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(08/06/98 9:00am)
This article originally appeared on June 22, 1995. This Wednesday is D-Day for Jerome Allen, Matt Maloney and a host of other collegiate stars hoping to make it in the National Basketball Association. D-Day, of course, is Draft Day. And Destiny Day. For the elites, the guys all 29 NBA teams would love to have, it is the day they find out which team they will play for, which city they will live in, and just how many millions of dollars they can expect to make in the next few years. For Penn guards Allen and Maloney and so many others like them, it is the day they find out whether their dreams of an NBA career will become a reality or not, and whether the years of blood, sweat and tears have been worth it. Actually, it may not be as dramatic as all that. Allen should definitely be picked by the end of the second (and final) round, and could go as high as late in the first round. Maloney may or may not be among the 58 players selected, but it is certainly not the end of the line for him if he is not. One theory says he might in fact be better off not being picked. That way, he could take his choice of invitations to preseason free agent camps, rather than being tied down to one team that could end up cutting him in the preseason anyway. If either or both Quakers are picked, the evening of June 28 will be one to remember. In the last 15 years, the NBA has seen just two Penn draftees. The most recent of those was Perry Bromwell, a sixth-round choice of the New Jersey Nets in 1987. Now there are only two rounds, and the last Quaker to be picked as high as the second round was Tony Price by Detroit in 1979. Penn coach Fran Dunphy will certainly be nervous Wednesday for the two most successful players he has ever coached. Since Maloney transferred from Vanderbilt three years ago, he and Allen have started together in the Penn backcourt. They were 1-2 on the Quakers in both scoring and assists each season, and between them have won the last three Ivy League MVP awards. "I'm just hoping for the best for each of them," Dunphy said. "They've already done so much. It would be nice to see them get the chance to show the NBA they can play." Allen and Maloney have had their first chance to show what they can do at a variety of pre-draft scouting combines. The biggest one takes place annually the first week of June in Chicago and features dozens of potential pros. By all accounts, Allen and Maloney both did well there. Rob Babcock, the Director of Player Personnel for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves -- a team that has expressed interest in both Allen and Maloney -- was in Chicago and said both Penn guards looked better than they had during the spring at previous scouting camps. "They're an interesting combo, coming from the same school," Babcock said. "They're both draftable." "Jerome shot the ball better than he had at other camps. Matt did a nice job running the point. He played under control. He'd trimmed himself down and showed good quickness. I don't know if he'll be drafted, but he showed himself well, to the point where he should definitely be invited to some free agent camps." According to Dunphy, other teams besides the Timberwolves have indicated their interest to Maloney and Allen. Maloney has heard from the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers, while Allen has talked to the San Antonio Spurs and Charlotte Hornets. But Dunphy cautioned that doesn't mean you should expect to hear their names called when those teams are up at the podium Wednesday night. "Each team might have contacted 50 other guys," he said. "I don't think it's that big a deal." Questions do exist about both Quakers. If Allen's quickness and athletic ability could be combined with Maloney's shooting consistency, the result might be a prototype NBA guard. But that obviously can't be done, no matter how well the two may have meshed during the three seasons they spent together in the Penn backcourt. "Jerome's shooting consistency is a question, especially shooting on the move and over people," Babcock said. "For Matt, it's getting his shot off over people, whether he can finish shots in the paint against the bigger guys he'll find in the NBA. They're both pretty good defensive players. There's a question of whether Matt will be able to keep up with the NBA-type of athletes up and down the court."
(06/22/95 9:00am)
Allen, Maloney set sights on NBA This Wednesday is D-Day for Jerome Allen, Matt Maloney and a host of other collegiate stars hoping to make it in the National Basketball Association. D-Day, of course, is Draft Day. And Destiny Day. For the elites, the guys all 29 NBA teams would love to have, it is the day they find out which team they will play for, which city they will live in, and just how many millions of dollars they can expect to make in the next few years. For Penn guards Allen and Maloney and so many others like them, it is the day they find out whether their dreams of an NBA career will become a reality or not, and whether the years of blood, sweat and tears have been worth it. Actually, it may not be as dramatic as all that. Allen should definitely be picked by the end of the second (and final) round, and could go as high as late in the first round. Maloney may or may not be among the 58 players selected, but it is certainly not the end of the line for him if he is not. One theory says he might in fact be better off not being picked. That way, he could take his choice of invitations to preseason free agent camps, rather than being tied down to one team that could end up cutting him in the preseason anyway. If either or both Quakers are picked, the evening of June 28 will be one to remember. In the last 15 years the NBA has seen just two Penn draftees. The most recent of those was Perry Bromwell, a sixth-round choice of the New Jersey Nets in 1987. Now there are only two rounds, and the last Quaker to be picked as high as the second round was Tony Price by Detroit in 1979. Penn coach Fran Dunphy will certainly be nervous Wednesday for the two most successful players he has ever coached. Since Maloney transferred from Vanderbilt three years ago, he and Allen have started together in the Penn backcourt. They were 1-2 on the Quakers in both scoring and assists each season, and between them have won the last three Ivy League MVP awards. "I'm just hoping for the best for each of them," Dunphy said. "They've already done so much. It would be nice to see them get the chance to show the NBA they can play." Allen and Maloney have had their first chance to show what they can do at a variety of pre-draft scouting combines. The biggest one takes place annually the first week of June in Chicago and features dozens of potential pros. By all accounts, Allen and Maloney both did well there. Rob Babcock, the Director of Player Personnel for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves -- a team that has expressed interest in both Allen and Maloney -- was in Chicago and said both Penn guards looked better than they had during the spring at previous scouting camps. "They're an interesting combo, coming from the same school," Babcock said. "They're both draftable. "Jerome shot the ball better than he had at other camps. Matt did a nice job running the point. He played under control. He'd trimmed himself down and showed good quickness. I don't know if he'll be drafted, but he showed himself well, to the point where he should definitely be invited to some free agent camps." According to Dunphy, other teams besides the Timberwolves have indicated their interest to Maloney and Allen. Maloney has heard from the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers, while Allen has talked to the San Antonio Spurs and Charlotte Hornets. But, cautioned Dunphy, that doesn't mean you should expect to hear their names called when those teams are up at the podium Wednesday night. "Each team might have contacted 50 other guys," he said. "I don't think it's that big a deal." Questions do exist about both Quakers. If Allen's quickness and athletic ability could be combined with Maloney's shooting consistency, the result might be a prototype NBA guard. But that obviously can't be done, no matter how well the two may have meshed during the three seasons they spent together in the Penn backcourt. "Jerome's shooting consistency is a question, especially shooting on the move and over people," Babcock said. "For Matt it's getting his shot off over people, whether he can finish shots in the paint against the bigger guys he'll find in the NBA. They're both pretty good defensive players. There's a question of whether Matt will be able to keep up with the NBA-type of athletes up and down the court."
