him feel very appreciated. When I asked whether he questioned his level of appreciation from Penn, his response was indirect but the message was loud and clear:

“I”ll just say that it was clear that Drexel wanted me and appreciated me.”

Maybe Voelker was simply angry that Penn wouldn't match Drexel's offer and allow him to remain at a program to which he's dedicated the last seven years. But he didn't seem overly excited about the other benefits of going to Drexel, like a wider recruiting base or the ability to award scholarships. To me, it seemed to come down to the contract and the behaviors of the respective Athletic Departments. Regarding the latter, Penn did not show Voelker much support, and they did not show him that they were dedicated to their men's lacrosse program.

Those two issues -- poor treatment of coaches and a lack of commitment to every team -- have been exposed through the events surrounding Voelker. Those are two issues that could cause the downfall of any athletic program, and they're two issues that concern me very much in the aftermath of these events. If Bilsky and Co. go out and make a great decision on the next coach,  then this move is certainly justified. But if the next coach busts, as so many have, then this decision could become a major blemish for Penn. And if Voelker goes on to excel at Drexel, the consequences just might be staring at Weightman Hall from further up 33rd Street.



Fall Sports Schedules

Now that we've hit mid-July, the majority of fall teams have released their schedules. Here they are, and I'll try to update this page as the last few schedules are announced.

Field Hockey: The non-conference schedule is highlighted by a weekend trip to Vermont to take on University of Vermont and University of New Hampshire. The biggest Ivy game of the year is always Princeton, and this year it's at Franklin Field on Nov. 6, the day before the Homecoming football game.

Football: We've known the matchups for quite some time now, but the times are still officially TBA. However, I've got some information about the start times:

The opener versus Villanova at Franklin Field was tentatively scheduled for 3:30 but that time has changed. Most home games are potentially slated at 1 p.m., but that's dependent on television schedules that haven't been finalized. The one exception is homecoming, which a Penn Athletics representative said was “99%” likely to take place in the afternoon at 3:30 p.m. instead of the noon kickoff time of the last few years.

@ Lafayette: 9/26 6 p.m. (same time as last year’s game in Easton).

@ Dartmouth: 10/3 1:30 p.m.

@ Columbia: 10/17 1:30 p.m. (The Lions’ homecoming)

@ Brown: 10/31 12:30 p.m.

@ Harvard: 11/14 Noon

Sprint Football: The lightweights' schedule is basically the same every year since it's a small league (no pun intended). This year, however, there's a new team, Mansfield.

M. Golf: Nothing much to say here since golf's bigger season is the spring. Guess the only thing of note is that the  Rehoboth Beach Fall Invitational is listed as a home tournament.

M. Soccer: The defending co-Ivy League champions, might listen to Led Zeppelin this fall as the team is "Going to California" in September.  Specifically, they'll be traveling to San Diego the first weekend of the school year (Sept 11-13) to participate in the San Diego State Tournament.

W. Soccer: Home cooking might be the remedy to the Quakers' "very disappointing" 2008 season. 11 of Penn's 16 games are at home.

Volleyball: The same weekend that M. Soccer is in California, Volleyball will be in another big state: Texas. The Quakers travel to the Lone Star state to participate in the Houston Baptist Tournament.



Random Ivy notes for 7/16

1) Thanks to reader Will, vote for the Palestra over "The Pit," which is the University of New Mexico's stadium on CBS Sports' "Arena Wars."

2) Right as Penn's M. Lax coach is leaving, the W. Lax team is gaining coaches, as former standout Melissa Lehman will return to the team as an assistant coach. As a senior she was second on the team in scoring during the team's run to the 2008 NCAA Championship game.

3) The Ivy League has five preseason All-American FCS selections, and Penn's K Andrew Sansom is on the first team. CB Chris Wynn made the second team.

4) The info isn't really that noteworthy, but the headline and image of this CBB post grabbed my attention. However, I advise you to vote on the right-hand side for who you think the biggest challenger to Cornell is.



Aussie Update

It's been weeks since my original post about Sean Mullan, a basketball recruit from Australia. I haven't heard back from Mullan since that original post, so I haven't been able to provide an update on his status... until now. Although I still haven't heard back from the man himself, a reliable source confirmed today that Mullan is officially coming to Penn.

It seems that this might have been in the books for a while at this point.  When I heard from his mother in late May she indicated that everything was just about squared away, but they hadn't received their official documents yet. Then Sean's name showed up in the Penn Directories a few weeks ago, but I still could not take that as confirmation that he was definitely coming.

With Mullan in the bag, the Quakers' 2009 recruiting class is up to five players (though two are unofficial). Mullan joins Carson Sullivan and Brian Fitzpatrick as the official recruits for 2009, while Malcolm Washington and Tommy Eggleston will also join the team as "preferred walk-ons." The distinction, as far as I know, is virtually irrelevant. Penn Athletics has not released an official list of this year's recruits, but it should come very soon. Washington and Eggleston will not be on the official list.



Random Ivy notes on America's 233rd birthday

Happy Fourth everyone. Here are some links to take a look at before heading out to the cookout/fireworks/parade/traditional July 4th event you're attending later.

1) After giving his thoughts on two lottery picks, Ibby Jaaber now will play some basketball against NBA players, as he'll be on the Piston's summer league team again this year. (He previously was on the team in 2007.)

2) According to Penn Athletics, the Weiss Pavilion -- the extension to the north side of Franklin Field that'll have weight rooms, retail space etc ... -- is on track to open in March of 2010.

3) Here are a couple of Villanova hoops links. First, Fox Sports has a profile on Jay Wright who has now declined jobs from both Kentucky and the 76ers in the past year. Also, the Big East announced the conference matchups, and the Wildcats play Georgetown, Marquette and West Virginia twice.



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