Fikiel, Tolan NBA-bound
(04/05/04 9:00am)
(This article appeared in the 4/5/04 joke issue)The craze for European big men has finally hit West Philadelphia.
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Penn Interests Vandy Transfer
(04/28/95 9:00am)
Anddrikk Frazier, a 5-foot-10 point guard at Vanderbilt, may transfer to Penn, he said last night. He is also considering Stetson, South Florida and Akron. Frazier said he was disappointed with a lack of playing time at Vandy. He spoke to Penn assistant coach Gil Jackson last week, and said he will be visiting campus shortly. Frazier, from Tampa, Fla., saw action in nine games with the Commodores. He will have to sit out the 1995-96 season. He has three years of eligibility left. Frazier describes himself as "quick, heady and tenacious."
Brown Joins M. Hoops
(04/27/95 9:00am)
Frankie Brown, a 6-foot-5 swingman from Beverly Hills, Calif., will attend Penn. Brown averaged 23 points per game and eight rebounds at Beverly Hills High this past season. He was recruited heavily by Southern California, which decided not to offer him a scholarship. Jed Ryan, a 6-5 forward who averaged 24 ppg for Cathedral Prep in Erie and Paul Romanczuk, a 6-6 forward from Archbishop Carroll in Philadelphia, are the only other players to verbally commit. Ray Carroll, who said he will attend the University if admitted, will likely join that group. Carroll is a 6-3 guard who averaged 23 ppg and 10 rpg for Chester High. Indiana transfer Rob Hodgson, South Carolina transfer Peter Van Elswyk and 6-11 center Jeff Knoll from Seattle are also considering the Quakers.
M. HOOPS NOTEBOOK: Several top recruits considering Penn
(04/25/95 9:00am)
Peter Van Elswyk, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound center at the University of South Carolina, may transfer to Penn, friend Anna Wasilewska confirmed last night. Van Elswyk has started every game during his two years with the Gamecocks. He is also considering Stanford. Van Elswyk -- from Hamilton, Ont. -- would be the second player to transfer from coach Eddie Fogler to the Quakers. When at Vanderbilt, Fogler lost Matt Maloney to Penn. "He's a good outside shooter," said Gamecock sports editor Ryan Wilson, who added Van Elswyk would have been phased out of the lineup if he stayed at South Carolina due to a good recruiting class and transfers. Van Elswyk was not required to score much in the South Carolina system. He averaged 5.2 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per game in 1994-95, and 4.9 ppg and 4.1 rpg his freshman year. The central issue may hinge on a financial aid package. Stanford, a member of the Pac-10, offers scholarships. Van Elswyk was unavailable for comment. · Indiana transfer Rob Hodgson has narrowed his choice to Penn and Rutgers, his father Bob Hodgson said last night. Rob Hodgson informed Vanderbilt coach Jan van Breda Kolff and South Carolina coach Fogler he is no longer considering their schools. Rob Hodgson met Van Elswyk during a visit with the Gamecocks. "He basically has to decide what he wants. Certainly the Wharton School and Penn in general you can't top," Hodgson's father said. "On the other hand he would have the chance to play in the Big East." Rutgers will join the Big East next season. Hodgson's father played high school basketball with Scarlet Knights coach Bob Wenzel on Long Island. The 6-7 Hodgson enrolled at Indiana last semester, but returned to Long Island after being redshirted. He was named Long Island high school player of the year in 1993-94, and is the third all-time leading scorer in New York state high school basketball history. · Jeff Knoll, a 6-11 center from Mercer Island, Wash., a suburb of Seattle, has narrowed his choice to Penn and Fordham, he said last night. Knoll has had an injury-plagued high school career, which scared away early suitors, including North Carolina. "They did shy away a little," Knoll said. "Right now I'm not at the level that I could play with them." Knoll considered spending a year at prep school then going to a bigger program, but has decided to go to college this fall. Knoll's Mercer High squad won the state championship with him as a starter his sophomore year. He did not play junior year after undergoing surgery for a herniated disk. Knoll came back too early from that injury. Nerve damage in his leg weakened his right ankle and resulted in a broken foot. · Ray Carroll said he will attend the University if he is admitted. "Financial aid wouldn't be the issue," Carroll said. Carroll will be taking a visit to Fordham and is also considering James Madison, but said Penn is his first choice. Carroll, a 6-3 guard, averaged 23 ppg, 10 rpg and four assists per game for Chester High School. · Frankie Brown, a 6-5 senior from Beverly Hills, Calif., will most likely attend Penn. He was waiting to see if Southern California would offer him a scholarship, and it appears the Trojans will not. Brown could not be reached for comment. · Jed Ryan, a 6-5 forward who averaged 24 ppg for Cathedral Prep in Erie, and Paul Romanczuk, a 6-6 forward from Archbishop Carroll in Philadelphia, are the only players to verbally commit to the Quakers.
