The Death and Life of the Penn Quakers Basketball Program

On the night of the Palestra’s 90th anniversary, the Penn Quakers were blown out by their Ivy League rivals, the Princeton Tigers. The program has a long way to go before it reclaims its former glory.

It’s difficult to shake the surreal feeling that overtakes me when I visit my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. It’s a bit like selling a house, only to go back years later and discover that the new occupants kept most of the furniture. I watch another generation of students live the life I once led.

They study in the same areas and live in the same dorms. They head toward the same buildings for their classes and retreat to the same library to study late into the night. They eat at many of the same restaurants, although the number of dining options has greatly expanded in the past decade. They wrestle with the same challenges: how will I ever pass this Econ midterm? Why did I wait until the last night to write this paper? Why did I schedule a class at 9 AM?

They move hurriedly through campus, their direction dictated by a tide that pulls only those that regularly inhabit this environment. As I walk among these undergrads, I feel like an interloper, having been liberated from this invisible force long ago.

Penn is not my home anymore, but I returned on Tuesday night in the hope of witnessing a revival. The Penn Quakers men’s basketball team faced the Princeton Tigers, a traditional Ivy League power and primary nemesis of the Red and Blue.

There was a time when Penn was an Ancient Eight titan, too. However, the program has fallen on hard times. The Quakers have been mired in mediocrity since their last Ivy League title in 2007. The 2006-07 team was powered by a formidable Big Three: recent Big 5 Hall of Fame inductee Ibrahim “Ibby” Jaaber, Mark Zoller, and Steve Danley.

The trio headlined the last great Fran Dunphy recruiting class at Penn. Dunphy left for Temple University ahead of the Big Three’s senior season. He seemed to take with him the magic elixir that produced championships and NCAA Tournament appearances.

For ten years, Penn has struggled to reclaim its former glory. When Dunphy departed, the Quakers hired Glen Miller away from Brown University. The match proved disastrous, and Miller was unceremoniously fired after a winless start to the 2009-10 campaign.  His replacement, legendary Penn hoops star Jerome Allen, did not fare much better. Like his predecessor, Allen failed to win consistently with his own recruits. After five seasons, he resigned his post and resurfaced as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics.

Penn’s newest savior is also a familiar face. Steve Donahue arrived at Penn in 2015 after an unsuccessful stint at Boston College. The former Dunphy assistant distinguished himself as a head coach by propelling the long-moribund Cornell basketball program to three Ivy League titles (2008-10). The last of Donahue’s championship teams made a run to the Sweet 16.

Success did not occur overnight in Ithaca. Donahue patiently built his program for seven seasons before he secured his first twenty-win season and league title in 2008.

The stakes were different, though, for Donahue in his first stint as an Ancient Eight head coach. Most importantly, he was not burdened by the same set of expectations that he faces at Penn.  Cornell did not boast the winning tradition to which Penn lays claim. Ithaca cannot match the big-city energy and enthusiasm for basketball that Philadelphia offers. And the Big Red do not play in the Palestra.

***

There is a reason why the Palestra has been dubbed the “Cathedral of College Basketball.” While there are plenty of exceptional venues to take in a basketball game, few match the majesty of Penn’s venerable arena.

The writer in me demands that I “show, not tell;” to prove to you, the reader, why the Palestra deserves the praise reserved for it. Yet, I lack the ability to capture the atmosphere that takes hold in the place during a game. It’s ineffable, frankly.

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But you sense the building come alive when you walk through the doors. The acoustics are such that a 25-member band sitting in any corner can fill the arena with sound. The 8700 fans who fill the stands can sound as loud as the 20,000 who take in a game at the Wells Fargo Center. There isn’t a bad seat in the house.

The bleachers in the upper level lend the gym a charm that has long been erased from other, newer courts. The NCAA has vigilantly guarded its athletes from the corrupting influence of money, but the organization has allowed its member institutions to spend their ever-growing pile of cash extravagantly. So out go the bleachers and in come cushioned seats, all in the name of euphemistically “enhancing the viewer experience” (raising the ticket prices).