(06/22/95 9:00am)
Fran Dunphy and the Penn coaching staff did not have a whole lot of time to mourn the departure of the greatest single class in Ivy League history. Their attention immediately turned to filling the roster spots vacated by the five seniors, all starters last season, who exited with three straight perfect 14-0 Ivy League seasons under their belts. Thus far the recruiting efforts have borne fruit in the form of four incoming freshmen, each of whom has a chance to make a significant impact -- at least down the road. "Talent-wise, they could certainly help us [their first year]," assistant coach Steve Donahue said. "But the transition from high school to Division I really makes it tough to come in and play right away." The best player the Quakers pursued in the spring was not a high school senior, but a college transfer. Rob Hodgson transferred from Indiana University when Hoosiers coach Bob Knight informed he would be redshirted for his freshman season there. Before that, Hodgson averaged 30 points and 15 rebounds for a Long Island, N.Y., high school team that won the state championship. He finished his career third on the all-time New York state scoring list. A 6-foot-7 forward, he can handle the ball with the best of them. Hodgson is taking his time deciding on his new school. Word is it has come down to Penn and Rutgers. Though Penn would surely rather not be left hanging like this, it feels Hodgson is worth it. "We can wait and the other schools who want him can wait," Donahue said. "He's a good kid and after what happened at Indiana, he wants to make sure he makes the right decision." In January, Jed Ryan, a 6-7 forward from Cathedral Prep in Erie, became the first recruit to commit to Penn. He was a four-year starter for a Cathedral squad that reached the state final his junior season. Cathedral lost in the semifinals this past season, but Ryan led the team in scoring with 24 points per game. He was a first-team all-state selection by the Associated Press. "He's got an air of cockiness about him. He's tough, a real competitor," Donahue said. Paul Romanczuk, a 6-6 forward from Archbishop Carroll in Radnor, knew all along Penn was his top choice. Romanczuk averaged 14 points and eight rebounds per game this past season as Carroll won the Philadelphia Catholic League title. Romanczuk recently showed off his extraordinary leaping ability by winning the Labor Classic Slam Dunk contest. "He'll bring some excitement to the Palestra down the road," Donahue said. The other two recruits decided to make the trek from the Left Coast to attend Penn. Frankie Brown is a 6-5 guard from Beverly Hills, Calif., who would have gone to USC had the Trojans offered him a scholarship. The Quakers hope USC's loss will be their gain. One magazine, Blue Chip Illustrated, ranked Brown among the top 100 high school players last season. The last Penn player to be ranked that high was Jerome Allen. Brown led Beverly Hills High with 23 points and eight rebounds. But Brown will have to work to get stronger before he reaches his full potential. The last recruit is probably the biggest question mark of all, but if he pans out he could reap the biggest rewards. He is Jeff Knoll out of Seattle, and the Quakers could have used his 6-11 frame in the middle more than once last season. Knoll was the starting center on a Mercer Island team that won the Washington state championship his sophomore year. Things went downhill from there. He missed virtually all of his final two seasons with first a broken back and then a broken foot. The Quakers hope he has one more comeback left in him. "With that kind of size you have to be excited," Donahue said
(05/03/95 9:00am)
It's an impressive resume, to say the least. But 25 years, 461 victories, 211 Ivy League wins and five league titles aren't the accolades Bob Seddon wants to discuss. Instead he talks about the Ian Award. It's presented annually, complete with a plaque, to the member of the baseball team who acts the goofiest during a particular season. "I've won that before," Seddon says. "They try to give it to me every year, actually." Seddon is always a leading contender for the award because 25 whole years as Penn baseball coach later, he is more of a kid at heart than he ever was. In the adult world of big-time collegiate sports, league titles and NCAA playoff berths are often the only things that matter. For Seddon, baseball is about having fun under the sun with a group of guys you know and love. He didn't always feel that way. Not to the extent he does now. Growing up in a small New Jersey town in the 1940s and 50s, Seddon was a three-sport star whose biggest asset was his burning desire to win. What people thought of him mattered, but achieving goals was at the top of his agenda. From the time he was in eighth or ninth grade, one of those goals was to be a coach. "It was just something I really wanted to do," Seddon says. "In all the years I've coached, I've never thought it was a job." In 1968, 10 years after graduating from Springfield College in Massachusetts, Seddon found himself not having a job as coach of the Penn men's soccer team. Two years later, the former three-sport athlete became a two-sport coach when he took over the baseball program. He stayed that way until 1986, when he relinquished his soccer duties, a move he says added years to his coaching career. With his attention focused solely on baseball, Penn soon entered the glory years of the Seddon era. From 1988 to 1990 the Quakers won three straight Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball titles. Though Penn came up short of its ultimate goal -- a spot in the College World Series -- each year, the atmosphere around Bower Field was electric. In 1989, the middle of that streak, one player was less thrilled about the situation than most of the others. Tom Bradshaw was a senior outfielder who was hoping he would finally get a chance for some playing time. But the immense talent on the Quakers roster prevented that from happening. Bradshaw was bitter, and he let Seddon know it. But six years later, Bradshaw is still writing Seddon regularly to say hi and let him know what's going on. That makes Seddon more proud than anything -- even the Ian Award. Over the years Seddon has discovered that, at least on the collegiate level, there is something more important than the game of baseball: the players who play it. "The longer you coach, the more you learn," Seddon said. "I think I realize now that the most important thing as a coach is what you're doing for the athletes. They shouldn't think all you care about is wins and losses. "So you try to get involved in their personal lives a little bit. You put pictures on the wall when they leave. You should always know where all your players are and what they are doing. I hope I can look back and feel a little bit like I did something right." For now, though, he does not want to look back. He wants to keep going, and he prays it all doesn't have to end any time soon. "I've been really fortunate to be able to do this for so long, and I really hate to think that someday I'm going to have to stop doing it," he says. "I'm just not mentally ready for that yet."
(04/28/95 9:00am)
The exact circumstances of this year's season-ending Penn-Columbia series are somewhat altered from last year's, but the significance of the games is the same. Once again, it's the Quakers versus the Lions for the championship of the Ivy League's Gehrig Division. Last year Penn and Columbia went into the season's final doubleheader tied for the division lead. The Quakers scored a dramatic sweep to claim the Gehrig title before losing to Yale in the Ivy League championship series. The Quakers (19-17, 11-5 Ivy League) go into this Columbia series able to rest somewhat easier than they did last year. Penn has a two-game lead over the Lions, and needs only a split of the four games. The only thing that matters to Penn is winning two games. But it is clear the Quakers would prefer to clinch the title with a sweep tomorrow in front of a home crowd rather than have the issue undecided when the teams head up to New York for the second doubleheader Sunday. To that end, coach Bob Seddon is doing something different with his two ace pitchers. Normally, Dan Galles and Ed Haughey pitch on different days of an Ivy weekend series, but tomorrow they will form the most effective of one-two punches. "It's the only way to go. We need to win at least one and maybe two games at home," Seddon said. Columbia (15-21-1, 9-7) has its own agenda in mind. The Lions are anxious to gain at least a split tomorrow at Bower, then return to the friendly confines of Coakley Field. Friendly indeed -- the Lions' strength is easily their hitting, and Coakley is definitely a hitter's park. The center field wall is a mere 350 feet away from home plate. The Lions boast several offensive stars. B Teal and Garrett Neubart lead the Ivies in hitting. Teal and Marc Mezzadri are tied for second in home runs, and are also among the leaders in RBIs. Neubart, the leadoff hitter, is second in stolen bases. "Neubart's a player," Seddon said. "He can swing the bat. He's a legitimate draft pick. And B Teal's broken all of their records." But Haughey and Galles loom just as large at the top of the significant pitching categories. On paper, at least, they are far superior to their Columbia counterparts. Lion Steve Ceterko was feared by opposing hitters through most of last season, but ever since the he lost game one of that crucial doubleheader to Galles and the Quakers, he has been quite mortal. "He's gotten banged around," Seddon said. "He's walked a lot of people. He does throw very hard. When he's on, he's good." Regardless, Ceterko is 4-4 with a 6.88 ERA this season. In fact, the best ERA on the Columbia staff is Eric Rothfield's 6.43. Galles and Haughey sport ERAs of 1.98 and 2.21. "Columbia's pitching is very average," Seddon said. At Coakley Field Sunday, those Columbia ERAs will have a hard time standing up to a solid Quakers lineup. But if Penn's top two pitchers live up to their billing tomorrow, that may not matter much.
(04/06/95 9:00am)
For the fourth straight year the Penn baseball team fell hard in the Liberty Bell Classic. But Penn coach Bob Seddon didn't appear all that concerned following last night's 18-6 drubbing at the hands of Drexel. Perhaps that was because the Quakers already showed last weekend against Harvard and Dartmouth that they are capable of winning the games that truly matter -- the Ivy League games. Perhaps it was because the Dragons' 18 runs came off Penn's less experienced pitchers. The four top hurlers, the ones who start the Ivy League games, were nowhere to be found last night. Perhaps it was because it was so darn cold. "The game didn't have much significance," Seddon said. "It was just a bad night. It was real cold." Playing in temperatures that dipped well into the 30s, the young Quakers pitchers could never warm up and find a rhythm. Freshman Armen Simonian, making his fourth collegiate start, was battered early and often. The Dragons (18-6) led 2-0 after the first inning, and the margin just kept growing. With Drexel up 3-0 in the second, Dragons catcher John Shannon, who killed the Quakers all night, drove in two runs with a booming triple over the outstretched glove of center fielder Tim Henwood. Then came a double and a Penn error, and Drexel had a 7-0 lead after two innings. But the Quakers (10-10), who had developed a habit of blowing leads in Liberty Bell Classic games, looked for a while like they might pull off a comeback of their own. They whittled away at the lead with three runs in the top of the fourth. After first baseman Mike Shannon singled in Henwood, the margin was down to 7-4. Then Penn reliever Mike Greenwood, who had replaced Simonian (1-3), got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the fourth. For the first time all night, the Quakers thought they had a chance to win. The Penn dugout sprang to life, with several players running out to congratulate Greenwood as he made his way off the field. Assistant coach Bill Wagner, however, knew there might be more trouble. "Greenwood was the only one who got anything going, and he always seemed to be working his way out of a 3-2 count," Wagner said. "Our guys were never able to establish themselves on the mound. With the weather, it was just a terrible baseball game. Drexel's defense was terrible and our pitching was terrible." Eventually the Dragons' defense, which ended the game with seven errors, steadied itself, and the spark quickly left the Penn offense. The Quakers' pitching, on the other hand, remained ragged throughout the game. John Shannon added to his RBI total with a single off Greenwood as Drexel pushed the lead to 11-4 in the bottom of the fifth. Shannon, the MVP of the Liberty Bell Classic when Drexel won it back in 1993, knocked in his fifth run of the game one inning later to make the score 15-5, and the Dragons never looked back. When it was over, five Penn pitchers had combined to give up a whopping 13 walks and 16 hits. Seddon was hoping for more from the younger members of his pitching staff. "The pitching kind of set the tone," he said. "It put us in a hole from the beginning. We are looking for these guys to step up. We expect one of them to contribute on [Ivy League] weekends at some point, but nobody showed very much tonight." Drexel advances to tonight's Liberty Bell Classic semifinal against Villanova, a 13-4 winner over West Chester yesterday.
