Entering tonight's Big 5 kickoff with Villanova, Eggleston sits just 17 points shy of 1000 career points, a feat only 34 other Quakers have accomplished in program history — most recently, Mark Zoller, oddly enough against 'Nova at the Palestra. Averaging 14.9 points per game, Eggleston is due to either hit the mark with a big game tonight, or pass it early when Penn travels to Delaware on Dec. 22.
I'm sure he'd love it to be in front of the home crowd tonight.
After many questions as to how exactly the Bushnell Cup is awarded and how the four finalists are chosen: an answer, with much thanks to the always-helpful Scottie Rogers of the Ivy League office.
For starters, the voting is as it has been for quite some time. The only thing that changed was how the award was presented, with four finalists being named and then the award given to the winner(s) at the ceremony Monday.
The process begins when each coach nominates his own players for the award. Then all of the coaches votes among the nominated players, but not for players from his team. The coaches pick their top three, with first place getting five points, second getting three points and third gets one point. (This system is the same for all Ivy sports with similar awards).
This is where the presentation changed this year: based on the point totals, the top X candidates are considered "finalists" for the Bushnell Cup. That X can change each year depending on how the voting goes. This year, based on the point totals, four players (Billy Ragone, Gino Gordon, Matt Schwieger and Trey Peacock) were considered finalists. The original plan, according to Rogers, was to have three finalists, but based on the way voting happened this year, four were named.
Basically, the "finalists" are for show. The award is already determined before they are announced, based on the coaches' ranked voting.
The DP's game preview for the first Big 5 matchup of the year won't hit rackboxes until Wednesday morning, but a few spots are already out with their take on the contest between No. 12 Villanova and Penn at the Palestra:
CBSSports (but really the AP) says the Wildcats will have to play better than their 71-60 win over St. Joe's last week, especially with Isaiah Armwood and Maurice Sutton as questionable for the game after sitting against the Hawks.
The Robots over at Quakerball.com (I can't get enough of this stuff) are weirdly excited for a non-sentient computer, pointing out the Quakers four percent advantage in three-point shooting...
Penn Athletics has Conor Turley replacing Andreas Schreiber as a probable starter again after the Swede played just three minutes in the last contest.
Update: And the Vegas odds are putting the spread at 'Nova by 19 points.
As an addition to our regular print series 30 Seconds With... our man on the street Alex Siegel caught up with men's basketball coach Jerome Allen this week and shot an extended video for your viewing pleasure. This one's a can't miss:
My initial reaction is that the League is too stuck in tradition to think outside the box on this one. No disrespect to Gordon and Schwieger; they're both incredible players for their programs, but the fact of the matter is a "most valuable player" is one that brings his team not just wins, but championships, and there's only one player of those four who did that this year. And he just so happens to not be an upperclassmen. It's as if the League feels compelled to honor its outgoing players.
I think the fact that Ragone is a sophomore — and in his first year playing all season for Penn — played a big role in the decision. It also hard to justify choosing a player who was solid statistically but not a touchdown leader or rushing leader. But as my colleague Brian Kotloff pointed out last week, the championship should speak for itself.
Maybe I'm being a bit of a homer, but I'm surprised the coaches didn't pick Ragone, especially after he wreaked havoc on their defenses game after game.
UPDATE: I expanded on this post for a print column in Tuesday's paper. Check it out here.
The Quakers now have one less thing to worry about for Wednesday night's showdown against No. 12 Villanova.
Freshman phenom and McDonald's All-American JayVaughn Pinkston was suspended by the university for the spring semester and is off the Wildcats' lineup for the remainder of the season, according to ESPN. Last month, the frosh was charged with two counts of simple assault and harassment at an off-campus apartment. While the incident occurred before Pinkston saw any game-time action, the power forward was "expected to contribute immediately." Pinkston, who hasn't played yet this season, will likely return to Villanova in June as a redshirt freshman.
What does this mean for the Quakers? They couldn't take advantage of a similar situation in this season's loss to Drexel, despite the suspension of Jamie Harris and Kevin Phillip, who are facing charges from a summer robbery incident. Can the Red and Blue take advantage Wednesday?
