K.J. Matsui was only 14 years old, but he was already on his own. The only English he knew was from textbooks, but he was expected to take junior high classes just like the American kids. He had just left his family, friends and home 7,000 miles away in Japan, but there was one thing that was familiar - the very reason he had come to the states - and that was the game of basketball.
By Andrew Sweet Staff Writer sweetad@sas.upenn.edu Pop quiz. Right now, which team is on top of the Ivy League basketball standings? A quick look and one can believe the unbelievable: the Big Green of Dartmouth currently sit at No. 1. This does not necessarily mean the citizens of Hanover should start preparing for March Madness.
At this time last year, the storied tradition of Princeton basketball appeared to have gone down the drain. Going into the Ivy League season, the Tigers were in a six-game tailspin that started with a 21-point performance against Monmouth and was exacerbated by an embarrassing home loss to Division III Carnegie Mellon.
Nearly two months after facing the top team in the nation, the Penn wrestling team will head to Cedar Falls, Iowa, with the opportunity to gauge how it has grown as a team and on an individual level this Saturday at the National Duals. The No. 14 Quakers (2-2) will make their first team appearance since wrestling toward a third-place finish in the Las Vegas Duals in early December.
Ibrahim Jaaber and Brian Grandieri paced the Quakers with 17 and 14 points, respectively, as Penn defeated Columbia 69-43 in New York last night. The Quakers held the Lions to a 27.9% clip from the field, effectively thwarting their one-two punch of John Baumann on the perimeter and Ben Nwachukwu inside.
When the buzzer sounded, Fran Dunphy and Temple were 0-2 in the Big 5 and 0-2 in the Atlantic 10, and he seemed to be the only one who knew why. The former Penn coach fell victim to a little of everything on both ends as St. Joseph's came into the Liacouras Center and left with an emphatic 80-67 victory.
When the buzzer sounded, Fran Dunphy and Temple were 0-2 in the Big 5 and 0-2 in the Atlantic 10, and he seemed to be the only one who knew why. The former Penn coach fell victim to a little of everything on both ends as St. Joseph's came into the Liacouras Center and left with an emphatic 80-67 victory.
By Andrew Sweet Staff Writer sweetad@sas.upenn.edu Pop quiz. Right now, which team is on top of the Ivy League basketball standings? A quick look and one can believe the unbelievable: the Big Green of Dartmouth currently sit at No. 1. This does not necessarily mean the citizens of Hanover should start preparing for March Madness.
At this time last year, the storied tradition of Princeton basketball appeared to have gone down the drain. Going into the Ivy League season, the Tigers were in a six-game tailspin that started with a 21-point performance against Monmouth and was exacerbated by an embarrassing home loss to Division III Carnegie Mellon.
After the end of a 19-year era last year, the Penn gymnastics program is charged with starting a new one this season. The Quakers head into this season with a new head coach, John Ceralde, after program tenet Tom Kovic stepped down to begin an athlete consulting firm.
Four matches. Four victories. The 9-0 outcome of last night's contest against No. 10 Navy (10-3) was no different than the way the No. 4 Penn men's squash team dominated its previous opponents. The Quakers (4-0, 3-0 Ivy) earned their third shutout of the year and fourth top-15 victory.
By Molin Zhong Staff Writer molin@sas.upenn.edu Look closely at the Penn gymnastics team this year and one might notice that along with a new head coach, the team members will also sport revised dictionaries. The team has learned that the word 'change' does not always mean that things will be different.
Ten months ago, things were looking up for Brown basketball fans. And then John Chaney got involved. The Bears ended their 6-8 Ivy campaign on a high note, decisively beating Princeton and taking eventual league champion Penn to overtime. And with all five starters returning, led by standout junior forward Keenan Jeppesen (11.
Just before Cornell freshman Ryan Wittman graduated from high-school basketball to NCAA competition, his father, Randy, offered some words of advice. "He told me how it's going to be more intense, how guys are going to be stronger and how you have to play differently," Wittman said.
By Brian Finkel Staff Writer finkel@wharton.upenn.edu Back from its lengthy Scandinavian voyage, the men's squash team is now looking to dominate in a region not known for its tall, blond inhabitants. After a winter break tour that included stops in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, the No.
Glen Miller's career as Penn coach is 520 minutes old. For those of you who have not taken a class taught by Jim Harrick, that translates into 13 games. And over that time, the record has actually been a good reflection of the Quakers' play. At 7-6, Penn has been very inconsistent, within games and from game to game, and does not yet have a particularly strong identity.
In the November 13 Associated Press college basketball poll, Harvard received a single top-25 vote. And Harvard remains the only Ivy team to receive a vote this year. Incongruent with their national nod, the Crimson was picked to finish seventh in the preseason Ivy League basketball poll.
Erin Power was hardly the only one ecstatic when the University accepted her early decision in December. So was David Power - her father and basketball coach at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois. And head coach Pat Knapp and the rest of the women's basketball program might have cracked some smiles, even in the midst of another rough season.
With sophomore guard Adam Gore leading the charge, the Cornell men's basketball team shone in its first game of the season at Northwestern, knocking off a Big Ten opponent for the first time since 1967.
By Parisa Bastani Staff Writer pbastani@sas.upenn.edu Given Yale's 4-9 record so far this season, the Elis don't seem like they have much to be optimistic about as they approach their first Ivy League contest at Brown on Saturday. Yale opened the season on a positive note with a win over Allegheny, but then fell into a slump, dropping nine of their next 11 games.
For the Columbia Lions, Friday's Ivy League opener against the Princeton Tigers is about much more than emerging as the superior feline. The Lions (9-5) now have another chance to prove they belong among the best of the league. They have been unable to do just that for a long time.
Basketball and horse racing couldn't be more different, but Penn junior guard Michael Kach and Philadelphia native Barbaro have a striking similarity.
If all goes as expected for the Penn basketball team, its roster will swell to 17 or 18 players next year. Currently a 15-man squad, the Quakers will lose four seniors, but bring in six freshmen - and the possibility of a David Whitehurst return has not been completely ruled out by head coach Glen Miller.
Solutions by The State News