(03/30/95 10:00am)
To a man, the Penn baseball team says the lofty expectations it has for the 1995 season cannot be met unless the Quakers recover from their slow start offensively. Therein lies the value of early season games against lowly opponents like West Chester. They give Penn a chance to get into a groove offensively and carry that momentum into more significant contests such as those against Ivy League rivals Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. Penn took full advantage of this opportunity Tuesday at West Chester, using a seven-run second inning to drub the Golden Rams 16-5. Armen Simonian is only a freshman, but he gave a career performance after getting the start at left field.. He went 5 for 5 at the plate, with a double, a triple and two RBIs, to pace a red-hot Penn team that got 19 hits off three West Chester pitchers. "We've now got three guys -- Armen, [designated hitter] Mike Shannon and [center fielder] Tim Henwood -- hitting really consistently," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "If we can get a fourth or fifth guy hitting that well, we will be tough to beat." Tuesday's game was certainly a step in that direction, as 11 of the 13 Penn position players got a hit and nine crossed the plate at least once. The Quakers were whacking the ball early and often. Golden Rams pitcher Bill Kane was pulled with two out in the second inning after allowing eight hits and eight runs, six of which were earned. Penn never hit a home run and only racked up four extra base hits. But it had singles aplenty, and that was more than enough to get the job done in the second inning, when the Quakers scored seven runs to blow the game open. Simonian did get a triple that knocked in two runs to ignite the spurt. A crucial error by West Chester's Shane Kenney didn't help Kane's cause any. Quakers pitcher Lance Berger pitched four innings and left with his first victory of the season. Seddon hoped Berger (1-2), who had gotten the least work of the four starters, would get a chance to see some quality action and find a rhythm heading into this weekend's Ivy contests. Berger walked seven and struck out four before giving up two runs and leaving after the fourth. "He was fair. His control was a little bit off," Seddon said. "He struggled a bit. We were up and he was doing some experimenting, but I think he would have liked to have been sharper." In a game in which the pitching was not much of a factor either way, the performance of Penn reliever A B Fischer stood out. Down 8-2 with two out in the fifth, West Chester loaded the bases against Fischer with a walk, a hit and an error and was threatening to make a game of it. But Fischer got the last out to escape unscathed. "He got us out of a hole when a base hit could have changed the complexion of the game," Seddon said. The Golden Rams (3-8) are still trying to find themselves under new coach Jack Hopkins and were simply overmatched from the start. That and the fact the Quakers are banged up right now meant it was a prime chance for Penn to play virtually its entire roster. In addition to Simonian's heroics, freshman David Corleto filled in at catcher for Rick Burt, still recovering from a hamstring injury, and got a key RBI in Penn's five-run sixth inning that settled the issue once and for all. Freshman infielder Joe Carlon also chipped in with one hit and two runs. "We've developed nice depth," Seddon said. "We made some mistakes in the field but we were able to overcome that because we got solid performances from a lot of different guys." It must have done Seddon good to see those performances, because Penn's starters are hurting. In addition to Burt, Sean Turner, Penn's best runner and one of its top hitters, is suffering from a bruised heal and played only two innings Tuesday. Seddon said he is questionable for this weekend's games. Shortstop Mark DeRosa has a sore shoulder and missed Tuesday's game because he was taking an exam. He should be able to play this weekend.
(03/29/95 10:00am)
New Athletic Communications Director Mark DeRosa always dreamed of being a two-sport star in college. For a year and a half, he lived that dream. But yesterday, the dream crashed and burned and took him down with it, as it was revealed that the shoulder injury he suffered during the baseball team's spring trip to Florida will sideline him for the remainder of the baseball season and the entire 1995 football season. DeRosa, the starting quarterback for the undefeated 1994 football squad, suffered what was first diagnosed as a strained shoulder sliding into third base during a game in Florida. The starting shortstop going into the season, DeRosa took over the designated hitting duties for four games after incurring the injury. Then came routine tests yesterday that revealed a torn rotator cuff, the absolute severest of shoulder injuries. Such injuries usually require more than a year of rehabilitation. "Now I'm all dressed up with no place to go," DeRosa said. "I have no idea what to think right now. This is?I don't know what it is. It's asinine!" Immediately after DeRosa suffered the injury, Seddon and football coach Al Bagnoli hired a so-called "dream team" of doctors to determine how serious it was. Their diagnosis called for him to sit out the baseball season and start preparing for the football season in late July. But DeRosa and his family decided to get a second opinion, and went to Dr. Kreigh Z. Jackson, who has residence at the Hospital of the University Pennsylvania. He said DeRosa's injury was much less serious than originally thought, and there was a 99.9 percent chance that designated hitting would pose no further danger to his health. Unfortunately for all involved, that was not the case. "I felt a bad twinge batting last weekend against Pace," DeRosa said. "That's when I knew something might be wrong, but I never imagined this." "We're all devastated," first baseman Allen "Paperboy" Fischer said. "Mark was a good player and a good friend. I know that sounds like he's dead or something, and I know he's not, but I almost feel as though he is." Bagnoli was in his office preparing to embark on an African Safari vacation and had not yet heard the news yesterday afternoon. He was joking with defensive coordinator Mike Toop about borrowing some of Toop's Hawaiian t-shirts for the trip when a reporter approached him for a comment. The smile on his face quickly disappeared. Bagnoli plopped into a chair, looking more drained than he did when his Quakers last lost a game, in 1992 at Princeton. "Goddamned baseball," he murmured. "I always thought this might happen. It makes you wonder if a job like this is worth it. Why couldn't our baseball players go on strike with the rest of 'em?" Sophomore Steve Teodecki will likely start next season behind center for the football team. Early last summer, DeRosa and Teodecki were neck and neck in the race to replace Jim McGeehan as Penn's starting QB. By opening day, though, DeRosa had pulled well ahead. "We'll have to see," Bagnoli said. "I think Steve can do a fine job. I'm not going to promise any undefeated season now, that's for sure." "I'm confident everything will work out," first-team all-Ivy wide receiver Miles Macik said. "Steve lives right near me, and we'll be working out every single day over the summer. Our goal is nothing less than to go to a bowl game this year."
(03/23/95 10:00am)
It has not been a glorious start to the season for the Penn baseball team. But the Quakers are confident that the cold, dark days of March will seem a distant memory in the bright sunshine of May, when the Ivy League and NCAA playoffs take place. Penn has every reason to believe it will be playing then. The Quakers return all but three regulars from a 1994 team that won the Ivy League's Gehrig Division and just missed beating Rolfe Division titlists Yale for the Ivy championship. Naturally, expectations are high for the 1995 campaign. "We're definitely looking to get to the league championship," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "If we don't, we'll be disappointed. Very disappointed." The Quakers' most significant attributes are their depth of talent and their experience. Eight of the nine members of the pitching staff return from last year. The four starters are back, led by team captain and No. 1 starter Dan Galles. Galles led the team in wins, complete games and strikeouts last season on his way to earning second-team all-Ivy honors. "Dan is a crafty hurler who consistently throws strikes," Seddon said. "He's a team leader on and off the playing field." Rounding out the starting rotation are senior Ed Haughey, junior Mike Shannon and senior Lance Berger. Haughey ranked right behind Galles in wins, complete games and strikeouts and received honorable mention all-Ivy honors. Berger, who transferred from Sacramento City College last season, had the Quakers' best ERA. Shannon, a junior, may be in his final season as a Quaker. Both his pitching ability and his explosiveness at the plate have pro scouts salivating, and the early word is he will be drafted come June. "He's got a future in baseball," assistant coach Bill Wagner said. "He could go in whatever direction they want him. He's got three good pitches?.He would make a great third baseman. He can hit and run and throws the ball hard." "Even without his best stuff he's one of the best pitchers on the East Coast," catcher Rick Burt said. Filling out the staff are five relievers, all but one of whom were in a similar role last year. Freshman Armen Simonian, the lone newcomer, joins sophomores A B Fischer and Alex Hayden in middle relief, while Mike Martin is listed as the official closer. The experience of the relievers cannot help but make the entire staff crisper and tougher. "They'll keep the pressure on the front guys if any sort of a problem ever comes up," Wagner said. "Some of the other [Ivy] teams may have two really good pitchers, but they're not going to have the depth of our staff." As a result, look for Penn's Ivy rivals to start their top two pitchers in weekend doubleheaders against the Quakers, even if Penn is using its fourth or fifth man. While Penn has limped out of the starting gate to a 5-7 record, the pitching has basically been as good as advertised. The problem is the lack of offense, but the Quakers are confident their bats can come around. "It was like everybody was expecting everybody else to get the hits," Burt said. "It was complacency as much as anything else." A prime reason for the lack of offensive firepower has been injuries. Shortstop Mark DeRosa injured his shoulder during the team's trip to Florida. Burt was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Once everyone is healed, the position players should mirror the pitching staff in their experience and depth. "There's going to be a lot of competition for positions down the line," Seddon said. DeRosa, who started at quarterback for the undefeated 1994 Penn football team, and second baseman Derek Nemeth make up the middle infield. Seniors Allen Fischer and Rob Naddelman start at the corners. Virtually all of these guys are comfortable playing more than one position, and freshman Joe Carlon can step in to play at almost any of the infield spots. The outfield is explosive offensively, with potential draftee Sean Turner and senior Tim Henwood at right and center field respectively. Senior Michael Green and sophomore Jeremy Milken will compete for time in left. Thus far the lineup has appeared to miss the hitting ability of departed seniors Eddie MacDonald and Tim Shannon. But after the injuries have healed and everyone has had time to find his rhythm, Seddon is confident the hits will come. Last year's leaders in slugging percentage -- Mike Shannon, Turner, Naddelman and Nemeth -- all return. The potential potency of the lineup is matched by its experience level. All the starters played in last year's best-of-three Ivy championship series against Yale in Middletown, Conn., last May. They remember how they felt when a freak fifth-inning error gave the Elis a lead they would never relinquish in the third and deciding game. They remember the feeling of emptiness that always comes with finishing so close to the ultimate goal. "We want to win the league," Burt said. "Anything else we would have to consider not a successful season, after the way we finished last year." But Penn can't afford to look too far ahead. The Quakers can't be so focused on the big picture that they lose sight of the task at hand each time out. To that end, the slow start to the season may prove beneficial. "We talked about winning [the Ivy title] a lot during the preseason," Burt said. "Now, we're 4-7, and we talk about each game." The Gehrig Division should throw a familiar set of challenges at Penn. Columbia battled the Quakers down to the wire last season and should be about as good this time around. Princeton is improved after finishing 10-10 in the league last year. But Seddon has built a solid all-around team and sees no huge obstacles to a second consecutive division title and a rematch with Yale in the championship series. "Now we just have to go out and do it," he said.
