According to the article Gotcher has an offer from Penn, as well as Auburn, Baylor, the Citadel, Drake, Houston, NC Wilmington, North Texas, San Jose State, SMU, Tulane, and UTEP. He'll visit San Diego this weekend, and plans to announce his future plans next week.
Penn was the only Ivy to give the No. 33 ranked shooting guard in the nation an offer according to Rivals.
Coach Al Bagnoli calls the alums his "Alumni Mafia"
The story focuses on senior defensive back Josh Powers, who after two financial internships over the last two summers, has already secured a job for after graduation. His starting salary: $120k. His boss: George Weiss, an overseer for the athletics program. Weiss has donated $80 million to the school to fund athletics, professorships and undergrad scholarships.
And though Weiss is obviously a big fan of the Quakers, he says it's no easy ride for a player like Powers to make the cut.
“There is a huge benefit to having the support of our alumni network,” Weiss said. “But it’s not a freebie, either. They have to pass muster."
The article also mentions 2010 grad and former captain of the women's lacrosse team Barb Seaman, who is now working for Pierpoint Securities, run by Penn Alum Mark Werner.
A lot of talk goes on about how the Ivy League is at a disadvantage because of it's ban on athletic scholarships. Yes, that definitely keeps the Athletic caliber below that of the PAC-10, Big-Ten or any other big name D-1 conference, but the Ivy League has it's own benefits — ones that Josh Powers is about to reap come graduation.
While lucrative, professional athlete's careers last 15 years at best. The careers that Ivy League student athletes are heading towards — whether Wharton-based or not — are much longer lived.
As those NCAA commercials say, just about every NCAA athlete goes pro in something other than sports. That's especially true for the Ancient Eight, but it's student athletes clearly have a leg up.
I'm still waiting to find out where I can meet the Penn sports journalist alumni mafia.
Here's some video of the post-game press conferences for Penn (top, middle) and Lafayette (bottom) after the Quakers' 19-14 season-opening victory at Franklin Field. Pardon my somewhat shaky camerawork during parts of it. I was using a simple flipcam. But it got the job done. The Penn video was split into two parts because the whole thing was too long to upload all at once. And for the sake of time, I didn't bother editing the Lafayette video. Look out for a video on theDP.com tomorrow with footage from the game, the pre-game tailgate, and the Freshman Walk. Yeah, that's right, DP Video is taking off. If you have any feedback on our video coverage, please leave a comment below.
Smith, who reportedly wants to be pre-med, was choosing between Harvard, Penn and Vanderbilt. He gushed about his connection to Harvard and Boston while leaving West Philadelphia with less than kind words:
I’ve been to Penn before. I saw the campus and everything, and I just didn’t feel the connection.
With Penn graduating a substantial amount of talent in the 4 and 5 slots, they'll need to bring in some size with the next recruiting class, and Smith, at 6-foot-8, 270 pounds, would have been that.
Greetings from historic Franklin Field for the season opener of the 2010 Penn football season. The Quakers look to begin their title defense against Lafayette in a rematch of last year's rain-soaked thriller in Easton, Pa., where the Leopards prevailed, 20-17. There has been an electric atmosphere around the stadium, with a pre-game tailgate and the revival of the Freshman Walk. The game itself promises to be just as exciting, so follow all the action right here!
If you have a moment, read this opinion piece on Philly.com today about ending Penn football's beloved 3rd quarter toast toss tradition. The author, a Penn Senior, argues that even tradition and wordplay aren't good enough reasons to waste so much bread — and money. Penn is generally a good steward to the community, he says, but this is working against the University's image.
What do you think? How would you change this tradition, which is already an adaptation of a previous one?
No they aren't hosting it from Franklin Field again (yet....), but the popular show has been on campus this week filming a segment with coach Al Bagnoli and players.
From Penn Athletics
ESPN College Gameday was on the University of Pennsylvania campus filming an interview piece throughout much of last week. The Quakers will be featured on college football's premier preview show on Saturday between 10-12 ET. ESPN reporter and Penn alum, Tom Rinaldi, came to campus on Sept. 8 and interviewed head coach Al Bagnoli along with several players to discuss how the team has been coping with the death of captain Owen Thomas.
Be sure to check it out and let us know what you think.
You've probably already heard about the new Weiss Pavilion that just opened. But you probably haven't seen the inside of the state-of-the-art athletes-only level of the new facility. So watch the video tour below with DP Sports Editor Lauren Plotnick and Penn's Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Jim Steel.
If you're having trouble viewing the video here, try this.
Though we wrote yesterday about the Penn basketball's crowd-drawing match-ups, Penn football will also have plenty of eyes on it this weekend when it opens its season at home against Lafayette.
In addition to the enthused Penn fans that will be packing into Franklin Field, the game will also appear on ESPN3.com for the first time in the Quakers' history. ESPN3.com (once known as ESPN360.com) is ESPN's online arm and broadcasts a number of live sporting events, some more interesting than others (English Premier League soccer? The CFL?). As a result, national audiences will be able to see the recently ranked Penn football team try to extend its win streak (eight games and counting) and fight for its historic 800th victory.
Here's the schedule and an obligatory quote from Jerome Allen, courtesy of Penn Athletics:
“We are excited about the schedule we have put together,” said Penn’s John R. Rockwell Head Coach of Men’s Basketball, Jerome Allen. “We have a couple of road trips against some high-caliber teams that will provide great tests for us, and our first home date with Davidson will certainly be a great way to kick off the season. We are looking forward to the next six months and all of the challenges that lay ahead of us.”
