Men’s basketball is poised for a “threepeat.”
By Noel Hynd
Where
does the time go? Can it really be the season for winter hoops
again? Well, actually, yes, and so my thoughts turn toward the Palestra.
Men’s basketball is coming off another highly successful season under
Coach Fran Dunphy and his staff. Last year Penn won its 20th Ivy League
title, featured the Ivy League Player of the Year (Michael Jordan C’00)
and Rookie of the Year (Ugonna Onyekwe) and earned the first tournament
championship (Golden Bear Classic) since 1993-94.
But,
alas, that horrible word: graduation. Gone are three starters from
that squad: Jordan (who recently signed with the Boston Celtics, by the
way) and first-team All-Ivy League honoree Matt Langel W’00, plus Frank
Brown W’00. Gone are their 34 points per game and on-court leadership.
Now what?
“Of
course the loss of two players who consistently score a lot of points
per game is going to affect us,” said Dunphy recently. “But we are not
looking back to what was. We now have to see what will work for us this
year. We have an excellent corps of players returning and every one of
them wants to repeat as Ivy champions.”
Dunphy
coached Penn to its sixth (and his fourth) undefeated Ivy League season
with the help of those three graduating seniors. But returning to the
Palestra hardwood this season will be two second-team All-Ivy League honorees:
Onyekwe and the 2000-01 team captain, senior Geoff Owens. Accompanied
by eight returning letter-winners and three incoming freshmen with the
ability to contend for starting roles, this season should be full of excitement.
Can you say, “threepeat?”
“This
team will be looking to Geoff to be an effective leader—both on and off
the court,” said Dunphy. “His leadership will come from his work ethic
and the respect he gets from his fellow teammates. Geoff’s accomplishments
and dedication to basketball are what earned him the title of captain
this year and we look for him to flourish in that role.”
Owens
is coming off an outstanding third season with the Quakers and will be
the focal point down low for opponents. He finished the 1999-2000 campaign
with 54 blocks, which was good for second on the all-time single-season
blocks list. Owens also owns the top season record with 58 blocks, set
in 1998, and the career record for blocks with 152. Appropriately nicknamed
“Big,” Owens averaged nine points and 7.3 rebounds per game last season
and earned All-Ivy League honors for the second consecutive year. He shot
50.5 percent from the field in all games and 59.5 percent in Ivy games.
Look for Owens to bully opponents a little more this season with some
added strength and experience gained during summer-league ball.
v “We lost a
lot of minutes and a lot of points from last year’s team,” said Dunphy.
“This is a great opportunity for younger players to step up and show what
they can do.”
Onyekwe,
Penn’s sixth Ivy League Rookie of the Year, earned his stripes after completing
a very successful freshman season. He averaged 11.7 points per game, third
highest on the team, and pulled down six rebounds per contest. His 47
blocks were good for second place on the team. Onyekwe is a consistent
performer on both sides of the court and displayed confidence against
the top teams in the nation. He scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds
in his first collegiate start against Kentucky at Rupp Arena in the pre-season
NIT and then scored 30 points and pulled down 12 rebounds against Portland
State and California in the Golden Bear Classic. Onyekwe also recorded
a season-high 20 points against St. Joseph’s at the Palestra and did it
again in Penn’s rout of Princeton in the regular-season finale.
Returning
to run the 2000-2001 offense will be sophomore Dave Klatsky, who had a
great opportunity to play behind and with Jordan for a season last year.
As a freshman, Klatsky had nearly a 2-to-1 assists-to-turnovers ratio,
with 52 assists in 29 games. Klatsky has a firm grasp of Dunphy’s style
of offense and should provide some much-needed points and experience in
the backcourt.
After
leaving the team for personal reasons in 1999-2000, senior Lamar Plummer
returns this year and should provide experience and depth in the backcourt.
In the six games he played as a junior, Plummer scored 14 points and was
effective behind the three-point line. His summer experience in the Sonny
Hill League could help make up for his lack of playing time last season.
Sophomores Duane King and Harold Bailey will look to increase their playing
time in 2001. King played in 23 games last season and scored 27 points,
while Bailey saw action in 15 contests and was a consistent performer.
These three will have plenty of opportunities to battle it out for playing
time in the early part of the season.
Moving
back to the frontcourt, another student-athlete looking to make a bigger
impact as a sophomore will be Koko Archibong. The 6-feet, 7-inch forward
has the edge at the three-spot after the departure of Langel and Brown.
Archibong started the first 12 games of the season as a freshman before
being sidelined with a concussion.
“Koko
had some things he needed to work on over the summer,” said Dunphy, “and
if he did that, he will be a stronger player for us on the court, physically
and mentally, which will make us a stronger and deeper team.”
v Staying with
the Quakers’ inside game, seniors Josh Sanger and Jon Tross return for
their final season. Both players have a strong physical presence on the
hardwood, and Dunphy looks for them to continue improving their game.
Also joining this group in the frontcourt is junior Dan Solomito, a versatile
swingman who has become a fan favorite in his first two seasons because
of his enthusiasm and great hustle.
Penn
men’s basketball is also looking forward to the arrival of three newcomers:
freshmen Adam Chubb, Jeff Schiffner and Charlie Copp. Each of these players
brings a different talent to the team. It will be interesting to see where
they fit into Dunphy’s plans and how quickly they adjust to the college
game.
In
addition to the absence of Jordan and company, another familiar face is
missing from the basketball program this year. Steve Donahue, an assistant
coach at Penn for the past 10 years, has been named head men’s basketball
coach at a certain rival Ivy university in Ithaca, New York. As an assistant
at Penn, Donahue served as the team’s recruiting coordinator and developed
the team’s offensive strategy. In his time as a Quaker assistant, Donahue
was instrumental in the Quakers winning six Ivy League titles in the last
eight years, advancing to the NCAA tournament five times and earning national
recognition with a top-25 ranking. Look for Penn-Cornell basketball to
have an extra edge in the next few years.
Extra
Point: In the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, recent graduate Brandon
Slay W’98 took home a silver medal after becoming the first Ivy League
wrestler in 76 years to advance to the gold-medal match. Slay lost 4-0
to Germany’s Alexander Leipold in the 76 kg (167.50 lb.) category. [Slay
was awarded the gold medal after his opponent failed a drug test.—Ed.]
Noel Hynd C’70 writes on sports for the Gazette.