(03/20/95 10:00am)
The Ivy League is by no means the most powerful collegiate baseball conference, but the Pace Setters feel it is a good barometer for the tests they will face in the Mid-Continent Conference this year. That's why Pace has littered its pre-conference schedule with Ancient Eight teams. The Setters' first dose of Ivy competition came Saturday at Penn's Bower Field. The results were mixed for both teams. The first game saw more of what has plagued Penn through most of its six losses this season -- good pitching but no offense to support it. The Quakers found their bats in the second game and rode another excellent pitching performance to a 5-2 win. After getting hammered for 10 runs in two outings in Florida, team captain Dan Galles settled down in the first game against Pace (4-7). He went the distance and held the Setters to two runs through six innings. But Pace pitcher Frank Chibarro was even better against the Quakers (4-7), who were held to no runs and one hit through six. "Our pitching is adequate to win," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "Galles pitched a pretty good game. We just had no hits. We had some trouble scoring runs." Designated hitter Mark DeRosa nailed two balls to the deepest part of the ballpark, but neither would go out for him. First baseman Mike Shannon, Penn's best hitter thus far this season, got the Quakers' lone run of the game in the seventh and final inning after reaching base with a double. But that run came too late to mean anything, because Galles had finally tired in the top half of the seventh and allowed four runs on three hits and an error. Pace won going away, 6-1. The Setters started the second game building on the offensive momentum they gained at the end of the first. A two-run home run by Pace catcher Robert Zachmann gave the Setters an early lead. But Penn pitcher Ed Haughey quickly settled down, and Pace would never seriously threaten again. "Ed Haughey made maybe two mistakes the entire game," Seddon said. "He pitched a really fine game." Penn was also fine, if not spectacular, on offense. The Quakers cut the Setters' lead in half in the first inning, then took their first lead of the day in the third. Third baseman Rob Naddelman knocked in the go-ahead run with a double into left center. Penn would never relinquish that lead. A sacrifice fly by DeRosa in the next inning upped the Quakers' advantage to 4-2. Penn put the game away in the sixth with a perfectly executed suicide squeeze by freshman Armen Simonian. Freshman Mark Nagata, who had tripled, scored the run as Penn wrapped up its most impressive performance of the season. Haughey got the win, his first of the year. "I just tried to throw strikes and keep the ball down," Haughey said. "The defense played a great game for me and our hitters came through. We finally put those three elements together." · Nagata was in the lineup in place of catcher Rick Burt, who missed his second and third straight games with a hamstring injury. While Burt said he is anxious to get back in action, Seddon is not so eager for that to happen. He can't help but think about a former Penn catcher, Ben Brier. "He aggravated an injury and we lost him for the entire [Ivy League season]," Seddon said. "We really didn't want to take the chance of [Burt] hurting himself again." Seddon was unsure when Burt would return to the lineup. Sports writer Jed Walentas contributed to this story.
(03/15/95 10:00am)
Penn senior guard Jerome Allen is perhaps the most dominant player to wear a Penn uniform in the last decade. You could think of all the times he has taken over a game with 8,700 fans cheering his every move and say that the Palestra is, and always will be, Jerome Allen's house. But perhaps this image is more telling: A hard afternoon's practice has just concluded, but the guys are having way too much fun to leave the Palestra floor. No one is enjoying himself more than Allen. The 22-year-old is a little kid, horsing around with his teammates while engaged in some goofy pickup game. They jaw back and forth. A group led by Ira Bowman has heard enough, and the chase is on. Allen, a huge grin on his face, eludes his pursuers for a while, but eventually they catch him and playfully wrestle him down. Allen appears to be having the time of his life. This is a place in which he feels totally comfortable and secure; a place where he can put the world's daily grind aside and just relax and enjoy life; a place where he is with people he loves, people who love him. You think about all that and realize the Palestra is more than just Jerome Allen's house. It is his home. · If it is his home, then his teammates and coaches are his family. Eleven teammates and four coaches would seem to be a rather large family, but actually it's hardly any bigger than the one in which Allen grew up. The crowded, undersized house in the mean streets of Germantown was home to all sorts of family members. Uncles, aunts and cousins. His mother and a sister. But no father to speak of. Early in Allen's childhood, his dad left the family. "With his father not around, they really had to bond when he was growing up," says Matt Maloney, Allen's fellow senior guard. "They really work hard for each other. That's one of the things that motivates both of them. You really can't ask for a better relationship." One of the things that impressed Penn coach Fran Dunphy most about Allen back when he was recruiting him was his interaction with his mom. "You could see the respect he had for her," Dunphy says. "You would suspect that it would carry over into how he lived his life and how he would be in a team structure." For her part, Nuble cared enough to put in long, sweat-filled hours doing housekeeping and working in various hotels in order to support her son. All along she had one goal in mind for both Allen and his sister -- she wanted them to obtain college degrees. "It would do me real proud to see both of them get their degrees," she says. "I never had that chance. None of my sisters and brothers ever had a chance." While Allen prepares to graduate in May, his sister is in her freshman year at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. · Before Allen got to college there was the matter of high school. He enrolled at the prestigious Episcopal Academy in Marion as a freshman and set about making a name for himself as a basketball player and as a student. His high school basketball coach, Dan Dougherty, says Allen may have had a hard time making the transition from his old neighborhood to the prep-school atmosphere of Episcopal. But whatever problems he had didn't faze him for long. Dougherty taught math to Allen in both his freshman and senior years, so he got a first-hand view of the progress Allen made through his high school career in the classroom. What impressed Dougherty most was the dedication. Allen, he says never had to go to study hall. He was always off in the library studying on his own or going to his teachers for extra help. "He was truly an overachiever," Dougherty says. Allen surpassed expectations in the athletic realm as well. His most surprising accomplishments came not on the court, where he did excel, but on the football field. He only joined the team because, according to school rules, he had to spend his autumns doing something athletically. But by senior year his ability to run the option and throw the ball had earned him the starting job at quarterback. Any university that dreamed of making him a two-sport star a la Charlie Ward, however, had its hopes dashed when Allen announced he was hanging up the pads for good after his final high school game. Basketball had been Allen's true love ever since he was three years old, when he took up the game as a safe and relaxing way to get out of the house, and he wanted to concentrate all his time and energy on it. "If you could open up his chest," his mother says, "you wouldn't see a heart. You would see a basketball." Before either he or Allen came to Penn, Quakers center Tim Krug knew all too well what kind of competitor Allen was. When Allen was a high school junior, he caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Jeb Shanahan to boost Episcopal to a last-second victory over Penn Charter, Krug's alma mater. Four months later, Allen broke Penn Charter's hearts with a little help from Shanahan once again, this time on the hardwood. With sophomore Krug on the opposing side, Allen took a full-court pass from Shanahan and banked in a shot in the final seconds to give Episcopal the win. When it was all over, Allen and current Quakers teammate Eric Moore had led Episcopal's basketball team to a combined record of 53-3 in their final two seasons. Dougherty will never forget what they meant to his program. "In 37 years as a coach, I've had a lot of great players," he said. "I've never seen two kids push themselves to their limit more than those two did. I'm very proud of them as a coach." · Looking back on the four years he has spent with Allen, Dunphy also has much to be proud about. What pleases Dunphy as much as Allen's accomplishments on the court is his growth as a person. He has made immense strides from the time he was a shy, insecure freshman who appeared somewhat overwhelmed by his surroundings. "I see somebody who knows he is a good person, somebody who is not afraid to speak up and not afraid to challenge his teammates," Dunphy says. "He's also quite comfortable challenging himself, and that's the true sign of somebody who wants to be the best he can." Most who know Allen say he is normally rather reserved and quiet. When the time is right, though, he is eager to step up and take charge. Often times in practice, Allen will make suggestions as to how to run a particular set on offense or on defense. Dunphy is more than willing to listen. "At this point," Dunphy says, "I would be foolish not to trust in his judgment." "He's a very good leader," Maloney says. "He's just a terrific guy. He'll help you out any way he can. He always keeps in touch with everyone and looks out for his teammates." Senior forward Shawn Trice, Allen's roommate for three years, knows that as well as anybody. Trice was taken in by the Allen household and treated as one of their own upon his arrival in West Philadelphia. Allen showed him around town and provided a second home for the Detroit native stuck 1,500 miles away from his real home. Trice was also invited to stay with Allen and his family for the summer after their freshman year and last year so the two of them could work on their basketball and conditioning together at Penn. "It just shows what kind of people he and his family are," Trice says. "He's the most caring person, the most sharing person I've known." · Allen is every bit as sharing on the court as he is off it. He led the Ivies in assists this year with 5.8 per game, demonstrating an unselfishness that has NBA scouts salivating as much as his ability to slash right through defenses. Senior forward Scott Kegler says when he gets open shots, nine times out of 10 it's because Allen is getting him those