A FRONT ROW VIEW: Princeton put on textbook defensive clinic
(04/06/95 9:00am)
Fifty minutes, 25 seconds can be a long time. Sitting through some lectures makes that clear. But in lacrosse, 50:25 is an eternity. That's how long Princeton held the Penn men's lacrosse team scoreless yesterday afternoon at blustery Franklin Field. Unlike one measly lecture, this game covered the entire textbook. Particularly textbook defense. After the reigning Ivy Player of the Week, Penn's Andy Crofton, scored with 5:25 left in the first quarter to knot the score at 2, the Quakers were silenced. Princeton has smothered teams all season. The Tigers shut down their opponent, score some goals at the offensive end and slowly suffocate you. The No. 5 team in the nation does not normally have an explosive outburst like it did in yesterday's 19-2 rout. The Tigers have won consistently with defense. They have won national championships, including a 9-8 decision over Virginia to capture last year's crown. They have held much better teams than the Quakers scoreless for long periods of time this season -- Johns Hopkins for 14:19; Virginia for 14:46; Notre Dame for 30:00; North Carolina for 21:18. The Tigers just have not held anyone scoreless quite this long. This was more than a drought. It was the Sahara Desert. How bad were things going? When Penn hit the side of the net on a shot late in the game, fans mistakenly celebrated with the Quakers hopelessly behind. Later, a 65-yard heave by Princeton defender Andrew Mitchell found its way into the Penn net. There will be better days, Princeton coach Bill Tierney told Terry Corcoran, Penn's head man, after the contest. Much better than the pounding the Quakers took at the hands of Princeton yesterday. Times will be better when Corcoran recruits his own people and firmly ingrains his program. Tierney does not expect his Tigers will be able to walk into Franklin Field and get an easy contest when they next visit in a couple years. You can almost see the ambush waiting. Corcoran leads Penn's rejuvenated program, remembers the blowout and decides to get some payback for a bad defeat. Well forget it, because Princeton actually showed mercy. After scoring its 17th straight unanswered goal to make the score 19-2, Princeton called timeout, then proceeded to run most of the final seven minutes off the clock without trying to shoot. Picture Pete Carril's basketball squad without a shot clock. That may not be a bad analogy. Jason Osier, Princeton's basketball-turned-lacrosse player, scored four goals. Adam Rubin is a Wharton senior from Bellmore, N.Y., and former Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Back from Indiana, Rob Hodgson eyes the Quakers
(03/28/95 10:00am)
MASTIC BEACH, N.Y. -- On a slowly eroding sand dune by the ocean, Rob Hodgson endures another rigorous midafternoon workout. Last year's Long Island basketball player of the year prepares for his collegiate hoops career, a deferred dream he may realize at Penn. A few blocks away at William Floyd High School, Bob Hodgson, father and coach, sits in his second-floor office. A pair of 11th graders scurry around, redecorating the room with memorabilia. On the bulletin board is an Indiana Hoosiers team photo from this past season, in which Rob Hodgson is pictured. Hodgson spent the fall semester in Bloomington, Ind., before returning to Long Island. He was redshirted by Indiana coach Bobby Knight -- something he found out two days before the first exhibition game. "It was just a matter of not feeling really comfortable with the redshirt," Hodgson says. "That's almost like working without getting paid. That was hard. And just not feeling comfortable with trying to project where I was going to fit in." So the 6-foot-7, 220-pound Hodgson is attending Suffolk Community College and searching elsewhere for an education and basketball opportunity. The same day a newspaper ran a story Hodgson was transferring, he got calls from a dozen schools. It is the same process he underwent a season ago. Coaches visit this oceanside Suffolk County community from some of the biggest basketball programs in the country. South Carolina coach Eddie Fogler paid a visit here last week. Big East-bound Rutgers coach Bob Wenzel has returned as well. Wenzel's picture is also on the wall. He was a teammate of Hodgson's father at neighboring West Islip High School a couple decades ago. Other suitors include Harvard, Vanderbilt, North Carolina State, Fordham and North Atlantic Conference member Hofstra, a 45-minute drive from Mastic Beach and the favorite of Long Islanders who hope one star might stay at home. A newspaper clipping on the bulletin board in the coach's office bears the headline: Hodgson & Hofstra A Natural. Ticket stubs from the March 3 Penn-Brown game, when the Quakers clinched the Ivy League title, now hang on the same wall. And downstairs by the gymnasium rests a trophy proclaiming the number "2,532," which is how many points Hodgson scored in his career at Floyd -- the third most in New York state history behind Kenny Anderson and Kenny Wood. Penn coach Fran Dunphy visited two weeks ago. The Hodgsons had met Dunphy in Philadelphia the day of the Penn-Villanova game. They were impressed with Dunphy's sense of humor and quiet temperament. Hodgson's father drove Dunphy to Penn Station in New York after the coach missed the Long Island Rail Road train departing from Mastic Beach. Rob Hodgson first got to see Penn play when the Quakers faced Nebraska and Florida in the NCAA Tournament at Nassau Coliseum last year. He was particularly impressed with the fan support. "People come out of the woodwork for that," he says. "My goodness. There were so many people here. It was incredible. They had sweatshirts with the big 'P' on the backs." Hodgson is a coach's son who has played both guard and forward. He has great court vision, and the ball will likely go through his hands should he select the Quakers. Hodgson expects to make a decision in the next week. He joined a Floyd varsity basketball team in eighth grade that had never qualified for the playoffs. The school had only won one league game in the previous five years. By his senior year the Colonials were 21-2 and Suffolk County champs with him at point guard. Hodgson averaged 29.7 points and 15.2 rebounds per game his senior season. In 105 games on varsity since eighth grade he never scored less than double digits. Hodgson -- who was born in Mitchell, S.D., moved to Ohio, then back to his family's native Long Island -- is actually the second in his family to accept and then turn down an offer from Knight. His father was headed to Army when rumors of Knight's departure from West Point began to surface. He ended up playing at Penn State. Rob Hodgson compares his father's disciplinary coaching to Knight, although it appears the Floyd coach is slightly more approachable than his Indiana counterpart. "If you're going to go there, you have to expect to get yelled at," Hodgson says. "That's something everyone on the team expects. It's not anything like you go to Indiana and, 'Oh no, Coach Knight's yelling at me.' It's not like no one's ever heard of it before." Penn coach Dunphy has a slightly different demeanor, but the Floyd coach says he made a good impression. "Coach Dunphy is a great guy. He's very different than the other coaches. He's very quiet. He's very funny," Hodgson's father says. "When we came down for the Brown game we came in the locker room afterward. You could see the closeness that exists on the team and the respect and admiration the guys have for him."
Allen and the seniors show their heart to the end
(03/17/95 10:00am)
BALTIMORE -- As the time expired in last night's overtime loss to Alabama and the careers of Penn's five seniors, Crimson Tide coach David Hobbs walked up to Jerome Allen and told the Penn guard how much respect he had for him. Allen, who has been the Quakers' leader for three seasons, had nearly led Penn to victory one final time. "You're just a heck of a player and I have a lot of respect for you," Hobbs told Allen. "You guys gave it everything you had. You came up a little short. Look at the good things you've done over the last three years, not what happened tonight." The dynamic backcourt tandem of Allen, who finished with a team-high 30 points, and Matt Maloney, who scored 23, nearly helped Penn pull off the impossible. Allen's three-pointer, steal and second trey all in a 13-second span late in overtime pulled the Quakers to within three points after they had trailed by as many as 11 earlier in the extra session. Allen had Penn fans believing in the impossible until Alabama guard Bryan Passink hit the second of two free throws at the other end with 14 seconds left to seal the Tide's 91-85 victory. As the Penn players sat in the locker room contemplating the end of their collegiate careers, the near-win was of little consolation for a team that had much grander expectations. Thirty minutes after the final buzzer, the finality had not yet sunk in for the seniors -- Allen, Scott Kegler, Eric Moore, Shawn Trice and Maloney, who transferred from Vanderbilt and played three seasons with the Quakers. Penn is also losing assistant coach Fran O'Hanlon, who will be introduced as the new Lafayette coach Monday. In the locker room, Quakers assistant coach Gil Jackson walked up to Trice and gave him a hug. There were a lot of hugs and congratulations going on in the locker room. Trice said he was still in "total shock." "We had chances to win the game," he said. "It still really hasn't hit me." Even the usually reserved Dunphy said he was struggling during the postgame press conference. It is not often any program has this caliber of athletes graduating together. "I won't have the pleasure of their company every day -- the five seniors who have made my life fantastic over the past four years in four cases and three in the other," Dunphy said. "It's a wonderful group of people who gave great effort throughout their careers. What a fantastic experience to be around these kids. I feel very fortunate to have had that pleasure." Moore said the fact his collegiate career is over may hit him Monday. Both he and Maloney said they wish they could return to practice after the weekend. "I actually want to go to practice Monday," Moore said. "All those guys, we've been together so long and now it's come to an end. It's hard what to think. I don't know what to think. I don't know what to say. "Everyone in here is pretty positive, saying how much we accomplished, but that's not going to mean anything to us right now. Definitely I'm going to have good memories. But I'm also going to think that at the end we could have done a little more than we did. We did accomplish a lot. But when I came here I expected to accomplish a lot." "Penn's a very good basketball team," Hobbs said later. "They're very well coached. They know how to win. They're senior laden. Anytime you win 14 league games, half of them on the road, for three straight years, with basically the same guys, you know how to win." That respect is a tribute to these Quakers -- particularly to Allen, whose commitment to Penn over Temple and Massachusetts was the impetus for all this success. "I've seen so much. I was exposed to so many things because of this university," Allen said. "I just tried to return the favor with my play on the court. Sometimes you come up short. Sometimes you don't. I'm just fortunate that I've been able to be around a great coaching staff and 13 other guys." The Penn basketball program was clearly the most fortunate of all.
