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.

If I get a chance to watch the New Orleans Saints host a playoff game at the Superdome next week, I might finally realize what those much smarter than yours truly have known for decades. Sports provide an escape. When life is kicking our butt, we take an afternoon and watch professionals kick each others' for three hours.

By Sebastien Angel Staff Writer angelsd@sas.upenn.edu Penn basketball head coach Glen Miller said yesterday that David Whitehurst has yet to contact him this season, and suggested that the former guard does not figure into his vision for the program. "It doesn't mean we won't have a conversation down the road, but I don't know what David's thinking," the coach said.

With league play about to descend upon the Ancient Eight, contests over winter break gave one final look at Penn's conference rivals before the "real" season begins. A bit stingy. To get a sense of how the Princeton defense has been playing recently, one fact from this week says it all: Rice's Morris Almond entered Jadwin Gymnasium on Saturday as the most prolific scorer in the nation, averaging a Division I-best 31.

While most students were sleeping and catching up on Grey's Anatomy, the Penn men's basketball team was going through some final tune-ups before the start of the Ivy League season. Listed are five things the Quakers learned about themselves that will tell in upcoming games a lot about their chances of repeating as league champions and returning to the NCAA Tournament: 1.

Four wins over break would have been too much to ask for the men's basketball team - the last time Penn went undefeated over winter vacation was 1979, when the Quakers ended up in the Final Four.

By Eric Karlan Staff Writer karlan@sas.upenn.edu It wasn't the most humiliating defeat. It wasn't even their poorest performance. But after the Quakers lost their fourth straight game on Saturday night - 78-72 to Princeton - women's basketball coach Pat Knapp sat in the press room looking utterly dejected.

By Josh Wheeling Sports Editor jw4@sas.upenn.edu CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Jan 3 - Five minutes into the game, Penn was making No. 2 North Carolina's defense look like Swiss cheese. The Quakers' perimeter offense, typically with four players outside the three-point arc and one at the high post, used motion and sharp cuts to the basket to open up a 15-8 lead over the Tar Heels at the Smith Center.