Arenas like the Palestra increasingly do not exist precisely because the amateur ideal in collegiate athletics has devolved into a charade. Money is everywhere, except in the pockets of the players who put on the show. Defenders of the “purity of the game” have plenty to say when student-athlete compensation emerges as a topic of conversation, but their voices fall silent when the NCAA stages the Final Four in football stadiums.

As it happened, the university was celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Palestra on the night of the Penn-Princeton contest. While the days of the court hosting NCAA Tournament games are likely over, the Palestra will remain the home of Big 5 Basketball and Penn Basketball well into the future.

Playing home games at the Palestra is likely a major selling point to potential recruits. It is a significant component of the history and tradition of the program, which ought to be recognized. Nonetheless, history hangs in the rafters. Tradition is consigned to the walls along the concourse. The future direction of Penn Quakers Basketball will be determined on the court and on the recruiting trail.

On the latter front, help is on the way. Donahue and his staff have secured the commitments of point guard Jelani Williams and small forward Eddie Scott, talented prospects from the D.C. area. The duo should help Penn on the offensive end, which is in need of considerable improvement. Talented freshman A.J. Brodeur has proven to be a force in the paint.

As his post game continues to develop, Brodeur will likely draw double teams, opening up the floor for well-timed cuts to the basket and quality opportunities from the three-point line. What Penn lacked against Princeton were players who could consistently take advantage of open lanes and looks. Ultimately, it was the difference in the game.

***

Very quickly into the contest, I realized that something was amiss with the Princeton Tigers. They were not running their eponymous offense, or at least the aspects of it that I remembered. Gone were the multiple baseline cuts, the deliberate style of play, and the near-exhaustion of the shot clock. In their place was an up-tempo operation that looked to break out in transition at every opportunity.

While I am sure that there remain elements of Pete Carril’s philosophy embedded in Princeton’s scheme, the Tigers certainly seem to have been influenced by the space-and-pace revolution that has impacted the game at every level.

Princeton was simply more athletic than Penn. After a sloppy, turnover-filled start, the Tigers settled into their offense. Princeton bombarded the Quakers’ defense with one three pointer after another. They had shooters all over the floor, forcing Penn to defend most of the half court. For the game, Princeton shot 48.3% from the three-point line; threes accounted for 42 of the Tigers’ 64 points. By comparison, Penn scored 49 points total.

The Penn Quakers’ offense was plagued by empty trips and turnovers. When their attack was functioning, Penn was moving the ball around quickly and taking advantage of the open lanes to the basket their motion created. Brodeur scored 10 points, but he did not dominate the game the way he had against LaSalle. Guard Darnell Foreman chipped in 11 points and, along with Sam Jones (10 points), was Penn’s best player on the court.

Too often, though, the Quakers forced the issue. Penn could not sustain an offensive run to get back into the game because their lack of execution on both ends of the floor would not allow it.

In the end, the game revealed the chasm between a contender and a cellar dweller. Princeton has built a team and developed a system that will get them to the Palestra for the inaugural Ivy League postseason tournament. If the Tigers can win the playoff, their scoring ability will give an opponent fits in the NCAA Tournament.

By contrast, Penn Basketball is far from experiencing the renaissance for which I was hoping. Tuesday night’s game, combined with the Quakers’ 0-6 record in conference play, exposed the depth of the rebuilding project Coach Donahue and his staff must undertake before Penn is once again competing for Ivy League championships.

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Donahue has certainly proven himself a capable program builder. Yet, the overall quality of the Ancient Eight has improved dramatically. As Penn has floundered, once dormant programs like Harvard and Yale have risen. Donahue and his assistants will need some time to catch up to the competition.

Nevertheless, patience will be a hard sell to a fan base that has not won a title in 10 years in a league Penn once dominated. Donahue would be wise not to expect the latitude he received at Cornell.

The Palestra is not getting any younger, after all.