THE END OF AN ERA: Tide rolls in OT, 91-85
(03/17/95 10:00am)
BALTIMORE -- The Penn men's basketball team gave its heart last night, but Antonio McDyess gave a career performance. McDyess set a scoring record for an Alabama player in an NCAA Tournament game with 39 points, to go with 19 rebounds, as the fifth-seeded Crimson Tide bounced the Quakers from the first round, 91-85 in overtime, at Baltimore Arena. Alabama (23-9) advances to the second round tomorrow, where it will face Oklahoma State, a 73-49 winner over Drexel in the nightcap of last night's evening session. The Quakers' loss ends the careers of the most celebrated class in Pennsylvania basketball history. Coach Fran Dunphy now must part company with seniors Jerome Allen, Matt Maloney, Scott Kegler, Eric Moore and Shawn Trice. Penn (22-6) went down fighting, though. Trailing 57-46 after Tide forward Jason Caffey's layup with 9 minutes, 32 seconds left, Dunphy called timeout. Allen returned from the break to drain a trey. Penn went on an 21-10 run to close regulation and force overtime. "That's the spirit, the determination of this group," Dunphy said. "They're just an extraordinary group of kids and they weren't going to go down quietly." Immediately after the timeout, the Quakers rattled off 11 straight points to knot the game at 57. The teams traded the lead for the remainder of regulation. The Tide was up two when Caffey (11 points, seven rebounds) missed a three-pointer. At the other end, Maloney gave the ball to junior forward Tim Krug (12 points), who faked a three-pointer, again got his man in the air, then passed to Ira Bowman (15 points). McDyess fouled him, and Bowman, who looked shaky earlier at the line, hit both free throws. The game was tied again, this time at 65 with 1:23 left. Tide forward Jamal Faulkner (nine points, 12 rebounds), deep under the basket, found McDyess, who laid the ball in to give Alabama a 67-65 lead. On the other end, Bowman again did not crack under pressure. He rebounded an Allen miss, went up for the shot and was fouled by Artie Griffin. Bowman hit the front rim on the first shot but the ball went in. The second shot was a swish and the game was tied at 67. Griffin took the ball, ran the clock down and found McDyess. Trice again defended well and the deep turnaround missed. Faulkner got the rebound over Bowman. The Tide held for the last shot, which Marvin Orange (14 points, six assists) missed from just to the left of the top of the circle. The Quakers fell apart early in overtime. The Tide scored the first 11 points of the extra session, leaving Penn no choice but to foul. The Quakers got within three points rallying behind a valiant effort from Allen. He hit a three-pointer with 23 seconds left to make it 88-82, then stole a pass and hit another trey five seconds later. Penn still trailed 88-85. "He's a heck of a player, and I think he's got the ability to play at the next level," Alabama coach David Hobbs said of Allen. "He's a fiery guy. He's an infectious kind of leader. He busts his tail the whole game. He can shoot the ball from the outside. He can put it on the floor. He can defend you. We haven't faced many guards as good as Jerome Allen." But the Quakers' good fortune ran out. Bryan Passink hit the second of two free throws at the other end to ice the Tide victory. "I don't think there's ever a time in the game when you're saying you're not going to come back," Maloney said. "But it's difficult to come back. You're down nine. There's not much time." Alabama opened up as big as a six-point advantage before the break, but the Quakers whittled away at that lead. A Maloney three-pointer that immediately followed a McDyess thunderous dunk at the other end pulled Penn to within one point, 37-36. Then Faulkner missed a turnaround jumper and Bowman got the rebound. Allen held for the final shot of the half. His driving layup bounced off the rim and Faulkner got the rebound. But Bowman stole the ball and laid it in as the first half expired and the Quakers led 38-37 at the break. Yet, for all the emotion Penn poured into the game, it was unable to overcome McDyess' performance.
NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTEBOOK: Both teams feel loose, confident
(03/16/95 10:00am)
BALTIMORE -- The hour-long Alabama practice last night, which was open to fans, was a circus. Meanwhile, the Quakers practice that immediately followed was rather sedate. "I don't know that you're ever going to have a great practice with all the distractions that go on around the NCAA practices," Alabama coach David Hobbs said. "If we happen to survive the first round and we have a closed practice that's an hour and a half long the next day, I'm sure it will be a whole lot better. But it's very difficult to come into this setting knowing you only have an hour." The clocks above each of the scoreboards in the cozy arena ticked down the hour during the practices as people milled around and crews got set for today's games. Tide center Antonio McDyess looked particularly impressive during Alabama's intrasquad scrimmage. He had a couple monster slams that sent the crowd into a frenzy, including one over teammate Wade Kaiser. McDyess was also drilling line drive shots from the baseline consistently. · Penn and Drexel both play in the evening session, which means the crowd should be pretty one-sided in the Philly schools' favor. That didn't seem to bother Hobbs though. The Tide has showed this year it is actually a better road team. Alabama won 88-70 at Arkansas. "To play on the road in an adverse situation has not been all that bad for us," Hobbs said. "What we have to worry about is the team that's out there between the lines." · Hobbs had the usual reaction when he saw his Tide was going to play an Ivy League squad. "We all sit there as coaches, particularly in those days when Princeton was in the Tournament and giving everyone so much trouble, and you hope for two things," he said. "You hope to see your name in a fairly high seed, and you hope Princeton wouldn't be in the spot next to you. "Penn is a team that plays in the Ivy League, but I think is a little bit different from most Ivy League teams from what I can tell in that they have much better athleticism than most of the teams in the Ivy League. For so many years, Princeton did it with intricate offense, good screening, good passing, back doors. I think Penn does it with a combination of that and very good athletes." · The only other meeting between Penn and Alabama came Dec. 29, 1986 at the BMA Holiday Classic in Kansas City. Alabama won the game, 110-68. · For those who care about pregame meals, both the Penn and Wake Forest basketball teams ate dinner last night at Sabatino's. On the menu was an intriguing dish called "Jerome," which the waitress described as egg-battered veal served dry with a lemon. Drexel ate across the street at Ciao Bella. · The team apparently in the least-envious position today is North Carolina A&T;, which earned its second straight berth by winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference over Coppin State here in Baltimore. The Aggies (15-14) face top-seeded Wake Forest in the first game today at Baltimore Arena. Roy Thomas -- the third coach in three seasons at A&T; --Esaid he is here to win, bringing along two suits just in case the team gets to stay through Saturday. The Aggies, who hail from Greensboro, have never met Wake Forest despite the scant 20 miles separating the schools. Thomas' star forward, John Floyd -- who is from Winston-Salem, home of the Demon Deacons -- grew up with a big Wake Forest fan in mother Willie Mae Floyd. "When I was coming up, she was a big Wake Forest fan, but I think she's for A&T; in this game," he said. · Penn coach Fran Dunphy's first NCAA Tournament experience came here in Maryland against Columbia in the 1967-68 season when he was a sophomore at La Salle. Dunphy and the Explorers lost the game.
Penn and 'Bama set for showdown
(03/16/95 10:00am)
7:40 tipoff at Baltimore Arena BALTIMORE -- Jerome Allen met Jason Caffey in California during the Goodwill Games tryouts last summer. They meet again tonight when one player's collegiate career comes to a close. The Penn men's basketball team faces No. 20 Alabama in the first round of the NCAA Tournament here at Baltimore Arena tonight at 7:40 (CBS, WXPN-FM 88.5, WGMP-AM 1210). Five seniors, including Allen, take the floor for the Quakers looking to extend their careers to Saturday, when they would face the Drexel-Oklahoma State winner. The fifth-seeded Crimson Tide (22-9) finished the regular season in third place in the Southeastern Conference's Western Division and lost in the SEC Tournament semifinals to Arkansas, 69-58. Penn (22-5), the No. 12 seed, earned its third straight berth and has won 43 straight Ivy League games. Both teams advanced to the second round of last year's Tourney before suffering defeats. The Quakers posted a 90-80 win over Nebraska in Uniondale, N.Y., in the first round. The Tide topped Providence, 76-70, in Lexington, Ky. Tonight, Penn will have the burden of trying to contain the Crimson Tide front line, which is not tall but is very aggressive. At 6-foot-9, sophomore center Antonio McDyess (12.8 points per game, 9.7 rpg) -- who Allen also met at the Goodwill Games tryouts -- is the tallest up front. He is joined by a couple of powerful forwards, Jamal Faulkner (12.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Caffey (12.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg). "Jason [Caffey] would get it at the defensive end and come down coast to coast and basically owned the inside," Allen said. "He's just a strong player." But Alabama is a team, and Penn cannot concentrate on one player. The top four scorers all average 12 ppg. "We don't have any real big egos," Tide coach David Hobbs said. "We have guys that play together. It doesn't really matter who scores. I think that does help us in that if one guy's not on his game on a given night, we've got some other possibilities to go to." Penn coach Fran Dunphy expressed concern about Alabama's defense last night before the Quakers' practice. The Crimson Tide led the SEC with 6.1 blocks per game and held opponents to only a 37.4 percent shooting average from the field. The Tide also outrebounds its opponents regularly. "We try to do a good job of getting back and cutting off the easy baskets. And we don't let people get run-out baskets on us," Hobbs said. "Some of that we do with our athleticism, some of that we do with our system on defense, which is really a team-oriented kind of thing where we have a lot of help in there. The other thing is we try to not let the other team get real good looks at the basket. We try to contest every shot." "They pose great challenges to us. We're going to have to play an excellent basketball game in order to win," Dunphy said. "Hopefully we'll get our share of good looks at the basket, but you see these kinds of percentages that they hold their opponents to. Those same good looks that you think you're getting all of a sudden get closed down because of their speed and quickness to the ball. We're going to have to really pay attention." Shot blocking and rebounding are things to which the Alabama frontcourt has become accustomed. "For us to be successful in our league and whoever else we're playing against, we realize we have to pressure the ball and contest a lot of shots and just really focus on defense," Caffey said. Alabama does have good guard play as well, although it goes somewhat unnoticed because of the powerful frontcourt. "I feel like our guards are as good as any guards in the country," Tide senior guard Artie Griffin said. "But when you have an advantage like with Jason [Caffey] and Antonio [McDyess], you have to be crazy not to give them the ball and let them do what they can." Hobbs said his team will be ready for the Quakers. While in the past teams may have underestimated the Ivy League's representative in the Tournament, Penn's victory in last year's NCAAs over the Cornhuskers and wins at Michigan and St. John's this season have underscored the Quakers' ability and given them credibility. "It's not hard to get ready for Penn because they have given you so many examples of what they can do," Hobbs said. Meanwhile, Dunphy said he did think yesterday morning while reading the paper what it would be like once the Quakers had lost and the seniors' stellar collegiate careers were over. "What struck me this morning is pretty soon, and I hope its a number of games into the Tournament, that these guys are no longer going to be together as players," Dunphy said. "That's disappointing in that I won't have a chance to coach them anymore."
Penn assistant O'Hanlon lands Lafayette job
(03/14/95 10:00am)
Penn assistant basketball coach Fran O'Hanlon will be the next coach at Lafayette, Leopards athletic director Eve Atkinson said yesterday. O'Hanlon replaces John Leone, who resigned in late February after 15 seasons with Lafayette, the last seven as head coach. O'Hanlon, 46, will be officially announced as the 21st coach in Leopards history Monday afternoon in Easton. He served six seasons as a Penn assistant, and he is credited with designing the offense that has led to 43 straight Ivy League victories for the Quakers. "Fran brings a rich basketball background to College Hill at all levels of play both home and abroad," Atkinson said in a statement. "Having worked at an Ivy League institution, Fran is well versed in the mission and importance of blending academics and athletics for today's student-athletes." Before his six seasons with the Quakers, O'Hanlon served as coach of Monsignor Bonner High School in Drexel Hills. He is a 1970 Villanova graduate and captained the Wildcats his senior year, averaging 13.1 points per game for the team, which reached the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. "I'm thrilled to be coming to Lafayette," O'Hanlon said. "I'm looking forward to going there and getting to work." O'Hanlon interviewed for the head-coach position at Loyola (Md.) following last season and was under consideration for the job at Boston University as well. Penn beat Lafayette 92-57 in Easton Jan. 23, and the Quakers are 27-2 lifetime against the Leopards. Lafayette finished with a 2-25 record this season, and lost its last 22 games.