shots. "He doesn't get caught up with scoring points and doing well statistically," Kegler says. "He really dictates how the game is going to go. A great player makes everyone around him better, and that's what he does." He does it because winning means everything to him. Sometimes that does mean he has to forget about his teammates and shoulder the load himself. That's why he took -- and hit -- most of the shots down the stretch a year ago at Temple when the rest of the Quakers seemed awed just by being on the same court as Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie. That's why, with the entire team struggling to find shots in the final minutes at Michigan, Allen chose not to follow the play Dunphy called -- which had Allen passing the ball back out to Maloney or Kegler for a three-point shot -- after he penetrated past Jimmy King. Allen wanted the team to win or lose the game with him. He put up what Krug called "a 10-foot, one-handed, hook-shot leaner" that swished through the net to give the Quakers one of their biggest wins in a long time. That's also why former USC coach George Raveling selected Allen to be part of an elite corps of 12 of the best collegiate players in the country representing the United States in the Goodwill Games this past summer. Players with far more notoriety were passed over, because Raveling knew Allen could do one thing -- win. Playing time was less than what Allen was used to, but he made the most of every opportunity. "He's very culturable," Raveling says. "He hung in there against difficult odds. We all got more and more confidence in him as time went on." Raveling says Allen's unselfish play at the point against Russia in the bronze medal game was one of the prime reasons the U.S. was able to come out on top. The next stop for Allen, according to most in the know, is the NBA. Last season, Raveling called Allen a potential lottery pick. Dunphy was unsure where Allen would be picked, but he did know what the team that drafts Allen will be getting. "To me he'll have a 10- or 12-year career," Dunphy says. "He may not be the leading scorer on his team, but he'll help his team win. That's the biggest value he'll have to an organization -- the ability to help it win." Moore figures Allen will quickly earn enough money to retire on. "But he's not just about that," Moore says. "He really wants to play and do well. He's a good individual and that's hard to find in the NBA these days." · But money does mean a little something, of course. Money will be needed for Allen to buy his mom her dream house and allow her to take it easy after all the work she has done for him. "That makes me feel proud," Janet Nuble says. "I'd have to keep working, though. I wouldn't just live off my child. He's worked hard for that. He's earned it and it's his." Allen's relationship with his mother illustrates perhaps the most significant aspect of his personality. More than anything, more than money or winning championships, more even than the game of basketball itself, Allen values human relationships. It is why, when he graduates, he will miss his teammates more than anything else -- passing the time with them on the bus ride up to Dartmouth with a blizzard raging outside; hanging out with Trice and Maloney during the summers; horsing around with Bowman after a long afternoon's practice. The affection could not be more mutual. "He's definitely one of the people I've met throughout my life that I'm really glad to have been a part of his life," Maloney says. "It's going to benefit me in pretty much every part of my life just knowing him, knowing where he's come from, what he's been through and how successful he's been." "I've cherished every moment that kid has brought to our basketball program," Dunphy says. "He will always have a special little space in my heart." Here at Penn, he will always have a home.
(02/27/95 10:00am)
NEW YORK -- The future was this past weekend for the Penn men's basketball team. Freshman George Zaninovich watched from his usual spot on the bench Friday night as Ira Bowman, Tim Krug and Jerome Allen led a 21-0 run that put Penn on top of Columbia 42-8. Five minutes still remained in the first half. As the lead grew, the thought began to dawn on the Street & Smith honorable mention high school All American from Oregon. "I hadn't gotten to play in the first half yet this year," Zaninovich said. "I saw us get out to that early lead, and I began thinking about it a little bit. When [Penn coach Fran Dunphy] called my name, I was just happy to get a chance to go in there." During a weekend in which the Quakers won a pair of games by a combined 81 points, the two most pertinent questions in each contest were: 1) how many minutes would Penn's crop of little-used reserves see and 2) how would they fare once they got in there. The second one was especially interesting because three of Penn's five starters next year will come from a group of six freshmen and sophomores averaging a combined four minutes per game. Dunphy is well aware that the more time he can get his younger guys this year, the better off the Quakers will be next year. Last weekend Penn was home against a clearly inferior Harvard team. The Quakers had a 54-32 lead in the second half, but they allowed the Crimson to creep back a little bit. The result was a lot less playing time for the end of the bench than Dunphy felt it should have had. This weekend, then, was pleasing for him. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to see what we may look like down the road," he said. "That doesn't happen often, so in that respect it's nice to see what the younger guys will do." What he saw was mixed results. The Lions looked like the most inept team in the 104-year history of basketball when Penn was cruising to a 48-8 lead with four minutes to go in the half. But with Zaninovich, Nat Graham, Jamie Lyren and Vigor Kapetanovic in along with Bowman, Columbia suddenly sprang to life. The Lions outscored Penn 13-1 over the remainder of the half as the Quakers struggled to find a rhythm on offense. "That was disappointing," Dunphy said. "We'd like to think this may be our team for next year. Let's not play behind, let's play even or ahead of them." The second and third teamers stepped it up in the second half. Graham was especially impressive, knocking down two three-pointers on the way to a career-high 10 points. Donald Moxley added five points and four rebounds. Saturday in Ithaca, N.Y., Garett Kreitz, often Penn's last man off the bench, knocked in three treys for a career-high nine points in the second half. Over on the bench, the starters were busy enjoying what was almost a weekend off. They clapped and cheered and tried to suppress snickers when something went comically wrong. Mostly, they were one hundred percent behind their teammates. At one point late in the first half Friday night, the Quakers had a solid series on defense. Allen, sitting on the bench, stood up and applauded. Then he motioned for the other guys to do the same. Soon the entire bench was standing and clapping. "It's great to have the guys who have been here for a while and get the most chances to play support the guys who are going to be playing next year and the years down the road," Graham said. Dunphy called it another example of the personality of the older players coming through. "I hope they cheer like hell for those last guys who get in there," he said. "I think that's what a team is all about -- to celebrate and have joy about how these younger guys have played."
(02/24/95 10:00am)
Quakers aim to clinch title this weekend As the Penn men's basketball team prepares to do battle with Columbia and Cornell this weekend, Penn coach Fran Dunphy is waging his own personal war. What he is fighting is the danger represented by the sort of question he was asked yesterday at practice. The subject was the mentality of the team in the aftermath of Wednesday night's close loss at No. 9 Villanova. With no more glamour games to keep them on their toes, is there any danger of the Quakers looking past the five Ivy League patsies remaining on their schedule? Dunphy sighed. He has heard questions like that so many times over the past couple of seasons they make him sick. "To you, Villanova may be a marquee game," he said. "Our marquee game right now is Columbia. I don't know if I can speak for the players, but that's definitely how we as coaches feel." Then Dunphy looked over to his starting center, senior Eric Moore. Moore quickly nodded assent. "We're up for Columbia," Moore said. "We want to approach every game the same." Dunphy has made believers out of his players. To them, the NCAA tournament is insignificant right now. All that matters is tonight's game at Columbia (7:30 p.m., WGMP-AM 1210). After that, all that matters is tomorrow night's contest in Ithaca against Cornell (7:30 p.m., WXPN-FM 88.5). Penn clobbered the Lions and Big Red by a combined 65 points during a weekend series at the Palestra two weeks ago. Columbia is a only tad less hapless now than it was then. The Lions (4-18, 1-9 Ivy League) got their first Ivy win of the season a week ago with a 79-69 victory over Yale. In striving to end a terrible season on an upbeat note, the Lions have had to tighten up the operations a bit. Guards C.J. Thompkins and Claude Crudup have been out for the season for some time. Thompkins went down with an ankle injury in late January, and Crudup, the half-brother of Penn forward Ira Bowman, left after six games due to differences with the coaching staff. The result for Columbia coach Jack Rohan is a mere six players who see significant playing time. Four Lions played all 40 minutes in the win over Yale. In a rarity, Penn, which primarily employs a seven-man rotation, will actually have a depth advantage tonight. "We were up 15-2 against them last time and let them back into the game in the first half with sloppy play," Dunphy said. "We want to play a more complete game this time." Following the Columbia game, the Quakers (17-5, 9-0) will make the three-hour journey to Ithaca, where they will have less than 24 hours to prepare for the Big Red. Cornell will provide a stark contrast to Columbia. The Big Red (9-13, 4-6) has been treading water all season, but it still features one of the deeper benches in the Ivies. The depth is primarily due to the outstanding recruiting class coach Al Walker brought in this season. Cornell regularly goes nine deep and has more than a few players who can get the job done on the offensive end of the floor. The problem for the Big Red at the Palestra two weeks ago was it could not get the job done on the other end of the floor. Penn shredded the Cornell "D" for 101 points. Guards Matt Maloney and Jerome Allen combined for 37 points, and frontcourt subs Bowman and Tim Krug teamed up for 25. But the young Cornell squad has a better idea what to expect from Penn this time around. And Dunphy refuses to take anything for granted. It's just his way. "We have a lot left to do, and that starts with these two games," he said. "Our mission is not yet finished."