After handily defeating Army, the Quakers are 4-3, above .500 for the first time since the beginning of the season, and ready to take on No. 12 Villanova at home this Wednesday. Some thoughts from the Meadowlands matchup:
The Good: A decisive win. The last time Penn beat an opponent by more than 15 points was a November 2008 matchup against Monmouth. This big margin of victory is especially beneficial for the Quakers going into the game with 'Nova.
The Bad: Senior Andreas Schreiber played just three minutes — a career low, during which he hit one field goal and grabbed one offensive rebound. Schreiber can make solid contributions to this team, but Allen appears to still be figuring out what to do with the 6-foot-9 center, who has great presence offensively but little on the boards where the Quakers are looking to improve.
The Ugly: Penn is 4-0 when it scores at least 68 points. But that likely won't matter much against a Villanova team that averages 77.3 points per game, with four players averaging over 10 ppg.
The Quakers (3-3) take on Army (4-3) in a midday bout at the IZOD center in the Meadowlands. It's the opening act for the 2010 NCAA title rematch of Duke-Butler.
Follow along in our liveblog below or Click Here to open it in a new window.
We're back with another edition of This Week on 33rd Street. Joining me this week is senior staff writer Jennifer Scuteri, as we discuss men's and women's hoops, swimming, volleyball, Billy Ragone, and my futile attempts to participate in no-shave November.
As sophomore quarterback Billy Ragone awaits the announcement of the Ivy League Player of the Year, for which he is one of four finalists, he sat down with Penn Athletics to talk about the tremendous season behind him. It's an absurdly long video, but worth a looksie.
Some may question an Ivy League making the list, but the University of Pennsylvania Quakers are 10th on the all-time wins list for men’s basketball programs. The historic arena, known as The Palestra, gives fans the most close-to-the-court seating around.
The debate as to whether Penn belongs is one of past vs. present. Historically, as the US News & World Report points out, Penn has earned its spot on the list, both in terms of the quality of play and the arena.
But does it belong today? My experience at the Palestra has been a little different: two losing seasons and, as a result, low attendance. While the Big 5 is one of the greatest basketball traditions in the country, I haven't ever seen Penn win a Big Five game.
But I still think Penn belongs on the list. The Palestra is a special place, and though it might be at a less memorable point in it's storied history, the magic is far from gone — and I'm confident it will return.
Penn improved to 3-3 with the win over UMBC Tuesday night and is now headed to the Meadowlands to spar with Army before Duke and Butler rematch the NCAA title in the nightcap. My thoughts from last night:
The Good: A win. After getting drubbed at Pitt (though they beat the spread!) the Quakers could have continued to slide against a physical UMBC team, but they turned things around, thanks largely to Miles Cartwright, and most importantly, if they can pick up another 'W' Saturday, they'll be riding a modest win streak heading into their first Big Five game of the year: No. 12 Villanova.
The Bad: Little production from the big men. Andreas Schreiber played just seven minutes and turned the ball over twice and his replacement, freshman Fran Dougherty, had two turnovers and two points. Eli Cohen will wax poetic on the topic in tomorrow's DP, so pick it up for more.
The Ugly: Attendance was a meek 1,555. I don't expect much on a Tuesday night as finals approach, but this was pretty sad looking. On the plus side, Red and Blue Crew leader Justin Chang dressed in full Red and Blue body paint, though according to a source, he only went all out in anticipation of a small crowd seeing him.
The Quakers host UMBC, the team that Penn beat last year to end its 0-10 losing streak to open the season. Penn looks to against bounce back against the Retrievers, this time after losing to Pitt last Saturday.
It's no doubt that after an Ivy title and two postseason appearances in the last three years, Penn men's soccer is hitting it's stride, but could the Quakers be in or heading towards a golden era for the program?
Dave Zeitlin, a former DP Sportswriter and current producer of the Penn Gazette Sports Blog, wrote today on that topic. And coach Rudy Fuller seems to think that with the World Cup last summer, the arrival of MLS' Philadelphia Union and the Quakers success, the program will be getting even better.