PHILADELPHIA BIG 5: Future of Big 5 remains unclear
(02/22/95 10:00am)
The guardian of the Big 5 sits in a small office adjacent to the cathedral of college basketball uncertain about the future. There are photos on the wall of a bygone era of Philadelphia hoops in Dan Baker's Hutchinson Gymnasium office. There is also writing on the wall: Baker, executive secretary of the Big 5, knows the league of Philly schools enjoys only a fraction of its former glory. "Unfortunately, we don't have the kind of clout we once did. And in the absence of a full round-robin, we're not likely to get it back," he says. "What this office does is perpetuate the tradition.?But it's unfortunate that without the round-robin in place, we really can't determine an annual champion. Not with what currently exists. Maybe there's a way to address that." The fate of the league celebrating 40 years of history rests in the hands of the athletic directors at La Salle, Pennsylvania, St. Joseph's, Temple and Villanova. They will meet with Baker after this season to negotiate a new contract to replace the one that expires after the 1995-96 campaign. In truth, the fate rests largely with Villanova. Baker says the other schools favor restoring the round-robin, four-game format that existed until 'Nova escaped from its obligation through a clause in the agreement in 1991. With the addition of Miami to the Big East, Villanova had two more conference games. Villanova insisted on a reduction of four to two Big 5 games per year. "It's a matter of whether it's feasible for us in the situation we're in now to go any further than we're in," Villanova coach Steve Lappas says. "It's out of necessities of life that you do a lot of things. It's not out of desire a lot of the time. Eighteen games in the league, wanting to play on national television -- all those things have become factors in the 1990s." Baker, who oversees the everyday activities of the Big 5, says the league will likely remain in a form similar to the present, with Villanova playing its two games per year. He agrees the Big 5 is a victim of changing times in college basketball. "The critics were failing to take into consideration the change that was going on in college basketball , with the emergence of the big conferences and the importance of the NCAA tournament and the amount of money that teams could make by being selected for the tournament," Baker says. "So there was a lot of pressure on the schools. In some ways what occurred was inevitable." There are options though, Baker says, realizing Villanova will not resume playing four Big 5 games per year. · Drexel may be brought in to play the two games Villanova does not. But Baker says that would mean two of the six Philly teams would only be playing a pair of games, and determining a champion would be a problem. · Drexel may be invited and two three-team divisions formed, with an extra third game for the champions. · Or Drexel may just replace Villanova and the original round-robin format restored. · The final option, other than the status quo, is for La Salle, Penn, St. Joe's and Temple to play a three-game format. "The essence of the Big 5 is the round-robin schedule, which is how we can determine the champion," Baker says. "Without that in place, it really dilutes the concept of a Big 5 champion." La Salle will join Temple and St. Joe's in the Atlantic 10 next season. The new A-10 will have two divisions, with Temple and St. Joe's in one division and playing each other twice per season as they do currently. La Salle will likely end up in the other division and play Temple and St. Joe's one time per year, regardless of the Big 5 obligation. "When we played it was a round-robin. Now it's just two teams play and that's it," former Temple star Guy Rodgers says. "To me, even though we talk about the past, we should be talking about the present and the future with a round-robin. I would like to see the five athletic directors and presidents get together and make it something that goes on and on. Forty years is great, but 140 years would be better. I just want to see it go on."
1994-95 IVY LEAGUE: Big Green hopes to foil Dunphy's 100-win bid
(02/17/95 10:00am)
Dave Faucher sat in the Palestra interview room a year ago and likened his Penn-Princeton weekend trip to oral surgery: painful, long and a necessary evil. Faucher's Dartmouth men's basketball team lost the games by a combined 50 points. So when he returns to the Palestra with an improved Big Green squad tonight at 7 (WXPN-FM 88.5), the appeal of watching may be somewhat doubtful. The result figures to be like the last 36 Ivy League games in which Penn has played -- a Quakers victory. Harvard visits the Palestra tomorrow at 7 p.m. (WXPN-FM 88.5, WGMP-AM 1210). Penn (15-4, 7-0 Ivy League) has now played all the Ivy teams once this season, outscoring them by an average of 21.1 points per game. Tonight's reason for getting excited? Coach Fran Dunphy takes his second shot at win No. 100 in six seasons with the Quakers. Dunphy, who sports a 99-53 record in his Penn career, may be the least excited person about getting his 100th win. The Penn men's basketball coach shuns personal accomplishments. "It will mean we're 8-0 in the league and that will be certainly significant," Dunphy said. "But unfortunately I can't wear it or eat it." Dartmouth (9-11, 6-2) is in second place and playing well. The Big Green boasts Jamie Halligan, who scored 24 points during Penn's 85-70 win in Hanover, N.H., Jan. 7. Faucher also has Sea Lonergan, last year's rookie of the year, who cut Penn's lead to five points late in the first half of the first meeting with back-to-back three-pointers. Lonergan leads the Ivy League in overall scoring (17.3 ppg) and Ivy scoring (19.3). Penn guard Scott Kegler had a huge game against Dartmouth. He scored a career-high 26 points by hitting seven three-pointers. Kegler is second in the nation in three-point shooting percentage at 52 percent (47 of 91) through Feb. 13. He is shooting 65 percent (17 of 26) in seven Ivy games. Dunphy is familiar with the Big Green. He said he has watched the tape of the first Penn-Dartmouth meeting 10 times since the Temple loss. "Unfortunately, we can't just gear our stuff for Jamie Halligan," Dunphy said. "Lonergan is a good basketball player. We've got to be ready for [Jacob] Capps, who did a good job against us the first time, and [Brian] Gilpin can score. Dunphy said his players will be motivated for the weekend despite a commanding lead in the Ivy standings. Harvard (4-16, 2-6) is struggling, having only Columbia to thank for not being in the Ivy cellar. Penn beat the Crimson soundly, 90-63, in the first meeting in a game that tied the old Ivy League winning streak at 30. Penn set the new record the next night in Hanover, and has dominated ever since. "I'm not worried about what other people are saying about how we're supposed to win by a lot of points," Dunphy said. "If we win both games by a point, and you could ensure me of that, then I'll sleep a whole lot better these next two nights."