(02/15/95 10:00am)
College basketball's most historic arena was a time warp for most of last night's Penn-Temple game. As a Penn basketball fan, you could not have asked for anything more. Until the end. The 40th anniversary celebration of the Big 5 was a gala affair. For one night, the Palestra was filled with the same frenzied atmosphere that regularly gripped the entire city of Philadelphia back in the 1960s and 70s. The vendor outside the Palestra was hawking "old-fashioned Big 5 pretzels." It was a bitterly cold night, as it should have been. That was how it always was during the heyday of the Big 5. You almost froze to death on the way to the arena, but it was worth it because it was so hot inside. The electricity of a City Series doubleheader always generated as much heat as anyone could stand. The tension inside last night was so palpable a knife could not have cut it. It would have required a buzzsaw. You could practically smell the ghosts roaming around the 68-year-old building. You could see them, in fact. They were standing at center court at halftime -- seven of the greatest players in Big 5 history. Half of them looked like they could have suited up and played on the spot. The crowd was in an absolute frenzy. Temple brought a sizeable contingent, but it was no match for the thousands of Penn fans. One side or the other was constantly going bezerk, and every foul call drew deafening groans and catcalls. It was typical Big 5, complete with battles of the bands and of the cheerleaders. But none of it compared to the war on the court. There was never any doubt this one was going down to the wire. Blowouts simply do not happen in the Big 5. The players and coaches know each other too well, and no team is ever road-weary when it arrives for a game. It was only fitting for the game celebrating the 40th anniversary to be as tight and as tense as any ever. For most of the crowd, the euphoria of the evening dissipated in the final minutes when it became apparent Penn was utterly incapable of holding onto its lead. I, for one, couldn't help but think of Corky Calhoun, who was Penn's lone representative on the all-time Big 5 team. He played three seasons from 1969 to 1972. His teams had a combined record of 11-1 against Big 5 foes and ranked in the nation's Top 10 every year. That era was truly big-time. With a nationally prominent team and a complete set of Big 5 games each year, 33rd Street was the place to be if you were a college hoops fan. Last night was a joyous affair, but it was also a reminder of how much things have changed. Now there is but one official Big 5 game in the Palestra each year. And this year's version of the Quakers, as great as it is, obviously can't come close to comparing with Corky Calhoun's squads. The Quakers' five seniors have done so much for Penn basketball. But when you get down to it, Penn is an extraordinary Ivy League team. Not much more. The Quakers journey to Villanova February 22 to face what will probably be a Top 10 team. A loss there will give Jerome Allen and company a career Big 5 record of 6-8. That's a far cry from 11-1. A really far cry.
(02/06/95 10:00am)
It was one of those nights when everyone seemed to be against him. Matt Maloney was on his way to a one-of-six shooting performance Friday at Yale. He would finish with three turnovers and only one assist. He was even below par from the foul line, missing two of his five shots. Now all the frustration came pouring out. Everything, he decided, must be the fault of the referees. They had whistled him for two quick fouls at the game's outset and were calling the game a little tightly. So Maloney started talking to the official, who had already turned and headed up court. Maloney followed, desperately wanting to be heard. Under the basket, Jerome Allen just wanted to put the ball in play. Maloney had other things on his mind, like the darn official. Allen grabbed Maloney and told him to worry about keeping his head in the game. Everyone seemed to be against him. "When you pick up two quick fouls and you disagree with the calls, that might sometimes mentally affect you," center Tim Krug said. "That took him out of the game a little bit." Twenty-four hours later, no one was more into the game than Maloney. If you are trying to bounce back from one of the worst offensive showings of your career, Brown is the team you would like to have on the opposing end of the court. Yale focused on slowing down the tempo and taking Allen, Maloney and Kegler out of their perimeter games Friday night. Conversely, the Bears opened up the game and tried to run and gun with the Quakers, giving Penn much more freedom on the offensive end of the floor. Penn took 70 shots Saturday night, 23 more than it did against Yale. After missing all four of his three-point attempts in one of the worst offensive showings of his collegiate career the previous evening, Maloney said he just wanted to get into the flow right from the start Saturday. He did. "He struggled last night, and I think it's the sign of a good player that he came back the next night and tried to stay as focused as he could," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. The shots were coming so much easier. Maloney found himself more wide open on the Quakers' very first possession than he had been the entire previous evening. He let fly from behind the arc on the left wing. Nothing but net. Dunphy envisioned nights like this from the moment Maloney transferred from Vanderbilt three years ago. Nights when everything the senior guard touches on the offensive end turns to gold. He drove inside for pull-up jumpers and hit an assortment of shots from downtown. He finished 13-of-20 from the field for 36 points, one short of his career high in December of 1992 against American. It was an all-time points record for the six-year-old Pizzitola Sports Center. The defining moment Saturday night for Maloney came with just under eight minutes remaining in the game and Penn up 71-59. He stole the ball and was heading in for an uncontested layup when he was grabbed by Brown's Joel Koplik. He heard the whistle blow and tossed the ball over his shoulder just before his feet hit the floor. It went in. His subsequent foul shot gave him 32 points and effectively ended the Bears' chances. It also drew more than a few murmurs from the crowd wondering what it would take for Maloney to actually miss. When asked about that shot after the game, Maloney was nonchalant. "It just makes up for one I missed that I should have been able to make," he said. As he walked off the court at game's end accepting congratulations from all around, Maloney couldn't help cracking a smile. No one was against him anymore. His teammates and coaches could not, in fact, have been happier. "He just had one of those nights, and for that I'm really glad for him," Dunphy said.
(02/03/95 10:00am)
After a one-month hiatus, it is once again Ivy League road trip time for the Penn men's basketball team. The itinerary for the weekend possesses all the elements of an odyssey, even though the opponents are not the most glamorous on the Quakers' 1994-95 schedule. It will be an odyssey of hotel rooms and gloomy New England winter weather, of approximately 12 hours on a bus and a lot less time than that to sleep. By the way, there will also be a couple of basketball games. Yale (7-7, 3-1 Ivy League) and Brown (8-8, 3-1) are the latest two obstacles to Penn's quest for an unprecedented third straight perfect Ivy League season. Behind inspired guard play, the Elis and Bears have taken the early lead in the race for second place behind the Quakers (11-3, 3-0). After splitting with each other, both teams swept Cornell and Columbia last weekend. In the grand tradition of Ivy League road trips, the actual games will be merely part of the equation. On this same road trip last year, Penn breezed past Brown Friday night. The bus ride to Yale was halted by a snowstorm, so the team had to scramble for hotel rooms in Providence. Most teams prefer not to travel on game days, but the Quakers had no choice. Nonetheless, they then beat the Elis in a romp. "You don't really think about it that much," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said of the potential trials and tribulations his team faces every trek up north. "It's just something that goes with playing in the Ivy League. Every team has to do it three times a year." Penn journeyed to New Haven immediately after practice last night. The Quakers will have a walk-through and a brief strategy session this morning before taking the court in Yale's Payne Whitney Gym (7 p.m.) There Penn will face a Yale team that has defied the experts once again in the initial stages of league play. Last year the Elis were predicted to finish seventh or eighth and ended up third. Yale rode its senior backcourt of Damon Franklin and Josh Jennings to its 7-7 record, but with those two graduating, not much was expected of the Elis again this year. So far, coach Dick Kuchen's squad has hardly missed its departed backcourt. Their replacements, junior Jim Kawahito and freshman Gabe Hunterton, were mostly responsible for the sweep of Cornell and Columbia last weekend. Hunterton, the most highly touted Ivy recruit since Jerome Allen, has lived up to his billing with three straight Ivy League Rookie of the Week awards. Like Penn's Allen and Matt Maloney, Kawahito and Hunterton are interchangeable. They routinely trade the point guard duties back and forth and complement the experienced front line well. "Yale defends very well," Dunphy said. "When you play good defense and have mostly veterans playing the game, you're going to be there against a lot of teams." Brown's backcourt of Brian Lloyd and Eric Blackiston will also test the Quakers Saturday at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence (7 p.m.). Lloyd has been the key to Bears victories more often than not. He scored 19 points in the second half three weeks ago when the Bears rallied from 18 points down to defeat Yale in overtime. He scored 33 points last weekend in the sweep of Columbia and Cornell en route to being named Ivy League Player of the Week for the second time. On paper, the Bears can't compare with Penn. Their best hope for a victory lies in catching the Quakers on an off night. But Penn will have had less than 24 hours to focus in on the Bears, and it may be fatigued after the journey from Philadelphia to New Haven to Providence. Stranger things have happened during Ivy League road trips. "It's a challenge playing back to back games, no doubt about that," Penn senior Scott Kegler said. "It's something that is unique in college basketball. We haven't fallen victim to it in the past. We've just been able to go in with the right attitude, and that's what makes us champions." All the hassles aside, Penn is 14-0 on Ivy League road trips dating back two seasons. For the five Penn seniors winding down their collegiate careers, road trips have provided some of their fondest memories off the court as well as on. Put this bunch of guys together on a bus for extended periods of time, and anything can happen. "We get away from campus and we're talking and laughing like you wouldn't believe," Kegler said. "It's just something you can never forget."
