Men's basketball head coach Steve Donahue officially announced his six Class of 2020 recruits to the team recently to complete the roster for the 2016-17 season. Or so we thought. Donahue announced last week via a press release through Penn Athletics that one more addition has been made to the squad, in the form of a transfer student from Lassen Community College in northern California. 

Penn basketball hasn’t sent a player to the NBA since 2000. That player was none other than Ira Bowman, who still frequents the Palestra as assistant coach to the Quakers.

Penn athletics is seemingly teeming with wunderkinds. Just about every team seems to have their own underclassmen superstar.

The Federation of International Lacrosse Under-19 World Championship took place in Canada over the past two weeks, and tournament champions Team U.S.A. relied on a core composition of Quakers throughout the six games. Five individuals — four athletes and a coach — represented Penn in the Canadian province of British Columbia as the U.S. defended its title in the Under-19 World Championship.

I’ve had the privilege of writing for the Daily Pennsylvanian for two full years now, and one particular date is seared into my brain: November 7, 2015. That particular day, undoubtedly, was the most entertaining of my Penn career thus far.

For those of you who were watching, and/or mesmerized by, the Copa America Centanario, you’ll have noticed a few things.

For most of Penn’s undergraduate population, the end of the final exam period signals the time for kicking back, relaxing and fondly looking back at the previous year. But for a very lucky, very small fraction of the student body, the onset of summer simply means business as usual. Playing on a varsity spring sport inherently carries the risk of playing past the school year’s conclusion, and 2016 was no exception.

As the country prepares for the Rio Olympics later this summer, an unprecedented delegation from Penn fought for places on the United States’ swimming roster. 14 Quakers flew to Omaha, Neb.

Though the Penn men’s basketball Class of 2020 has been more or less set for a while now, head coach Steve Donahue made things official when he unveiled the newest Quakers last week. “These young men possess the type of talent and character that good programs are built upon,” the second-year coach said in a statement.

As the country prepares for the Rio Olympics later this summer, an unprecedented delegation from Penn is in currently trying to fight for places on the United States’ swimming roster.

For the third year in a row, Penn played host to the Urban Youth Lacrosse Jamboree, an annual celebration of community partnerships through sports competition. Behind the event was the Young Quakers Community Athletics program, an after-school initiative spearheaded by the Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships and Penn Athletics. Founded in early 2015 — but with roots going back to 2012 — the program has sought to pair up Penn athletes with West Philadelphia elementary and middle schools through mentoring and free access to Penn athletic resources.

Two of the Red and Blue's women’s lacrosse players were honored by Inside Lacrosse this week as part of its year-long awards recognition. Senior attack Nina Corcoran and freshman defender Katy Junior received awards after being named on the All-ILWomen team and the All-Rookie team, respectively.

The Copa America is now in knockout mode, with the preliminary stages of the competition now finished. But last weekend, the tournament certainly had knockout vibes running throughout Philly as three teams said goodbye to their Copa America dreams.

It’s the end of an era for Penn men’s track and field. After years of service leading the rebuild of the Quakers’ men’s program, senior superstars Sam Mattis and Thomas Awad donned the Red and Blue for the final time on Friday evening, competing in the discus throw and 5000-meter run, respectively, at the 2016 NCAA Track and Field Champions in Eugene, Ore.  Mattis finished in second place in the men’s discus throw earning his third consecutive first team All-American honors, while Awad took 22nd place in the men’s 5000m to secure an honorable mention All-America spot. Penn’s evening was opened by Mattis, who was the presumptive favorite in his signature event all season after setting a still-standing American-born collegiate record with a gargantuan toss of 67.45 meters back at the Philadelphia College Classic in March – a full sixteen feet further than the next farthest throw by an NCAA athlete in 2016, courtesy of Kansas’ Mitchell Cooper. But Mattis – attempting to become Penn’s first two-time national champion since Bruce Collins won the 400m hurdles in 1972 and 1974 – struggled early on, barely advancing into the final flight with a first round mark of 57.98 meters.

Penn men’s heavyweight and lightweight rowing competed at the IRA National Championship Regatta on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.

They made the cut. Seniors Tommy Awad and Sam Mattis are going to Eugene, Ore. to compete in the NCAA championships next week.

A lot of athletes might say they were born to play their respective sport. But a kid related to both the NCAA’s Division I-A single-season touchdown passing record holder and the winningest quarterback in Stanford history might have a slightly better argument. Such is life for California native and safety Conor O’Brien, who is one of 29 recruits joining Penn football’s Class of 2020 looking to help the Quakers begin their title defense. Needless to say, O’Brien needed no help being introduced to the sport.