Heartbreak on Valentine's Day
(02/15/95 10:00am)
Derrick Battie practiced Temple coach John Chaney's preaching about rebounding at opportune times. Battie, who has been nursing a sprained ankle that caused him to miss Temple's last two games, came up with what teammate Rick Brunson called the biggest rebound of the season. Battie's subsequent layup gave the Owls the winning basket with 12.4 seconds left as Temple handed Penn a 59-56 loss at a sold-out Palestra. The Quakers had a last good chance, but after Penn guard Jerome Allen drove the lane and drew a pair of defenders, forward Shawn Trice, standing just to the right of the basket with Penn trailing by one point, could not handle Allen's pass. "The bottom line is I missed the pass," Trice said. "I let my teammates down. And we weren't tough enough in the end." Penn fouled quickly, and Owls guard Johnny Miller hit two free throws with 1.8 seconds left. A last-second inbounds pass to midcourt by Allen went astray. "Jerome [Allen] makes it all possible, because when he splits [the defense] it forces two people to stop him, and that means somebody's open," Chaney said. "And he finds them. He found a guy on the last play, just kicked it to him a little hard and it bounced out of his hands." Temple (13-7, 2-0 Big 5) held on for its 14th straight victory over the Quakers. The Owls earned a share of the Big 5 title with St. Joseph's on a night when Philly basketball legends, including Penn's Corky Calhoun, returned to the Palestra to be honored during the Big 5's 40th anniversary celebration. Temple and St. Joe's finish 2-0 in official Big 5 games. The Owls have now won four straight games and have made a strong bid for the NCAA tournament, having won on the road at Louisville and Penn in their last two games. Temple trailed 56-52 after Penn guard Matt Maloney answered a Miller three-pointer for the second time late in the game with a three-pointer of his own with 4:43 remaining. But Penn (13-4, 0-1) was held scoreless for the rest of the game. Quakers center Tim Krug missed two free throws, then Miller hit a three-pointer from the top of the key with 2:22 left to pull the Owls to within one point, 56-55. Battie's basket was the next and deciding score more than two minutes later. Maloney, whose father Jim is Temple's assistant coach, rebounded from a bad game against the Owls last year. Maloney scored a team-high 15 points, taking all 12 of his shots from three-point range and hitting five. Penn coach Fran Dunphy was particularly pleased with Maloney, and happy with his team's 40-percent shooting from the field against the Owls, who sport the top-ranked defense in the nation. "That's a great defensive team as has been proven over the years, and it's a shame that we didn't follow it through those last five minutes," Dunphy said. Penn closed the first half with a 6-0 spurt to open up a 28-23 lead, with Quakers forward Ira Bowman scoring all the points in the run, including a steal and dunk that electrified the crowd. The Quakers' biggest lead was six points when Maloney hit a trey to stake Penn to a 50-44 lead with 7:20 remaining in the contest. Penn was executing well against Temple's zone, driving the lane and kicking the ball to open players set along the perimeter. "They, perhaps, went into splitting and spreading against our zone better than anybody we faced, probably better than anybody we will face," Chaney said. "Most teams, stand, look around, pass around, run one cut and then try to get a play. These kids are already fixed in position when they come up the floor, so they're already there." Miller (15 points), Brunson (16 points, five assists) and Levan Alston (12 points) hurt the Quakers from the perimeter. Miller played with the confidence of a veteran taking two big shots at the end of the game, including the one Battie rebounded that answered Chaney's prayer.
A FRONT ROW VIEW: Buck Jenkins can't save the Lions now
(02/13/95 10:00am)
Had Columbia's all-time leading scorer suited up, instead of sitting on the bench in a suit, there may have been some uncertainty. And had the investment banker sitting a few rows behind the all-time leading scorer been in the lineup, there may have been that healthy bit of doubt. The doubt the fan seeks, perhaps unknowingly, when he goes to a game. The doubt that keeps him on the edge of his seat waiting for that next shot, that next moment, which may turn the tide in the home team's favor and be a memory forever ingrained in his mind. There is nothing wrong with confidence the home team will win, but when that slight threat of losing is gone -- as it has been at the Palestra for a couple of Ivy seasons -- a good deal of the appeal of college basketball goes with it. Penn coach Fran Dunphy's disappointment was his inability to get his reserves in earlier in the game. When you have won 36 straight Ivy League games, apparently that is a big concern. Since Buck Jenkins, now Columbia's interim assistant coach, graduated in 1993 as the school's most prolific scorer, and since teammate Omar Sanders has taken a job with Prudential on Wall Street, Columbia has been woeful. Coach Jack Rohan's squad won its first four Ivy games last season and has lost 18 in a row since. The Columbia streak is starting to rival the football version of the 1980s. Jenkins would gladly have been on the court Saturday. Too bad an eligibility waiver would have been needed to add some attractiveness to the game. The squad Jenkins captained as a senior was clearly Columbia's best of the decade. The Penn dynasty was in its infancy, and the Lions thought they could be the Ivy champs for one year between the inevitable Penn-Princeton torch-passing. Jerome Allen, who is expected to become the first player to win the league's most valuable player award three times, was a sophomore back in 1992-93. The talk was all Allen and Jenkins then. Jenkins, who appeared to have a promising CBA career that never materialized after graduation, has kept in shape. He played in Albuferia, Portugal, from July through November for Imortal, which he called "the worst team in the country." Jenkins got sick because of the food, and the team and Jenkins divorced. "They blamed the American," Jenkins said. "I was averaging about 25 ppg and the first thing they said was, 'The American shoots too much.' They sent me home pretty much." There was an opening for an interim assistant coach at Columbia. So Jenkins is back with the Lions, close enough to the basket to drain a three-pointer yet unable to help. He was in charge of breaking down the films for the Penn game. "I guess somebody might look at the score and say I didn't do a pretty good job," he said. Still, he hopes to shed the interim from his title when Columbia undergoes its assistant coach search after the season. If he stays with the team, as he expects, he will have to do a lot of recruiting. Columbia has not developed a new crop of talent since his class graduated. Without Jenkins on the floor, Allen was unmatched Saturday. Now Penn is two games ahead of an outmatched pack in its quest for a third consecutive league title. And the fan, who is not a sadist, must find a way to enjoy seven more whippings in order to earn the coveted NCAA tournament bid. Adam Rubin is a Wharton senior from Bellmore, N.Y., and former sports editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian.