(11/23/94 10:00am)
Penn wants to avenge loss Most of the Penn men's basketball team will be in the company of loved ones enjoying one of the best meals of the year tomorrow. In the back of his mind, however, every player and coach will be thinking wistfully about Madison Square Garden. Had Penn not lost a 14-point lead in the final eight minutes of its season-opening 81-78 loss to underdog Canisius last Wednesday, the Quakers would have been just one win away from tonight's Preseason National Invitation Tournament semifinal round. They would have been on ESPN last Friday at the Palestra against George Washington in the quarterfinals. A victory there and it would have been on to New York. Instead, Penn (0-1) will be home for Thanksgiving in the middle of a 12-day layoff between games. Twelve days to concentrate on ridding itself of some of the kinks that led to the late-game collapse against Canisius. Twelve days to ensure what happened last Wednesday does not come close to happening again. Twelve days to think about its next game Monday at Lehigh's Stabler Arena. Twelve excruciatingly long days. "It's a killer," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "You have to wait with that loss on your mind for all that time." Difficult as the unwanted vacation may be for the Quakers, it could mean serious trouble for the Engineers. Lehigh coach Dave Duke breathed a sigh of exasperation along with the 3,500 fans in the Palestra last week when Penn guard Matt Maloney's desperation three-pointer fell short at the buzzer. He knew it meant an already daunting task for his team had just gotten harder. "Penn's a Top-25 team as far as I'm concerned," Duke said. "Now we have to really worry about matching their intensity. Their losing was the worst thing that could have happened to us." The Engineers, who open their season at home against Cornell two nights before hosting Penn, are no Top-25 team, but they return four starters and hope to challenge for the Patriot League crown. Lehigh is similar to Penn in that its scoring punch comes primarily from its backcourt. Second-team all-Patriot League shooting guard Rashawne Glenn tossed in 19.5 points per game last season for the Engineers, who finished the 1993-94 season with an overall mark of 10-17. This game basically went unnoticed as Penn headed into the season, with all the Ivy League games, the Big 5 showdowns, the Preseason NIT and games at national powerhouses Michigan and Massachusetts. Now the Quakers have a virtual eternity to focus all their energies on Lehigh. Don't tell Dunphy there is now less chance than ever his team can lose. "Hopefully, what the [Canisius] game means to our guys is that everybody on our schedule is going to be a tremendous challenge for us," Dunphy said. "Anybody can beat us at any given time. We can be a good team, but we don't have any margin for error." With all the hype leading up to the season opener and all the expectations of making a mark in the NIT, the Canisius loss was close to shattering. These 12 days are about recovering emotionally and keeping the energy level as high as possible. The five Penn seniors organized a meeting on The Day After to give everyone the chance to talk about what happened and what needs to be done in the future. The Quakers have to stay focused and avoid the lapses of concentration that helped Canisius to victory. The offense needs to be run with more precision. The transition defense must be shored up. Penn needs to remember that when it is on its game, it is, as Duke said, one of the better teams in the country. "I think if we go out and play our game like we did last year, we usually wind up winning," senior center Eric Moore said. Tomorrow, the Quakers take time off to give thanks for all they have been given in life. Friday, they are right back on the court trying to make up for what was so cruelly snatched away from them a week ago. · Backup center Tim Krug suffered strained muscles in his lower back against Canisius, according to Dunphy. He practiced last Thursday, but has been out of action since. Dunphy said Krug's status is currently day to day, but he should be able to play against Lehigh.
(11/16/94 10:00am)
Man Behind the Scenes Sigmund Freud's world-famous theories would have been very different had Fran Dunphy been one of his test subjects. That thing called the ego, the need for self-gratification it imposes on all of us -- Freud would never have known it existed. Dunphy's first words to Freud would have been along the lines of what he says before answering most personal questions about himself: "I just find myself boring to talk about. It's in many ways uncomfortable." "In a lot of programs," Penn captain Jerome Allen says, "you'll run across guys who think they are bigger than the establishments themselves." In this world, Dunphy is truly an anomaly. He is a college basketball coach who shies away from the spotlight, preferring to remain in the shadows while his players show the world what they can do. Basketball does not begin and end with him. He is a "facilitator," to use his word. For basketball is, at its core, of and for the players, at least to Dunphy. This starts with the kids he recruits. Coaches often complain about the tribulations of recruiting, about having to prostitute themselves and their university to a mere teenager. Not Dunphy. He enjoys the travel, the high school games and most of all, the interaction with the kids. "I think it's fun," he says. "I enjoy going into kids' homes, and I enjoy when they come here, trying to make a good impression on each and every kid." And if they choose the University of Pennsylvania, Dunphy does his best to keep them satisfied with their choice. Penn is playing at Michigan in December so Shawn Trice can return to his Detroit home. Last year's game at Ohio State was designed with the same considerations in mind for Columbus-native Scott Kegler. Dunphy inserted Kegler, usually Penn's sixth man, into the starting lineup so he could be introduced in front of his friends and family. "It was an honor for me, it was an honor for my family," Kegler said. "Coach realizes things like that. I don't think a lot of coaches would do that kind of thing." The players return this loyalty with unbounded devotion and gratitude. All of them, without prompting, say the same thing about the man who has guided Penn to 29 straight Ivy League victories, one short of the all-time record. They say what '92 grads Paul Chambers and Vince Curran said a year ago at a March of Dimes banquet honoring Dunphy as college coach of the year. "We talked about how he was a friend off the court, how you could always go talk to him no matter what had just happened in practice," Chambers said. "But once you got in between the lines, he was all business. Even if you were just joking in his office an hour before practice, he would never hesitate to get on you. A good coach has to have that mix?.He walks that fine line." Dunphy has been walking that line for many years. As a guard under Dan Dougherty at Malvern Prep, Dunphy played with many of the characteristics his players show today. "Their intensity, their unselfishness and their knowledge of the game are just like he played," said Dougherty, who also coached Allen and senior Eric Moore at Episcopal Academy. Dunphy enjoyed a solid playing career at La Salle, averaging 19 points a game in 1970, his senior year. But after graduation, he wasn't quite sure what to do. Somehow, he says, he ended up in coaching. When his high school alma mater approached him in 1975 about coaching there, Dunphy agreed, but without any visions of a head-coaching job at a prestigious Division I school dancing in his head. Thirteen long years later, while an assistant to Speedy Morris at La Salle, he was offered an assistant-coaching position at Penn under Tom Schneider. "I would have loved to have gone to Penn when I got out of high school," he says. "I just wasn't a good enough student. But I valued what Penn's reputation was. We would come every Wednesday and Saturday to the Palestra and to Franklin Field to watch games. Penn is special in the City of Philadelphia. That was important to me." One year later, after Schneider left for Loyola-Maryland, former athletic director Paul Rubincam knew Dunphy was his man. Chambers, a sophomore in 1989 when Dunphy took the reins, remembers not all the players felt the same way. When Schneider was absent during the 1988-89 season, Dunphy would run practice in his place. They were the toughest workouts of the year, and not occasions to which anyone looked forward. "Going into sophomore year," Chambers said, "some guys didn't want him as head coach because of how hard he would be on the players. But some of us wanted him because we knew he had what it took to turn the program around, to make it what it used to be. He's just a guy who hated to lose." More than a decade of hard work had paid off for Dunphy. He called his father, and both of them cried. "That was fun," he says. "It was pretty emotional. It's a culmination of years of wanting to get to that level. In one fell swoop you say, 'Jesus, I got this job. I can't believe it.' " But the hard part was only beginning. The Penn program simply lacked the talent it had when it was winning Ivy titles in the mid '80s. In Dunphy's second season, the Quakers were blown out often and limped to a 5-16 mark with five games to go. Then, Penn won four of its last five games, losing only a tough battle at eventual-Ivy champion Princeton. Even though the season had been a disaster to that point, the Quakers continued to play with the same hard-nosed will that has been the hallmark of all of Dunphy's teams. Dunphy gives all the credit to his players. "Those kids just never gave up," he says. "They never quit. That was really impressive to see?.We may not have been as talented as some teams, but that didn't matter. We were going to battle just as hard as everybody else, if not more so." Penn's final record was 9-17, but Rubincam was impressed enough with the end-of-the-season run, with the energy the team showed, to offer Dunphy a contract extension. The next year, with a freshman named Jerome Allen on the team, the Quakers finished second in the league with a 9-5 record. The rest is history -- two straight 14-0 Ivy seasons and an NCAA tournament victory last season over Nebraska. Through it all, Dunphy has not forgotten what that contract extension meant to him. "I'm very grateful for the patience they showed," he says. "Not every athletic director is going to do that for you." Without fail, he refuses credit for his accomplishments. Whether he gives it to the administration, his players, even to fate itself -- Dunphy wants none of it. Dunphy takes the blame when things go poorly, but when they are looking up, he tells the media to go talk to the kids. "He's not excited about being honored or getting awards," Kegler says. "He likes the drive, he likes the intensity, the fight, the battle. He doesn't necessarily like to be praised for it." For all his generosity off the court, Dunphy is truly demanding on it. Walk out for practice on time but with your shirt untucked or your shoelaces untied, and you've earned the right to a Dunphy rebuke. "Anytime we ever slack, he lets us know," Moore says. "He's all over us, getting us to work harder. Sometimes it worries me, because it might put his blood pressure up a little bit." All it does is produce wins. And more wins. And as the players learn about basketball, they get a few lessons about life as well. Cherish basketball while you can, because it is only going to last so long. Keep in mind all the opportunities basketball can provide you now and in the future. Above all, be a good person. The players remember every word of it. When they leave, they are more knowledgeable and well-rounded than they ever dreamed. And they know, as does everyone who has ever been close to Dunphy, they have a friend for life. "If I ever need anything," Speedy Morris says, "I know he'll give me the shirt off his back." He'd just never take credit for doing it.
(11/15/94 10:00am)
The man who presides over the nation's top-ranked defense was presiding over his dinner table. The epitome of blood-and-guts football who idolized players like Jack Lambert and Dick Butkus was treating some of his favorite players to a meal. It was two days before the 17 seniors at defensive coordinator Mike Toop's house would play in their final game at Franklin Field. They joined the varsity program three years ago, the same year he did. After all the on-the-field yelling and off-the-field barbs that have taken place during the years, he wanted them to know how much he appreciated them. If only they had a way to communicate the same thing to him. "What I'll take away more than anything is the relationship we had," senior co-captain Michael Turner said. "When the season ends, we're all sick of seeing the coaches, just like they're probably sick of seeing us. But with the last game coming up, you really start to get a sense of what they meant to you. And he's such a big part of it all." Al Bagnoli knew exactly what he was getting when he asked Toop to come with him to Penn in 1992. Toop had coached the defensive line and secondary under Bagnoli at Union in 1985 and 1986, where the two laid the foundation for the 5-2 defensive system that has terrorized the Ivy League during the past three years. When Bagnoli came to Penn in January 1992, he needed a core of assistants before he filled in the remainder of his staff. Toop was one of the first people to come to mind. "One of the reasons I wanted him so badly is that he and I think alike," Bagnoli said. "He just has a lot of traits that you look for in a coach. He's got a good rapport with the kids. He's very demanding, which I think you want. He has a good presence and he's very hard working." If you weren't all of these things, you weren't going to last very long on the United States Merchant Marine Academy football team. Toop not only survived, he prospered, earning an honorable mention All-America award as a linebacker in 1976, his junior year. But coaching was in his blood even more than playing. After graduation, Toop got his first coaching job working under his dad at a high school in New York state. Years later, one of his fondest memories in coaching remains the time he and his father went up against a team coached by Toop's older brother. Having been bitten by the coaching bug that had been chasing him his entire life, Toop decided to pursue a career at the collegiate level. He went to SUNY-Albany for two years before joining Bagnoli at Union. When Bagnoli called about coming to Penn after Toop had enjoyed five successful seasons as an assistant coach at Colgate, Toop jumped at the chance -- mostly because of Bagnoli. "The best thing for me in my role as an assistant on this staff is that coach Bagnoli lets you coach," Toop said. "If there's something he feels we should be doing, he'll mention it to me, but by and large he lets us coach and that's what you want to do." Toop takes full advantage of the leeway Bagnoli gives him. His players talk about his intensity, the incredible energy he brings to the practice field, and how that inspires the same sort of disciplined energy in them. He shows up at the crack of dawn to work out with defensive line coach Jim Schaefer before settling in for a full day of watching films and preparing practice and game plans. It is this energy that has taken a group of talented players and cultivated them into a nearly invincible unit. Toop and the other defensive assistants execute a near-flawless system that takes players with all-league potential and puts them in the best position to excel. Secondary coach Rick Flanders sits in the press box every game, and he and Toop have a great deal of give and take before each call Toop sends in. Schaefer and defensive ends coach Ray Priore also add their input, usually between series. "It's complicated," Toop said, "but by the same token, I think it runs really smoothly." Two years ago, the first season for the Bagnoli regime, safety Nick Morris had to sit out the season with a hand injury. He spent the year on the sidelines charting plays for the offense, but he could not help but be struck by the defensive play calling. Morris, now a senior, estimates 90 percent of the signals Toop sent in matched the sets and formations of the opposing offense. "I said, 'Wow, these guys are good,' " Morris said. "This was their first year together. They are always so well-prepared. They are never outcoached. That's our advantage going into every game." For their part, the players are ready to listen to Toop's every word because he treats them the same way he wanted to be treated as a player. Above all, he gives his players honesty, fairness and respect. "If the kids believe you have those elements," Toop said, "they're going to respect you. And I don't think you can ask for more than that." Off the field, he is a friend to the players, but he has his own way of never letting them forget who is in charge. Each week the defensive players go into his office to pick up films to watch individually. Everyone knows there is no way to avoid the cutting remarks emanating from his desk in the center of the room. It's all in good fun, of course. The most fun for everybody comes on the field as the defense leads the team to yet another victory. The Penn offense has been inconsistent at times. When it has faltered, the defense has been right there to preserve the Quakers' 20-game winning streak. The first-team defense has given up 24 points this season -- total. Toop's success has raised some obvious questions about his future. If Bagnoli happens to move to a different job, would Toop want to be the man to replace him? Or say a head-coaching job opened up at another school? Bagnoli himself called Toop "the complete package." "I'd like to be a head coach," he said. "Do I worry about being a head coach? No. I'm extremely comfortable here as an assistant. I don't know that I could have a better job anywhere else." If Toop ever does leave, he promises to remember the players and fellow coaches who, he said, have made all his success possible. "One thing my dad has taught me is that you always remember where you came from," he said. So he takes his seniors home for a farewell dinner. In the end, he said, this is what everything comes down to. Not games won nor milestones reached, but people.
(11/14/94 10:00am)
Perhaps Al Bagnoli knew something. The Penn football coach, normally so serious and determined, was as loose as ever in the days leading up to Saturday's Penn-Harvard clash at Franklin Field. Maybe he knew there was just no way his Quakers could lose. Not in the last game the storied senior class would ever play at home. Not with sole possession of the Ivy League title on the line. With one of their more dominating performances of this remarkable season, the Quakers thrashed Harvard 33-0 to clinch the undisputed Ivy championship for the second year in a row. The win was Penn's 20th straight, tying Holy Cross' all-time Division I-AA record for consecutive victories. It is now the longest winning streak in the nation since Auburn tied Georgia. In a frenzied locker room after the trophy presentation, the coaches and players were thinking of nothing except Ivy League title No. 2. "Both [championships] are equally fulfilling and satisfying, but also different," Bagnoli said. "Last year, we were just so excited about getting there. I think this year, we just appreciate doing it and how hard the accomplishment is." Difficult as the accomplishment may have been, Saturday's game could not have been easier. The Penn offense had developed a habit of producing one week and then going on vacation the next. But after putting up 33 points at Princeton last week, the Quakers (8-0, 6-0 Ivy League) matched that performance Saturday. Senior running back Terrance Stokes ran rampant in his final Franklin Field game, gaining 143 yards on the ground. Quarterback Mark DeRosa threw for 170 yards and two touchdowns, and directed two long drives for scores before exiting with an injured right thumb in the third quarter. DeRosa may miss next Saturday's game against Cornell. DeRosa first led Penn on an 85-yard drive that took 14 plays and straddled the first two quarters. He was 4-for-5 passing on the drive, and Stokes ran for 38 yards, including a scamper from three yards out, to give the Quakers the only points they would need all day. "When we put that first score on, we knew we were driving right on," senior center Pete Giannakoulis said. "It was our game." On the other side of the ball, the Penn defense was its usual swarming, ferocious self. Eight Quakers had at least four tackles. More importantly, Penn converted six Crimson turnovers into 17 points. Harvard's cause wasn't helped when quarterback Vin Ferrara left the game for good in the second quarter. He may have a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, and will miss the Crimson's season finale against Yale. Backup Steve Kezirian was never able to find a rhythm. Scurrying around in the closing seconds of the first half in a desperate attempt to get something going, Kezirian was separated from the ball by Penn senior co-captain Michael "Pup" Turner. Senior safety Nick Morris recovered the loose ball and returned it eight yards to the Harvard 25 with 32 seconds remaining. Three plays later, wide receiver Miles Macik, who had been sidelined earlier in the game with a knee injury, came back to drive the dagger into the Crimson's heart. Leaping over two defenders to snag DeRosa's pass, Macik increased Penn's lead to 17-0 with the 19-yard score. It was the 122nd reception of his collegiate career, an all-time Penn record. "To wrap up the title at home after everybody's put in so much time and effort -- the record to me is just icing on the cake," Macik said. If any doubts remained about the outcome, they were erased when the Quakers took the second-half kickoff and marched 72 yards for a 23-0 lead. DeRosa capped the drive with a 16-yard strike to senior wide receiver Leo Congeni. Soon thereafter, DeRosa injured his thumb and had to leave the game. In contrast to Harvard, the Quakers did not stumble when their backup came in. Backup Steve Teodecki was 7-for-9 passing, including the touchdown that finished the scoring. He also led Penn to a field goal. "When 'Teo' came in, we didn't lose anything," Giannakoulis said. "He and DeRosa are both unbelievable quarterbacks and they're going to carry this team hopefully for a couple more years." With Penn up 23-0 at the end of three quarters, the fourth was little more than a celebration for the seniors. As the rabid crowd waited eagerly to tear down the west goal post, the seniors received numerous standing ovations. The Quakers finished the scoring with a 22-yard pass from Teodecki to receiver Mike Chico, a seldom-used senior who had never caught a pass. He was mobbed by his teammates after he just barely got the ball over the goal line. Moments later, the goal posts succumbed to the mob of fans. The Quakers were left to watch and try to savor the moment. "It's going to take years for this sink in," Stokes said. "We really focused in and worked hard to achieve this. As a senior, this is the right way to go out -- with a championship."