“In a few months, we’re going to announce a recruiting class that certainly ranks up there with the best in the country,” he told the Gazette.
It's a compelling story, so check it out if you have a minute.
Gallagher reportedly fell in love with Penn when he ran at Franklin Field in the Penn Relays as a middle schooler. He later attended summer football camps at Penn.
"I thought about some D-3 schools like Trinity and the University of Chicago. But Penn became my target school. My No. 1. That was definitely where I wanted to be. I even applied for early admission," he told the Daily News.
In high school the 6-foot-1, 190-pound QB threw for 14 touchdowns and over 2000 yards during his three years at the helm of the offense.
The Ivy League announced the four finalists for the Asa S. Bushnell Cup, given to the conference's player of the year, and Penn sophomore quarterback Billy Ragone has made the cut.
Though there was some question about whether the League would honor the quarterback or a member of the Penn O-Line, the choice of Ragone seems pretty logical. The sophomore finished fifth in the conference in rushing — a high rank for a quarterback — and was third in the League for pass efficiency. Ragone was sacked just four times in 223 dropbacks.
While I applaud Ragone's efforts, I also wonder how much of his strong performance came from having a solid offensive line. Penn's strength in rushing offense comes in large part from having a solid lane set up by linemen, and Ragone's successful passes came when the linemen were able to keep the pressure off.
Still, the sophomore has strong numbers, and his judgment did lead Penn to many of its wins this season. Ragone, who will wait until Dec. 6 to find out whether he has received the Cup, faces tight competition from Dartmouth tailback Nick Schwieger, Harvard senior Gino Gordon and Princeton receiver Trey Peacock.
For the second time this season, Penn freshman Miles Cartwright was named Ivy Rookie of the week, on the heals of a 22-point performance at No. 5 (No. 3 on the AP poll) Pittsburgh.
Averaging 32 minutes this week, Cartwright shot .600 from the floor and averaged 14.5 points per game and three rebounds.
Harvard's Keith Wright earned the Player of the Week award, also for the second time this year.
Cartwright and the Quakers take on UMBC tomorrow night.
Update: And much like the last time Cartwright won ROTW, Alyssa Baron took the award for the Quakers in women's hoops. She averaged 17.5 in 32 minutes per game. Deja vu?
You may have seen an article on this in the New York Times this weekend, but a company called StatSheet has been writing software programs that aim to make sportswriters obsolete (uh oh).
They've created over 300 sites that track different college teams, including Penn's very own Quakers basketball team (and the rest of the Ancient Eight). I normally wouldn't point out my competition, but this is actually pretty cool (and I don't feel threatened at all).
The writing on the site is still somewhat buggy with nouns and verbs often out of whack, but if you love stats and cool charts, you should check out Quakerball.com to see what the robots are up to. I'll be sure to post some of the interesting stuff that I see as the season wears on.
The best things I've seen so far is the season preview. Be sure to check out the 2009-10 fan satisfaction trend. It's spot on.
The Quakers had no surprises falling 58-82 to Pitt Saturday night. Here's a little post-game analysis:
The Good: Miles Cartwright continues to prove that he is going to be something special. He led the Quakers with 22 points, also had a rebound, and assist and a steal. When Penn shot 36.8% from behind the arc, he was not only sinking threes (3-for-4) but he was driving the lane, making shots, and picking fouls.
The Bad: Tyler Bernardini. This was just an all-around lousy night for the senior. 0-for-7 from the floor, 0-for-5 from behind the arc, 0 rebounds, 1 turn over and three fouls. If Bernardini continues to play like this, and Cartwright as he did tonight, I can see the freshman in the starting five sooner than later.
The Ugly: Jerome Allen picked up team technical foul for arguing with the officials — not that it mattered scorewise. Allen also got T'd up last year in Penn's 114-55 blowout by Duke. While a technical is never good, it is encouraging to see the coach a bit more animated on the bench this year.
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