While most Penn students eat large meals and gather to watch football on Thanksgiving, both of Penn’s basketball teams will spend their breaks on the hardwood.

It was quite the accomplishment: before ever playing his first game in a Penn uniform, Matt MacDonald was already one of the team’s captains.

The event, which was hosted at Penn's Palestra, looks like it is here to stay, thanks in part to the riveting games that were played. The tournament featured one overtime game, one game decided by a single basket, and several of the Ancient Eight's marquee rivalries. But what exactly is the future of the Ivy League basketball tournament?

It turns out that the insanely tall guy you stared at the other day saw you looking, and for the record, he wants you to know that he’s 7-foot-3.

After a breakout sophomore season in 2015-16 that saw her become a key piece of the Quakers' starting lineup, Lauren Whitlatch entered her junior season expecting to be a key piece for a Penn women's basketball team which hadn't lost a single rotation member to graduation the year before. But the Quakers' plan of having the same starting lineup for two seasons straight was derailed in January, when Whitlatch tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in practice. 

The seniors on Penn men’s basketball have faced their fair share of adversity during their four years in University City. Losing records, a coaching change and transfers are not easy hurdles to clear. But three years later, senior point guard Darnell Foreman and the rest of the class of 2018 lead a team that is a legitimate contender in the Ivy League.

After facing a temporary academic suspension that kept him off the court from January of 2016 until the conclusion of this past season, Woods has been back at Penn taking classes since last spring and is now ready — and academically eligible — to help the Quakers return to the Ivy League Tournament. 

It is never too early to look ahead to some of the more intriguing matchups on the calendar. For Penn men's basketball, a season full of optimism features a plethora of compelling games that could prove vital to the team’s success. Should the Quakers handle the twists and turns of a difficult schedule, they could find themselves back in the Ivy League Tournament, where they can dare to dream of some March madness of their own.

The Penn women’s basketball freshmen are eager to add to the winning formula that has produced back-to-back Ivy League titles for the Quakers the past two seasons.

Whether one sees Penn as the little brother to the Harvard-Yale-Princeton triumvirate or not, though, one thing is undeniable — the Ivy League is improving, and fast. 

As the Quakers graduated one of their all-time great centers in Sydney Stipanovich, the 6’4” freshman from Charlotte, N.C. will be stepping into a big void. Given her raw talent and knack for learning the game, coach Mike McLaughlin sees her as worthy of earning the starting-five nod to kick off the season.

The freshman four — Jarrod Simmons, Jelani Williams, Eddie Scott, and Mark Jackson — complement each other well and are looking to make an immediate impact on the program.

In addition to a greatly improved Ivy League this season, Penn women’s basketball also has the chance to play better non-conference teams, such as preseason top-five squads Notre Dame and Baylor, as well as local rivals in the annual Philadelphia Big 5 series.

On Saturday, the men’s and women’s teams held their annual Red and Blue Scrimmage. The women took the court first before the men played in the sequel. Both games were closely contested with the Red squad squeaking out a 65-62 victory in the women’s game and the Blue team was victorious 78-72 in the men’s game

This Saturday, both Penn men’s and women’s basketball will kick-off their seasons with the informal Red and Blue scrimmages in the Palestra. The scrimmages will be intrasquad, so for their first taste of competition for the long season, the Quakers will find themselves. 

The Palestra just saw a new shade of Red and Blue. On Sunday afternoon, the Philadelphia 76ers held their Blue x White Scrimmage with the White squad squeaking out a nail-biting overtime victory in front of a raucous, packed- to-the-rafters Palestra crowd.

The Process is coming to Penn. On Thursday, the Philadelphia 76ers announced that the Palestra would be host to the team’s Blue x White Scrimmage on Sunday, October 1 from 1:00-3:30 p.m.