INSIDE SPORTS: SATs, lies and sour grapes
(02/09/95 10:00am)
When emotions and facts getWhen emotions and facts getconfused, reputations of schoolsWhen emotions and facts getconfused, reputations of schoolsand student-athletes may suffer Adam Epstein is admittedly bitter. After all, bleeding Columbia blue isn't easy. So Epstein, former sports editor of The Columbia Daily Spectator, sat at his computer and did what no Lions football or men's basketball team has been able to do since his freshman year in 1991-92: beat up on the Quakers. It is not entirely unexpected. After all, when the University of Pennsylvania wins in men's basketball or football, admissions standards must be dropping as fast as the wind chill on Superblock come winter. And when the University wins 34 straight Ivy basketball games, and 16 straight in football, watch out. Penn's new motto: "Give us your tired, your poor, your tempest-tossed, wretched refuse -- and we'll give them a jersey!" according to Epstein, who co-authored the column in the Jan. 25 edition of the Spectator. Epstein and a similar column in The Cornell Daily Sun make allegation after allegation about the University's admissions standards for athletes. The problem? It simply is not true, according to University Athletic Director Steve Bilsky. "Now, all of a sudden that Penn is dominating in football and basketball, which are the dominate and visible sports in the league, it's not unusual that people, many of which are uninformed, many of which are envious, are taking potshots," Bilsky said. "It's the way sports work. It creates a fair amount of adrenaline and emotion." Besides, noted Ivy League Executive Director Jeff Orleans, the league does compete nationally in other sports. Princeton won the men's and women's lacrosse national titles, Columbia fencers are national champions and Harvard men's ice hockey is among the best in the nation. He said nationally competitive basketball teams, as long as they are achieved within the Ivy rules, should be the goal. "I think there's been a perception that Ivy teams can't compete nationally in basketball because the bottom of our league in both men's and women's ball has not been very good recently, and so people have tended to wonder if the top is an aberration," Orleans said. "I think there is no reason why we can't compete as a league much better than we have competed. I know people have been trying to do that. I know the level of our women's game has come up remarkably in the last three or four years. And I think if we had better average quality of ball in the league, people would see the best teams as less anomalous. "When one team seems to be winning a lot," he added, "people tend to ask, 'Well why is that happening?' And I think the real question is for teams that are not winning, 'Why aren't we better?' " Orleans said the negative opinion of Penn is not being generated by other Ivy administrations, and there have been no complaints by the presidents, athletic directors or deans of admissions at their meetings since Penn's streaks began. He did agree there may be an anti-Penn sentiment by students at the other Ivies. Part of the image problem is Penn's fault. The University is hypersensitive to criticism, a product of an academic inferiority complex relative to the other Ivy League schools that Bilsky has pledged to address. Bilsky's salary himself has come under criticism too. His seven-year, $1.7 million contract is substantially more than the league average one source estimated at $110,000. Penn alumni have also given football coach Al Bagnoli a $500,000 annuity payable upon maturity. Those high-priced salaries have spurred a commitment to win in a time when Ivy schools, including Penn, are addressing gender-equity concerns and athletic department cutbacks. But both Bilsky and University Admissions Dean Lee Stetson vehemently assert Penn's winning is based on commitment to those sports, not by admitting athletes unqualified for the Ivy League. "What I think has happened is that it's our era right now," Stetson said. "We just have to be proud enough and secure enough to be comfortable with where we are. From this office, I'm perfectly comfortable because there hasn't been any student-athlete that's been admitted in the tenure that I've been a part of that I've been signing off on that I have ever felt would not do the work here academically and would not thrive here." The Ivy League employs an academic index (AI) with a maximum score of 240, and in most cases a floor of 161. The score is composed of three equally weighted categories: SAT score, achievement tests and class rank taking into account the competitiveness of the school.
LaSalle gets no offense in loss
(02/08/95 10:00am)
Speedy Morris did not show much emotion as he crouched on the La Salle sideline in the final moments of last night's Big 5 loss. His Explorers did not show much emotion during the contest. Temple took a three-point halftime advantage and routed La Salle in the second half en route to a 67-50 win at McGonigle Hall. The Explorers shot a miserable 7 for 34 in the second half. Guard Kareem Townes -- the one-man scoring machine for the Explorers who was averaging 25.2 points per game going into the contest -- managed just 11 points on 4-for-17 shooting. He was scoreless in the second half. "I thought we got some really good looks at the basket," Morris said. "We just didn't make a lot of shots. Townes had a very good first half, and I'll give credit where it's due, but look at the tape and see the shots that he got. He normally makes those shots. I don't think it was a great defensive effort on him. He just didn't make his shots." Meanwhile, Temple (10-7, 1-0 Big 5) was struggling too. But the Owls dominated the boards, outrebounding the Explorers 48-29. Owls freshman forward Lynard Stewart had 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Temple floor general Rick Brunson also had 15 points, and sophomore forward Huey Futch had a career-high 14 points. La Salle (11-9, 0-2) needed this win badly in order to keep its hopes of an NIT bid alive. The Explorers have not been to a postseason tournament the past two seasons. But Temple needed the game too in order to make the NCAA tournament. Morris called his team's play "horrendous," and likened it to the way the Explorers played in a 90-71 loss to Penn on Jan. 17, as well as in a loss at Wisconsin-Green Bay. The Owls shot 10 for 24 from three-point range and used that shooting to blow away La Salle after intermission. With Temple ahead 48-36, the Explorers made their final threat of the evening. Consecutive three-pointers by La Salle's Paul Burke and Olof Landgren pulled La Salle to within six points, but Temple went on a 14-0 run while the Explorers missed 11 straight shots. Owls coach John Chaney said because the Explorers don't have a true big man, his squad was able to focus on the perimeter players. Townes and Burke shot a combined 7 for 30 from the field. "Temple needed a win," Morris said, "but so did we. We needed a win against a team like this."