PENN MEN’S BASKETBALL
2010-11 SCHEDULE
Saturday, Nov. 13 … DAVIDSON
Wednesday, Nov. 17 … at Manhattan
Saturday, Nov. 20 … DREXEL
Tuesday, Nov. 23 … LAFAYETTE
Saturday, Nov. 27 … at Pitt
Tuesday, Nov. 30 … UMBC
Saturday, Dec. 4 … vs. Army (IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J.)
We received word from Penn Athletics today that the finalized men's hoops schedule should be available Monday morning. In breathless anticipation, let's take a look at what we've gathered so far, thanks to our friend the internet. The one hole left to fill would be a rumored (and also somewhat confirmed by Zack Rosen) game against Pitt, which will surely be in Pittsburgh. If I had to guess where that would go, I would say possibly Thanksgiving weekend, as there is no game on that Friday, or perhaps after Kentucky.
This schedule is one game shy of last year's 14 non-conf. games so there may be a wildcard coming out Monday:
Saturday, Nov. 13: Davidson
Notes: In the return trip from last year's matchup, Penn faces a Wildcat team that won 79-50 in the precursor to an even worse loss to Duke later that week.
Wednesday, Nov. 17: at Manhattan College
Notes: Penn hasn't played Manhattan since '03 at the Holiday Festival in Madison Square Garden. Though not much can be taken from that match (it was two coaches and two college generations ago) Penn eeked out a 49-47 win. For what it's worth, the Quakers also went 10-4 in the League that year, and trounced Harvard 104-69 (FREE cheesesteaks!) But then again, Jeremy Lin was a sophomore in HIGH SCHOOL.
Saturday, Nov. 20: Drexel
Notes: Looking to stop a recent skid to the neighbors on 33rd street, Penn hasn't beat the Dragons since 2006. This city six rivalry should return to the Palestra this year after Drexel hosted last year.
Tuesday, Nov. 23: Lafayette
Notes: another return trip from last year, Lafayette was the final loss (77-62) in the string of 10 straight that opened the 2009-10 season.
Tuesday, Nov. 30 (corrected): UMBC
Notes: This ended up being a very important game for Penn last year after it stopped the bleeding. Maybe that's why it was moved up significantly in the schedule this year (just kidding) (kinda).
Saturday, Dec. 4: Army at the IZOD Center (Meadowlands)
Notes: Penn-Army will be the precursor to a game that will be a rematch of last year's NCAA Championship: Duke v. Butler. That should make this a big ticket for the program. After last year's trip to Duke (Penn lost 114-55), Quakers' fans will be happy to see that Penn and Duke aren't on the same ticket anymore.
Tuesday, Dec. 7: Villanova
Notes: According to the internet (yes, I know), season ticket renewal packages show this game on this date, despite official word from either team. Should be confirmed on Monday.
Wednesday, Dec. 22: at Delaware
Notes: After finishing finals...Penn will head down I-95 to take on the Blue Hens. The Quakers' record-breaking slump at the beginning of the season almost didn't happen, as Penn lost to Delaware in double OT 94-97 last year in the third game of the season. And the worst part? The 3065 fans who came were just 6 points shy of a free cheesesteak from Abner's.
Wednesday, Dec. 29: at Marist
Notes: In the Metro-Atlantic Athletic conference....
Monday, Jan. 3: at Kentucky
Notes: Along with Pitt, this is the biggest name Penn will play this year — the Duke of 2010-11, if you will.
Wednesday, Jan. 12: at La Salle
Notes: The first day of the spring semester!
Wednesday, Jan. 19: at Temple
Notes: Temple has penciled the Quakers in after another Big 5 rival, Villanova, but before heading to NCAA champs Duke. Those who remember the Temple game last year know that Penn showed a valiant 2nd half effort but, as was the story all season, an early (and deep) hole was too much for the Quakers to overcome.
Saturday, Jan. 22: St. Joseph's
Notes: Final big 5 matchup before the Ivy slate, which looks like this:
One more likely addition to the M. Hoops non-conference schedule — though the details are still hazy.
A DP Sports reporter mentioned that in a recent interview with Zack Rosen, the junior guard mentioned a game against Pitt this year, which had been an internet rumor about for some time now.
Add that to Kentucky and we're looking at two big matchups for the Quakers this year. I have no confirmation but my guess is that this game is in the 'Burgh.
Bilsky was frank in saying that it was completely a contractual thing. Scheduling the Penn-Princeton game is always tough, he said, and this year's scheduled date conflicted with a contractual obligation ESPNU already had, so they decided to air Princeton-Harvard.
He said that when it comes to TV rights and negotiations, airing Penn-Princeton basketball and Harvard-Yale football are still the marquee matchups that broadcasters look for.
Nonetheless, he agreed that the Harvard-Princeton game this year would likely be one of the marquee matchups of the Ivy season given that both teams are expected to finish in the top of the league.
The good news for the Quakers is that they still received the highest number of votes among Ancient Eight teams — still topping Ivy media poll No. 1 Harvard. As far as nonconference opponents goes, defending FCS champion Villanova now sits at No. 2 after a 31-24 loss to Temple bumped the Wildcats from the top spot.
Sophomore point guard Malcolm Washington, son of Denzel, chose to leave the Penn men's basketball team, according to a Penn basketball source.
As of the beginning of September he was no longer listed on the Quakers' roster.
Washington struggled in the few minutes he accrued during his freshman year, seeing little playing time behind unanimous all-Ivy point guard Zack Rosen. Washington started one game in Rosen's place when the Rosen was briefly benched for a violation of team rules.
Beyond his meager statistics (a .157 clip in shooting) Malcolm's future role on the team became questionable with the announcement of a large incoming freshman classripe with supposed guard talent.
The roster now sits at 20 players, still five above the League travel limit, but with injuries the Quakers will likely not have too much trouble making weight.
No word as to whether Denzel will continue to travel to Philly to watch the Quakers in the flesh as he did for about half of last season.
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