A FRONT ROW VIEW: Nothing bland about Carril
(01/30/95 10:00am)
The best thing about Penn-Princeton was the part the paying crowd never got to see. It was when Pete Carril slowly walked into the interview room, cigar in hand, and enjoyed talking about anything other than the game he painfully watched. There were more tangents in Carril's monologue than in a high-school geometry class. One minute Carril asked trivia -- Hey Steve Goodrich, can you name the five state capitals that begin with the letter 'A'? The next minute, Carril suggested he may give injured guard Mitch Henderson a fife and American flag, wrap some bandages around his head, put him in a boat and send him across the Delaware River. Finally, as he chewed on his cigar, Carril posed the question: 'What if 20 years from now they actually find out smoking is good for you?' It was all too much for one radio man who had a front-row seat right by the one-piece orchestra -- another cackling reporter. Carril enjoyed the laughter, then said the amused man was as objective as Newt Gingrich. It was all a diversionary tactic though. Talk about Pete Carril and you're not talking about his team. That is good this year, because Carril's team is not. The Tigers are not bad. Just not typical Princeton. Not that Penn is typical Penn either, which explains the lopsided final score. Princeton, which is one of only six teams to hit a three-pointer in every game since the rule was enacted in 1986, was in danger of not hitting one. The only threes the Tigers had at halftime were in the foul column on the scoresheet next to the names: Goodrich, Hielscher and Johnson. One Penn student actually felt badly for Princeton. "I think I'm too kind-hearted to watch basketball," the misguided Daily Pennsylvanian editor said. But she wasn't that far off. Take two intense rivals, fill the Palestra to capacity and you come to expect competition. In boxing they stop the fight when one side can't respond. But there was no cry of No m
Hielscher overcomes tendinitis, expectations to shine for Tigers
(01/26/95 10:00am)
PRINCETON, N.J. -- It is still the most celebrated Ivy League near-win, but the heir to Princeton's center position didn't watch the game. The Tigers' aura, which reached legend status with a near-upset of top-ranked Georgetown in the NCAA tournament March 17, 1989, was somewhat foreign to Rick Hielscher. Apparently the lofty shadow of diminutive Princeton coach Pete Carril hadn't reached Hielscher's hometown of Wilmette, Ill. Now a senior, Hielscher will make his final appearance at the Palestra Saturday looking to regain the title Princeton won for the fourth straight time his freshman year but has not won since. He needs just 17 points for 1,000 in his injury-plagued Tigers career. Hielscher followed a legend at Princeton -- center Kit Mueller. He doesn't feel the pressure anymore, but as a freshman he knew it existed. It was a team that returned the rest of the starting unit, including eventual player of the year Sean Jackson. "The comparisons annoyed me because it's childish to always want someone to come back who was so great," Hielscher said. "And I just wish that people could have forgotten him a little bit." But things were going well. Princeton won its fourth straight title. And Hielscher averaged 10.3 ppg to edge out Penn's Jerome Allen for rookie of the year. Then the knee problems began. There was no one incident. No limp as he walked around campus. No crutches. No tangible sign for Princeton basketball fans to understand why the consistent production stopped his sophomore year. Just tendinitis in the knee. The only thing that heals it is rest. But Hielscher really didn't know what was wrong, nor did he know how to treat it. Playing on it was the worst thing he could do, yet he did. It just got worse. "I think it did generate frustration," Hielscher said. "It was frustrating for me." His production dropped, and so did public opinion. Playing after a legend isn't easy. Playing after a legend and playing injured is unfair. Carril, who has seen people turn on him when he doesn't win consistently, can identify. "I used to be a great coach too. And now that we're losing, I'm no longer a great coach," he said. "It happens. You're only as good as your last shot. You're only as good as your last victory. And when you shoot pool, you're only good until you make the eight-ball, unless you scratch." There is a bright ending though. Hielscher may never regain the Ivy title -- a loss to Dartmouth this season figures to take care of that hope -- but he has rebounded personally. He was named to the first-team all-Ivy squad last season, and leads the Tigers this season with 11.3 ppg despite only averaging 21.7 minutes. On a squad which relies heavily on three freshmen and a sophomore sensation named Sydney Johnson, Hielscher has been an important factor. "His maturation has been right on target," said Frank Sullivan, whose Harvard squad took the Tigers to double overtime Jan. 7 before falling. "I think the knees have held him back, so you do feel for that. But he's certainly one of the premier guys in the league." Still, to win an Ivy League title freshman year, to get to the NCAA tournament, and then never return is frustrating. Hielscher knew he would have a good team his freshman year and a chance to win the league. But after that it depended on recruiting. Who Princeton recruits. Who the other Ivies recruit. "I don't want to worry so much about winning the league," Hielscher said. "I mean, that's the goal of our whole year to win the Ivy League. But I think it's just as important to play well. It's a great Penn team, and no matter what happens in the game we have to concentrate on playing well the whole rest of the year. "To win the Ivy League. That's really the only goal we have. And then if we don't win the Ivy League, then just to play our best every game that we play." The pressure of replacing Kit Mueller -- the pressure he felt his freshman year -- is long gone now. The hope the title would come down to Penn and Princeton still exists, despite the loss to the Big Green. "It's a huge game for us since we lost at Dartmouth," Hielscher said. "It would have been a big game anyway."
A FRONT ROW VIEW: No glamour in this Penn win
(01/24/95 10:00am)
EASTON -- Throwing streamers at the Palestra. Playing four Big 5 games a year. The annual contest against Lafayette. Ah, tradition. Penn and the Leopards have now met 29 times, with the Quakers having won 27. There's nothing like a fierce rivalry to really get the fans emotional. Scoreboard, scoreboard, scoreboard rang the chant from the Lafayette student section. It was humorous because it was so sad. The chant rang out just a minute into the game when the Leopards were leading 2-0, and the students knew Lafayette had little chance of holding on much longer. Still coach John Leone believed. For four minutes his Leopards held the lead. Outmanned, outclassed and outplayed, the Leopards always fought hard, even after a few late plays by the Quakers allowed Penn to open up a 19-point halftime lead. He believed. Despite a 2-14 Leopards team without its top player, Craig Kowadla, Leone thought Lafayette could defeat the top-25 caliber Quakers. He said if he didn't believe, he might as well not have shown up. "I'm not crazy," Leone said. "Why not? We're out there. Why not? Some nights the ball is going to go in. It just doesn't happen very often for us. Why not?" The Lafayette players were genuinely excited by this contest. You know, how Penn fans get up for Massachusetts or Michigan. After all, how often does a national power visit Allan P. Kirby Field House? From the Penn vantage point, there was little redeeming value to this game. The Quakers got back some confidence after losing to St. Joseph's Saturday. They have some momentum going into this weekend's Princeton matchup. Penn coach Fran Dunphy even got a look at next year's starters while they received significant minutes. Dunphy said he just plays the teams on his schedule. That doesn't really explain why Lafayette is on there. Maybe it's because Penn is not so far removed from being competitive with the Patriot League teams. Regardless, nobody will say the Quakers played stellar. They started off trailing. They were sloppy early. Penn came out much better in the second half, raising its level of play. Dunphy said he doesn't give fiery halftime speeches when he is disappointed with his team's first-half play. "I usually save my fiery speeches for the next day," Dunphy said. But the Quakers have the day off, so junior Tim Krug told his coach: "You can fire off tomorrow." The game actually had a high-school quality about it. Twice the Lafayette cheerleaders took the floor during timeouts. The first time the music wouldn't start. The second, the players returned to the court early. Things really weren't going well in Easton. The shot clock at one end ceased to work too. But the Lafayette students were having fun. With plenty of time on their hands, they even came up with this gem: "At least we have the tallest player on the court." Penn-Lafayette. What a tradition. Adam Rubin is a Wharton senior from Bellmore, N.Y., and former sports editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian.