THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019
Tab eAround of the Contents Ivy: Men 3 4
Around the Ivy: Women
6
Goodman: The quiet leader
8
Emerging senior stars
9
Wang, Washington break out
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Michael Lau
Jacob Wessels
Yosi Weitzman
Isaac Spear
10
McLaughlin builds a dynasty
12
Betley is back from injury
14
Can Parker stay dominant?
15
Meet the Palestra's fans
16
Sarah Parks takes the reins
18
Photo Gallery
20
Crawford, Jones step up
21
Brodeur: Big man on campus
22
Versatile freshmen join team
23
2
Zack Rovner
Expect at least one Penn title this year
Danny Chiarodit
Marc Margolis
Jackson Satz
Jackson Joffe
Bianca Serbin
Alec Druggan
Will DiGrande
Michael Landau
Jess Mixon
Padilla headlines new class Charlie Dolgenos
CREDITS SPORTS EDITORS: THEODOROS PAPAZEKOS MICHAEL LANDAU WILL DIGRANDE DANNY CHIARODIT
PHOTO:
DESIGN:
ALEC DRUGGAN CHASE SUTTON SON NGUYEN GARY LIN ALEXA COTLER NICOLE FRIDLING
GILLIAN DIEBOLD ALICE HEYEH JESS TAN TAMSYN BRANN LUCY FERRY LINDA TING AVA CRUZ
Both the men and women were picked second in the Ivy League THEODOROS PAPAZEKOS Senior Sports Editor
The Ivy League polls are in, and the consensus is second place. Penn fans should take that as the minimum. Penn men’s basketball seems to be the second-place pick behind Harvard, which received votes in the preseason top-25 rankings and will have home court for the Ivy Tournament in March. The women finished tied with defending champion Princeton in the conference preseason poll but got fewer first-place votes. Most observers think that Princeton and backto-back Ivy Player of the Year Bella Alarie will take the League’s NCAA Tournament bid. Second place would be fine for most programs in most years, but not these ones. Expectations are high, and justifiably so. At least one of these programs will win the conference — a declaration that sounds a lot less wild when you look at the history. Over the past 20 basketball seasons, 14 have ended with a Penn champion. The current streak of championship basketball sits at four years. This year, both teams look promising. Why should we expect anything less? Let’s start with the women. Junior Eleah Parker is on a mission to claim a Player of the Year award of her own, and if she’s even in the conversation, Penn should have better than even odds of winning the conference. If Parker can close the gap between her and Alarie, the supporting cast coach Mike McLaughlin has built around
her should be enough to propel the Red and Blue past the Tigers. At point guard, the Quakers will start Kendall Grasela, one of the two senior captains. The other, Phoebe Sterba, could be the team’s primary scoring threat outside Parker. Unlike last season, where so many minutes had to be claimed by the graduated Ashley Russell, this team features depth in spades — more than any other team in the conference. Even if Parker turns out to be the second-best player in the League again, she boasts the conference’s best supporting cast. This is a team built for March. On the men’s side, the same trademark depth is present even without the core of veteran role players that graduated in May. Coach Steve Donahue has assembled a legitimate Big 3 of seniors that matches up favorably with pretty much any other mid-major senior class in the country. Harvard’s pairing of Bryce Aiken and Seth Towns come as close as any but neither has been consistently healthy. Penn has depth — the rotation could go to as many as 10 players or more if a talented freshman class proves itself early in the season. The best team in Philadelphia last year, Penn loses locker room presence but inherits a talented freshman class in return. AJ Brodeur, the biggest of the Big 3, has Player of the Year aspirations of his own, and the return of the injured Ryan Betley will provide the team with a much needed consistent second option on offense. The third senior, and the third starter Donahue has named at this point in the preseason, is Devon Goodman — an improved Devon Goodman, according to Donahue, an impressive feat for someone coming off such a successful breakout season. Penn men’s and women’s basketball have never won Ivy titles in the same year. Could this season see history?
THEODOROS PAPAZEKOS is a College senior from Pittsburgh and Senior Sports Editor for The Daily Pennsylvanian. He can be reached at papazekos@thedp.com.
SPORTS REPORTERS: TAMARA WURMAN ALANA KELLY NATHAN ADLER BRANDON LI
ZACK ROVNER MICHAEL LAU JACOB WESSELS YOSEF WEITZMAN ISAAC SPEAR MARC MARGOLIS JACKSON SATZ
JACKSON JOFFE BIANCA SERBIN JESS MIXON CHARLIE DOLGENOS
Here's what Penn fans can expect from the other top Ivy contenders ZACK ROVNER Associate Sports Editor
With Penn men's basketball getting set to start its quest for an Ivy League title, here is a look at the rest of the
Ancient Eight competition. After a 2018-19 season in which 13 of the 14 All-Ivy players returned to their respective schools, this year should see a lot of new faces stepping into big roles. Here is a guide to each team's outlook for the 2019-20 season, ordered by the results of the preseason poll.
Harvard 2018 - 19 Record: (19 - 12, 10 - 4 Ivy) Biggest loss: None Player to watch: Bryce Aiken Rookie of the Year, was a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection last season, despite missing much of the team's nonconference schedule due to injury. Additionally, Harvard will welcome back Seth Towns, the 2017-18 Ivy League Player of the Year. Towns missed last season due to injury, but in his 2017-18 award-winning campaign, he averaged 16 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest. The team also returns a total of four seniors who were regular starters last season. The Crimson are deep, have several veterans, and are looking for revenge after the past two seasons.
2018 - 19 Record: (22 - 8, 10-4) Biggest loss: Miye Oni Player to watch: Jordan Bruner The Bulldogs start the season looking to repeat as Ivy League champions and make another trip to the NCAA Tournament. However, they are losing much of their scoring power from last season with four key departed players: Miye Oni, Alex Copeland, Blake Reynolds, and Trey Phills, who averaged 17.1, 14.1, 11.1, and 7.0 points per game, respectively. Yale averaged a total of 80.9 points per game last season, and with the loss of these four players, the team will be missing a total of 49.3 points per game from them alone. Oni, the reigning Ivy
League Player of the Year, will be the most difficult to replace due to his athleticism and ability to score at will. In the frontcourt, Yale will likely rely heavily on senior Jordan Bruner and junior Paul Atkinson. In order for the Bulldogs to remain in the discussion at the top of the Ivy League, Bruner will need to take a step forward after averaging 10.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game last season. With a lot of unproven talent on the Yale roster, the team will look to re-establish its identity as a force in the Ivy League early in the season.
Princeton 2018 - 19 Record: (16 - 12, 8 - 6) Biggest loss: Myles Stephens Player to watch: Richmond Aririguzoh After coming in third in the Ivy League last season, Princeton is looking to return to form from the 2016-2017 campaign, when it won the Ivy League Tournament after a perfect 14-0 regular season in the Ancient Eight. The Tigers will have to do so without their senior leader from last season, Myles Stephens. Stephens led the team in minutes last year with over 900 and averaged 13.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest. He was the
Tigers' lone first team All-Ivy selection in 2018-19. Princeton's nonconference schedule will test the team early, with contests against Indiana and Arizona State in its first five games. The group will look to rely heavily on the development and play of senior center Richmond Aririguzoh. Aririguzoh was selected to the second team All-Ivy list last season and will be a key to Princeton’s success in 2019-20.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019
After back-to-back regular season Ivy League championships, Harvard has failed to seal the deal and win the Ivy League Tournament in each of the past two seasons – losing in the championship game in each. On paper, most experts view the Crimson as the clear-cut favorites to repeat as regular season champions for the third year in a row, as they received 15 of the 17 possible first-place votes in the preseason poll. Harvard is returning its entire starting lineup from last season, including senior point guard Bryce Aiken, who averaged 22.2 points per game last year. Aiken, the 2016-17 Ivy League
Yale
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Around the Ivy League: Men
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THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM
Around the Ivy League: Women Princeton and Penn are expected to dominate the conference
season, but the final two spots in the Ivy League Tournament are very much up for grabs. Before Ivy League play is due to begin in two months, here is a preview of all the familiar foes that Penn women's basketball will face, in the order of how they were ranked in the Ivy preseason poll:
MICHAEL LAU Sports Reporter
Penn and Princeton are widely expected to top the Ancient Eight this
Princeton 2018 - 19 Record: (22 - 10, 12 - 2 Ivy) Biggest loss: Gabrielle Rush The back-to-back Ivy League champions will lose one of their major contributors, sharpshooting guard Gabrielle Rush, to graduation. That loss isn't the most notable one on the roster. Coach Courtney Banghart, who in her 13-year tenure guided Princeton to five Ivy League titles and eight NCAA appearances, has gone to North Carolina. Replacing her is coach Carla Berube from Tufts. Amidst the uncertainty, Princeton can look for stability from its most influential player: center Bella Alarie, who was voted Ivy League Player of the Year for the last two seasons. A senior, Alarie is coming off a 22.8 point, 10.6 rebound
season that saw her named as a WBCA All-America Regional Finalist. Her battle with Penn center Eleah Parker will likely be the focal point each time these two teams meet. Together with first team All-Ivy selection Carlie Littlefield and sophomore guard Abby Meyers, who returns to the team following a year away for academic reasons, the trio will likely shoulder most of the Tigers’ offensive and defensive responsibility. Princeton is also bringing in four new players to the team, including forward Ellie Mitchell, who was ranked No. 95 in ESPN’s Top 100 recruits.
2018 - 19 Record: (17 - 13, 9 - 5) Biggest loss: Katie Benzan Player to watch: Jaydn Bush The headliner for the Crimson is that first team All-Ivy point guard Katie Benzan, who led the team in scoring last season, has decided to forgo her final season with the team. Whether the Crimson are able to make up for Benzan’s offensive output will make or break their season. Last season, Harvard fell to Penn in the Tournament semifinals, but they were the only non-Princeton Ivy team to have beaten the Quakers. Known for their scoring prowess, the Crimson
led the League with 9.3 three pointers and 16.2 assists per game last season. The team is also dangerous when its shooters are not making shots, as they topped the charts with 14.5 offensive rebounds per game, led by junior forward Jadyn Bush, who averaged 3.3 per game (second in the League). Bush also led the Ancient Eight with an impressive .531 field-goal percentage, and she will certainly be one to look out for heading into her third season.
Yale 2018 - 19 Record: (16 - 13, 6 - 8) Biggest loss: None Player to watch: Roxy Barahman The Bulldogs, who failed to make the Tournament last year despite posting the same record as fourth-placed Cornell, are known for their toughness and grit. Last season, Yale had the secondbest defensive field-goal percentage in the League (behind Penn) and the most defensive rebounds per game (29.4). They will look for leadership from senior guard Roxy Barahman, who can do
it all for her team. A first team All-Ivy selection last season, Barahman led the League in points (18.6 per game), came in second in steals (2.0) and defensive rebounds (5.6), and was sixth in assists (3.9). Her partnership with sophomore forward Camilla Emsbo, who notched seven Ivy League Rookie of the Week awards last season, will be crucial to the Bulldogs’ success.
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Player to watch: Bella Alarie
Harvard
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THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019
Devon Goodman completes Penn's star trio The senior stepped up after Betley's injury early last year JACOB WESSELS Associate Sports Editor
Good things come to those who wait. In Steve Donahue's tenure as head coach for Penn men's basketball, much of his success has been powered by two players from the coach’s first recruiting class, guard Ryan Betley and forward AJ Brodeur. However, with the two in their senior year, it's clear that the Red and Blue’s dynamic duo is actually a big three. Unlike Betley and Brodeur,
who stepped up right away scoring double-digit points as freshmen, the path to stardom has come differently for senior guard Devon Goodman. After two seasons coming off the bench, Goodman won the starting point guard job coming into last season to fill the big shoes of the now-graduated Darnell Foreman. Just five minutes into the year, Goodman’s challenge got even bigger, as Betley went down with a ruptured patella tendon to end his season. The abrupt departure of both Betley and Foreman meant that after averaging just 4.1 points per game in his first two seasons, Goodman now found himself as the team’s No. 2 scoring option.
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that’s what I’m still looking to do this season.” “[Before last season], he was kind of like the Energizer Bunny who came off the bench and gave us spurts. We didn’t know how he was going to handle playing 40 minutes a night,” Donahue said. “He was tremendously important," Betley said. "He came out of his shell on offense and became a reliable scoring threat, which is
exactly what we needed.” Goodman’s contributions on the offensive end were obvious to any observer, but his importance as a defender is what really surprised his coaches and teammates. “He had an amazing year defensively. I had no idea he was go>> ARTICLE CONTINUES ON FOLLOWING PAGE
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He was able to rise to the occasion, averaging a solid 13.9 points per game and earning a spot on the All-Ivy second team. “My freshman and sophomore year I didn’t really play as much as [Betley and Brodeur], so I really had to work to get to the spot that I am today,” Goodman said. “It showed me that you just have to keep working and just never take anything for granted, so
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its offense, there is one thing the team can count on from Goodman: the energy he brings to the locker room. “He’s a funny kid, he’s always
in a good mood — you can always count on him to bring the positivity,” Betley said. While it may have taken him longer to find his voice and his
role in the offense, nobody can question how important Goodman will be to Penn men's basketball this season, even if he is sometimes overshadowed.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019
important part of Goodman’s development as a player, as his former AAU teammate Betley can attest. “He’s developed tremendously. He’s become a leader. He’s a point guard so that’s something we need from him,” Betley said. “He’s become way more vocal. In AAU when we were 16, he was super quiet, and now you can totally see he’s come out of his shell.” After breaking out last season, it might seem to some that Goodman would have to take a step back this year with Betley returning. Goodman and the team are confident, however, that they need the two to coexist if the team is going to return to the NCAA Tournament. “I don’t think my role will change at all," Goodman said. "Having Ryan out there will actually make my job a lot easier because he’s a great shooter, so he will be able to space out the floor and give me more lanes to drive. We have a lot of chemistry together.” “I’m just super excited to get back out there and play with my boy again,” Betley said. No matter what happens this season as Penn looks to reshape
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ing to be such a great defender,” Donahue said. “Our league is full of smaller guards that everyone has an issue with, but he doesn’t.” “Whenever we play Harvard it's always a fun matchup with him versus Bryce Aiken," Betley said. "They are both so quick. I always look forward to that matchup." Another area where Goodman showed dramatic improvement last season was shooting from three-point range. A 25% career shooter entering last season, Goodman became lethal from deep, shooting over 40% from three in conference play last year to lead the team. Although Foreman’s presence was part of the reason Goodman was unable to make as large of an immediate impact as his teammates, the role his predecessor played in Goodman’s development has helped turn him into the player he is today. “Darnell was a great role model. He taught me a lot, especially on the defensive end,” Goodman said. “He was a really vocal guy, and he played with a lot of passion. Coming in, I was kind of quiet, so I just tried to take that from him and implement it into my game as well.” Finding his voice has been an
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THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019
Senior captains Grasela and Sterba ready to lead The pair started almost every game last season YOSEF WEITZMAN Senior Sports Reporter
Seniors Phoebe Sterba and Kendall Grasela have accomplished an impressive list of feats during their careers for Penn women’s basketball: two Ivy League regular season championships, an NCAA Tournament appearance, a Big 5 championship, and 56 combined starts. For the 2019-20 season, they have both been named captains and will be expected to lead a team that once again has championship aspirations. But there was a moment well before any of their achievements where Sterba and Grasela were unsure whether they even wanted to be on the team. Naturally, as these moments so often tend to, it came over cheese fries. "After our first basketball workout [freshman year] we cried and ate cheese fries,” Grasela said. “It was so hard. It was just like, ‘we don’t know if we can do this.’" Cheese fries aside, the two have each made indelible impacts on the program.
Last season, when the Quakers shared the Ivy League regular–season title, Sterba averaged more than nine points a game and led the team in three-point shooting with 75 treys. She also played her best game in what was perhaps the team’s biggest win of the season. On the road against Princeton, she led Penn with 21 points and sat on the bench for only one minute of the Red and Blue’s 66-60 victory. On the court, coach Mike McLaughlin doesn’t want Sterba
to feel like she has to take on a bigger role than she has in the past as a stretch forward. “Phoebe’s obviously someone who can spread the floor for us,” McLaughlin said. “She defends in the back line of the zone very well.” As a leader, though, it seems that Sterba has already taken major strides ahead of this season. “I think she’s matured as the years have gone on,” McLaughlin said. “She’s good, she keeps the team loose. She understands the at-
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tention to detail more than she ever has.” Grasela, as a pass-first point guard, brings something very different to the floor than Sterba. She averaged less than four points per game last season, but even without scoring a lot, she was so valuable to the team that McLaughlin started her in every game last season other than Senior Night. This year, however, he’s hopeful that she will be more aggressive in looking for her own shot. “I’d like to see Kendall take eight or nine shots a game,” McLaughlin said. “She has the ability, she shoots the ball phenomenally well, but she wants to get everyone involved and there are times for that, but we need her to put the ball up because it’s going to make the other players around her better.” While Grasela will likely have the ball in her hands for more time than anyone else this season, she barely saw any time on the court as a freshman, playing behind second–team All-Ivy point guard Anna Ross. McLaughlin thinks that her development into a full-time starter has set a great example for younger players on the team forced to start their careers on the bench. Indeed, the opportunity to help the team’s freshmen is something both Grasela and Sterba value about having their roles as captains. “Looking back to my freshman year, I was so confused and dazed half the time that I really want to
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be that light for [the current freshmen],” Sterba said. “The impact the seniors left on me as a freshman — I want to have [that in] the same way,” Grasela added. The two have lofty goals for the season, including making it back to the NCAA Tournament, but both also say that it’s the off–court memories that they’ll carry with them more than any on–court highlights. And given that they’ve been roommates together all four years, there are plenty of shared memories between the two of them. “I think my favorite memories have been made making banana bread, watching "The Bachelor" with my teammates Monday night, and making hot chocolate. I think those are the ones that follow through,” Grasela said. Perhaps all the time Sterba and Grasela — who both have blonde hair — have spent together can also help explain why they are so often confused for each other on campus. Even though Sterba is in the College of Arts and Sciences, she has often been called “Kendall” by nursing students mistaking her for Grasela. If that bothers either of them, they don’t share it. The two teammates and friends have come a long way from that day three years ago they shared cheese fries together, and with a full season ahead of them, they’re still not done making memories together.
Wang and Washington had strong rookie campaigns ISAAC SPEAR Sports Reporter
me,” Wang said. As members of the same recruiting class, the two players share a strong feeling of camaraderie. “It’s just that respect for each
other," Washington said. "We both love the game [and] we both want to get better, so we enjoy being around each other." On a roster stacked with talent and a great deal of hope for
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favor of more veteran players. In addition to Wang’s struggle with injury, both he and Washington were too inexperienced for Donahue to trust them in those big games. “Last year it was more a direct result of them being freshmen and not understanding what it takes to play in this League,” Donahue said. One big aspect where Donahue would like to see improvement from both players is defense. He does not want to face situations where he wants to have them for offensive possessions in close games, but has to substitute them out on defense. Already in fall workouts, Donahue has seen not only improved all-around play from Washington and Wang, but also an intense drive to show they can be trusted on both ends in big moments. “They both came back really motivated to prove that they can play at this level and play consistently and be someone that we all can count on for the whole season,” Donahue said. While Washington and Wang are competing with each other as well as a strong freshman class for these opportunities, they want nothing more than to see each other succeed. “We love each other," Wang said. "When we’re on the court, I look for him and he looks for
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019
Sophomores Bryce Washington and Michael Wang both played well while seeing an unprecedented amount of minutes as freshmen over the course of last season. Now in year two, both players are looking to elevate their games to a whole new level. Washington came to Penn as an athletic guard who specialized in getting to the basket, but with senior guard Ryan Betley suffering a season-ending injury in the Quakers’ first game last year, Washington was thrust into the sharpshooter role. “[Bryce’s] role developed last year because we lost Ryan, and we said we need someone to catch and shoot more than take it to the basket,” coach Steve Donahue said. Washington excelled in that role, taking just over four threepoint attempts per game and knocking them down at an impressive 40% clip. This season, Washington is excited to get back to playing his game while focusing on becoming a more well-rounded player overall. “[Driving to the rim] is definitely something I want to expand because that was something that I was really good at in high school that I stopped doing last year,” Washington said. Wang, a 6-foot-10 forward, experienced similar success in his first season, averaging 8.5 points per game, including a stretch of four games early in the year where he averaged 18.5 points on 27-44 shooting. After a strong start to the season, however, Wang was hampered by injury down the stretch after hurting his ankle in a loss to Toledo. He ended up missing five games, but the injury clearly affected Wang for the rest of the season. “I wasn’t really feeling 100%, and I wasn’t really ready,” Wang said. As the Quakers made a lateseason push into the Ivy League tournament, Washington and Wang were relegated to the bottom of the Quakers’ rotation in
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Sophomores look forward to expanded role
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10 BASKETBALL PREVIEW
McLaughlin enters second decade at Penn The Quakers have won four Ivy titles under his guidance DANNY CHIARODIT Sports Editor
For Penn women’s basketball, the expectation every year is to win the Ivy League title — anything short of that is a disappointment. But the bar hasn’t always been that high. Ten years ago, in coach Mike McLaughlin’s first season at Penn, the Quakers were struggling to win a single game, as they finished the 2009-10 season with a 2-26 record. Fast forward a decade, and Penn is coming off six straight 20-win seasons. As the architect of this turnaround, McLaughlin has created a blueprint for how to rebuild a program, and it all comes down to one word. “It’s [all about] the culture he has created, and it started with that team that was 2-26,” said assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Kelly Killion, who joined McLaughlin’s staff the following year. “The culture started with the senior class that year and that group. And he always preached to them [that] it’s not about the wins and losses, but it’s about how you react and how you continue to go and get after it every day. “I think it just carried on. I think he put a few things in place, and the players were really the ones that carried the culture for us.” For some programs, a successful culture change can take several years or even over a decade, but
McLaughlin did it rather seamlessly. Penn steadily improved during the 2011 and 2012 seasons, but the group had a breakthrough in the 2012-13 season, going 18-13 and competing in the postseason for the first time since 2004. McLaughlin and the Quakers achieved yet another milestone the following season, winning the Ivy League title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Since then, the team has remained a perennial powerhouse in the Ivy League and a welcoming destination for athletes. “The one thing I’m really proud of [is that] we don’t have attrition in the program,” McLaughlin said. “We have kids that are here [who] want to be at Penn. They want to play basketball at Penn. They want to represent everyone else here. They really do. I think we’ve done a good job with the culture and understanding that everyone has great value.” “When I came here, I could really tell the culture and the team was really cohesive,” senior guard Phoebe Sterba said. “Even as an example, on Sunday we all went up to brunch in New York City, and there were five generations of women’s basketball players from there. So I think that just speaks to the culture that he creates in the team.” McLaughlin’s tenure at Penn alone has earned him the reputation as one of the premier coaches in college basketball. However, when he came to Penn, he was already a well-known figure, just in a different NCAA division.
Three years after his playing career at Division II Holy Family University in Philadelphia — in which he set the school record for three-point percentage — McLaughlin accepted an assistant coaching position with his alma mater’s women’s basketball pro-
gram. After just two seasons in this role with the Tigers, McLaughlin was hired as Holy Family’s head coach at the age of 27. “I look back on that, and I can’t even remember what that was like because I know I didn’t know what I was doing,” McLaughlin laughed. “But it worked out well. I put some good people around me and some people that could really help me get started. I had success, and we built off success.” Saying that he had success would be an understatement. In his 14 seasons at the helm for Holy Family, McLaughlin compiled a 407-61 record, and his .870 winning percentage was the highest at any level of NCAA basketball. He also notched his first 400 wins in just 459 games, a pace that has still never been matched by any other NCAA women’s basketball coach. Despite building a dynasty at his alma mater, McLaughlin couldn’t turn down the head coaching job at Penn when the opportunity came.
“It was just the right thing for my family to be able to transition. I never moved my family — I live in the same home as I did when I coached [at Holy Family]. I never had to uproot my kids,” McLaughlin said. “And then to come to a school like Penn — it’s pretty hard to say no to, right? As hard as it was to leave [Holy Family], it was an easy decision to come here, and I’ve never once looked back and said, ‘I should’ve done this [differently].’” McLaughlin has certainly made the most of the unique opportunity to coach basketball in his native city. And according to Killion — who also played for McLaughlin at Holy Family — his success in creating this culture at Penn has had more to do with who he is as a person than anything else. “He has never wavered from who he is as a man, or as a father, or as a coach, and I think that’s important,” Killion said. “We’ve had many different styles of kids that have come through here, and he has changed with them, which is awesome.”
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THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM
Marc Margolis Senior Sports Reporter
W
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019
With Betley
75.9 .351 .659
Without
72.6
.638
"
I couldn't get up and down the floor."
because of how traumatic it is at that moment.” His teammates learned not to bring up the injury, but let him know they were there for him. “All of my closer friends were just so great about not bringing it up. That definitely made it a lot easier,” Betley said. Another factor that helped during his recovery was that he was not alone in the trainers room. Junior guard Jelani Williams, who will miss his third consecutive year to injury, also had a similar timetable to Betley as he looked to recover from a second ACL tear suffered last summer. “It was nice to have someone to talk to who was going through the same thing,” Betley said. “We could share how we felt about it. Just to talk about your recovery
process and have someone to understand your perspective.” When it comes to what Penn plans to do on the court, Betley’s scoring punch will be vital. A career 39% three-point shooter, his return should help boost an offense that struggled mightily at times last year. In the Ivy League last season, Penn ranked No. 6 in field-goal percentage and three-point shooting percentage. With Betley on the court two seasons ago, Penn ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in both categories respectively. As the season wore on, Betley's absence was felt more and more. In four of the last five games of the season, including the Ivy League tournament semifinal loss to Harvard, the Quakers were not able to muster more than 65 points. “It was obvious that we really ran out of gas on the offensive end with guys who can score,” Donahue said. Though Penn struggled on offense at times throughout the 2018-2019 season, Betley’s injury did allow senior guard Devon Goodman to emerge as the topscoring option in the backcourt. Goodman averaged nearly 14 points per game, compared to four points per game over his first two years. Goodman and classmate AJ Brodeur carried most of the offensive burden for the Quakers, with Brodeur leading the team in points, assists, rebounds, and blocks. Compared to expectations coming into last year, Betley will likely not be the clear cut number one scoring option. With
"
I'm more mentally strong than I've ever been."
Goodman catapulting into an all-league talent and Brodeur emerging as arguably the best all-around player in the Ivy League, some might assume it’ll be difficult to find shots for all three of the seniors. However, how Donahue sees it, the team simply needs more guys who can get buckets, and Betley returning will surely help with that. Donahue pointed toward Betley's versatility as an asset in a more top-heavy lineup. “I think he is a stronger physical player as opposed to what we saw as a sophomore,” Donahue said. “He’s going to be able to finish better [around the basket.]” As a sophomore, 55% of Betley’s fieldgoal attempts were from deep. Though some of that can be ascribed to Donahue’s system, Betley was the only starter who attempted a majority of his attempts from three-point range that year. Sophomore guard Bryce Washington, who started in place of Betley, took 73%
of his shots from threepoint range last season. With both guards projected to start this season, it will be even more important for Betley this season to utilize a strong inside game around the rim. Besides scoring, which was already his specialty, Donahue anticipates that he’ll be a better defender and rebounder as well. However, where Betley thinks he made the biggest strides this offseason came in how he thinks about the game. “I think I’m more mentally strong than I’ve ever been,” Betley said. “I considered myself mentally strong before but I just think the mental side of the game slowed down tremendously for me.” “I think I’ll surprise some people, where I’ve come as a player. I watched more basketball when I was injured than I ever have in my life,” Betley said in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer last week. Also in that article, Betley announced that this would be his last season in University City. After the season, the Philadelphia native will transfer as a graduate student, eligible to play immediately wherever he decides to take his talents. “Coach Donahue made it very clear that whatever I thought was best for me was what he thought I should do. He just helped me think through if I wanted to stay, what I would have to do academic wise,” Betley said. “I just decided I didn’t want to go through with slowing my courses down, coming up with a five-year plan here. I just wanted to graduate on time. I didn’t have too many classes left. Just knowing that and [that] I could get a scholar-
Senior Guard
688
points
249
rebounds
57
assists
.393 .800 ship somewhere else for some free school [helped me make my decision].” When the time comes, Betley projects to be quite sought after on the graduate transfer market. “At this point in his career, as strong as he is, as good a player he is, he can help anybody, literally anybody, depending on what role he wants to play,” Donahue said. “A lot of people will take a 23 yea old who’s been through what he’s been through and his ability, his shooting, and his understanding of the game coming from a winning program." In terms of picking a specific school, Betley has not given it much thought, though NCAA tournament chances will be a big factor. Additionally, his fit into a team's scheme will play a bigger role in how he makes his decision compared to his decision to come to Penn out of high school. “I wanted to go to Wharton and it’s the best business school,” Betley said of his
three-point percentage free-throw percentage
decision to come to Penn. “I’ve put in my academic work for sure so I want to use the fifth year as a year to do something different.” Though he did not reveal much in terms of what type of school he’ll play for next year, it is clear the basketball component of the decision will take on a greater onus once he enters the transfer portal. But for now, where he’ll play next year is not his primary focus. “The most important thing is I gotta stay healthy for a year. I just want to come out here and win an [another] Ivy League Championship at Penn and after that I’ll take care of the fifth year and things beyond that,” Betley said. If Betley really does return “better than ever,” both his personal and team goals have a good chance of coming to fruition.
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.351
gree. Following that, monthly milestones included jogging, then running, then standstill shooting. “Day by day I’d come to the gym and do my physical therapy, probably get an upper body lift in, and just work on staying in shape the best as I could because I couldn’t get up and down the floor,” Betley said. “It was just a lot of physical therapy and focus on the upper body lifting which is never bad." Throughout the recovery process, the last thing Betley wanted to be reminded of was the fact that he was going through rehab in the first place. “My least favorite part was when people would come up to me and say ‘I saw it happen, it looked awful.’” Betley said. “It was making me replay it in my mind. It’s something I don’t enjoy thinking about
Ryan Betley
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019
hen a star player returns from a devastating injury, coaches and teammates often throw out the old cliché that he’ll return “better than ever.” In the case of senior shooting guard Ryan Betley, the cliché has a good chance of turning into a reality. What most people don’t realize is that even before he ruptured the patella tendon in his right knee, Penn men’s basketball’s leading scorer from two years ago 2017-18 was not at 100% health going into last season. “After [his] sophomore year, we shut him down because points of tendinitis,” coach Steve Donahue said. “He had not played that much even in the preseason last year.” three-point The full year off percentage was not only an opportunity to rehab the injury to his right knee suffered in the George free-throw Mason game, but also percentage a chance to address the tendinitis that plagued him in both knees. In a sense, it could have been a blessing in disguise. “The knee feels 2018-19 great, better than it has in a while actually,” Betley said. “No tendinitis or anything like this. Both of my points knees feel great.” Still, it was a long road back getting to this point. three-point Betley’s rehab propercentage cess was broken up into month by month stages. In the first month, his goal was free-throw to be able to bend his percentage knee to a certain de-
The guard was Penn's leading scorer as a sophomore before rupturing patella tendon five minutes into season
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Betley ready to roll in return from injury
THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019
Can Eleah Parker continue her dominant run? Penn junior is ready to play for Player of the Year honors JACKSON SATZ Associate Sports Editor
Eleah Parker is back, and she may be better than ever before. That can mean only good things for Penn women’s basketball and, well, less good things for the rest of the Ivy League. The junior center is coming off of an all-around dominant 2018 season in which she led the Quakers to a share of the Ivy League championship while garnering numerous individual honors, including an Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year award and a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection. A game-changing threat at both ends of the court, Parker led the conference in both rebounds and blocks per game with 9.0 and 3.2, respectively, and she finished fifth in scoring, putting up 15.1 points per game. Despite being less than eight months removed from leading the Red and Blue to 24 wins, their most since 2015-16, and a seasonending second-round loss to Provi-
dence in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, Parker’s outstanding sophomore campaign now lies firmly in her rearview mirror. Since the 64-54 loss to Providence in late March, she has been focused on improving each facet of her game in hopes of putting together an even more impressive junior season. “I think every year I’ve matured, so I just expect this year to be a growth from last year as far as expanding my game,” she said. “Being more comfortable on the perimeter, for sure, and definitely getting that high-low chemistry with the other post player, I think that’ll definitely benefit us this year.” For Parker, the use of the word “us” in response to a question about herself is as characteristic as anything else. While she is certainly willing to discuss the ways in which she aims to improve as a player and teammate on and off the court, the success of the team will always come first. That selfless mindset is one that many top players receive praise for having, but it is not one to be taken for granted. As one of those top players — even if she does always
make the team her priority — Parker is well aware of the expectations that surround her. After being in the middle of the Ivy League Player of the Year debate in 2018-19, she knows that such an honor could be awaiting her this season.
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“[I keep it] in the back of my head for sure, but I’m not going to let it be my focus,” Parker said. “My focus, of course, is to do what I can to help my team win, and if [the Player of the Year award] comes along with it, then ‘hey!’” That take-what-I-can-get approach is not unique to Parker. Coach Mike McLaughlin backed up Parker’s assertion that her main goals are much bigger than herself. “I think her biggest goal is she wants to win championships here at Penn, and she’s had a chance to get off to a good start doing that, so I think the awards will take care of themselves,” McLaughlin said. “If the team does well, that means she has played really well, so I think [the awards] will all come in line.” Although he was already extremely confident in Parker’s ability, McLaughlin emphasized the impressive work that she put in over the summer. He got the chance to watch Parker in Colorado Springs, Colo., where she accepted an invitation to Team USA’s Pan-Am Games tryouts. He saw the experience as one that not only confirmed Parker’s basketball acumen, but also one that prepared her to step into a greater leadership role for the Quakers than she had previously undertaken. “I went out there and watched her play, so I can attest that she’s competing against some of the best in the country,” McLaughlin said. “I think all those experiences
are going to help her to be a better leader and to be as consistently as dominant as she can be, which she has the ability to do. We’re just trying to make that more consistent on a daily basis.” Parker got a taste of some of the country’s premier talent in Colorado, and she’ll see more once the Ivy League schedule ramps up. Her primary competition for the conference’s most prestigious awards is Princeton senior forward Bella Alarie, the two-time reigning Player of the Year. Alarie averaged 22.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game last season, when she led the Tigers to an Ivy League Tournament title with 65-54 victory against Penn in the final. Whether or not Parker can overtake her as the League’s best player remains to be seen, but the Quakers’ star is up for the challenge. “[Bella’s] a great player,” she said. “Just playing against her the past three years, we’ve always had that Bella-Eleah Parker not rivalry, but just kind of competition. It’s a healthy competition. This year, I’m expecting her to bring it and I’m going to bring it too, and we’ll just play it [out] on the court.” The comparisons are difficult to avoid. Both wear the No. 31 jersey, and both tower above others on the court, each measuring 6-foot-4. In the meantime, though, just as she leads quietly and confidently, Parker prefers to let her game and passion speak for themselves.
The Quakers garner support from fans across the nation JACKSON JOFFE Associate Sports Editor
the Palestra." As he grew up, Windheim attended games as soon as he was able to travel. "Our family (my brother, parents and I) barely missed a game growing up. My dad even traveled down to North Carolina to watch the '79 team — while on crutches — with his dad and two new brother-in-laws (my mom's brothers)," Windheim said. "I was lucky enough to get a three-peat shirt signed by the whole team in 1995 and might still have it." One of the most significant memories for Windheim was Penn's victory over Temple in the fall of 1998. "I’ll also never forget finally beating Temple in 1998 when I was a senior in high school," Windheim said. "[I] made a bet with a buddy seven years earlier that Penn needed to beat them once before we graduated, [and I] got it in the last second." After being admitted to Penn, Windheim's support for the team didn't wane at all. He described camping out to get seats in the Pal-
estra for Penn games. "My freshman year, we had to camp out for over three days, which didn’t end until Monday morning at 6 a.m. [and] included Halloween and the extra hour of daylight savings being switched," Windheim said. "[There's] nothing like walking to [David Rittenhouse Laboratories] for math after that. It’s cool I got to say I slept at the Palestra, but it got pretty old by night two to be honest." Another dedicated Quaker fan
is Bruce Weinberg, 1980 Wharton graduate, who continues to follow Penn men's basketball despite living in Boston. Weinberg was a student when Penn made its only Final Four appearance in 1979, and he traveled to watch the Quakers play that year. "We were No. 14 in the country, and we only lost once in the Ivy League, so we knew we had a great team that year, but I don't think any of us expected to go to the Final
Four," Weinberg said. "A couple of my buddies and I piled onto a bus to North Carolina to watch that game, and UNC almost came back, but we were able to hang on. Then we got Magic Johnson in the finals, and that was the end of it. But that season is always something I'll look back on fondly." These Penn fans are surely looking forward to Penn's seasonopener against Alabama on Tuesday.
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Penn men's basketball's 122-year history has been filled with highlights: the 1979 Final Four team, 26 Ivy League regular season championships, and the undefeated 197071 season are just a few examples of the Quakers' success on the court. Nonetheless, there have also been plenty of low points. The Quakers didn't win the Ivy League at all between 2007 and 2018, and they have been mired in a scandal involving then-coach Jerome Allen, while the team's lack of success in Ivy play last season was disappointing given the Quakers' Big 5 title. Through the ups and downs, dedicated Penn fans have stayed by the Quakers over the years. Last year, the Palestra was packed to over 92% capacity for Penn's Big 5 contests, showing that the fanbase hasn't declined. One such fan is 2003 College graduate Justin Windheim, who still lives in the Philadelphia area. Windheim's family members have been avid Penn fans for many generations. For Windheim, the Palestra has a special significance — it's where his dad proposed to his mom. "My parents (and my grandparents too) met at Franklin Field. My dad was a Drexel student but grew up all things Penn because his dad is an alum," Windheim said. "They met at a football game when my mom yelled 'offsides.' They saw each other again at the Palestra in the winter, he asked her out, and a few years later proposed in front of
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Taking the reins: Parks stands alone in Ivy League Sarah Parks was also team manager as an undergrad BIANCA SERBIN Associate Sports Editor
Four years just wasn’t enough. After working with the team for the last four years as a student manager, Sarah Parks was hired this year as the new director of operations for Penn men’s basketball. She replaced Brad Fadem, who was promoted to be the assistant athletic director for admissions and financial aid at the end of the 2018-19 school year. “I think for us, all the coaches, that has made this transition so much easier for us, knowing that we have someone that’s been through this, knows exactly how the program is run, what we expect of every aspect of the program: players, managers. For us, it’s been seamless,” coach Steve Donahue said. When Fadem was promoted, Parks had just graduated from Wharton with concentrations in finance and management. She had an offer to work at a bank in Chicago but was questioning whether it was the right move for her. “I started to kind of think about [the fact that] I know I enjoy being a manager, I know that I enjoy being around the program and all this, and I was having some doubts about the company that I would have gone to work for and just going into finance in general, I guess,” Parks said. “I figured that this would be both challenging and an opportunity that doesn’t come around that
often.” Her experience with the program was probably the biggest factor in the decision to hire Parks. Having worked as a manager for four years, she had a good relationship with both the staff and the players. In the end, Donahue made the final decision to hire Parks. “I saw someone who was going to have an excellent career in whatever she chose. I saw how hard she worked academically. I saw all the sacrifices she made for our program. I saw how she could multitask and not lose any kind of poise. So whatever she decided to pick as a career path, I thought she would be very successful,” Donahue said. “I think her familiarity with the program was huge. We knew that she could come in pretty seamlessly and understand how our team operates, how the coaches operate, what coach Donahue’s expectations are,” Fadem said. “She’s clearly intelligent and sharp. We just felt she had the characteristics and the makeup of someone who could do well in this position.” Parks had originally wanted to be a manager because she wanted basketball to continue to play a role in her life. She played basketball in high school, and when she arrived at Penn, she joined the women’s club basketball team. To Parks, serving as a manager seemed to be a great way to be more involved with the program. As the Director of Ops., Parks handles everything for the team outside of coaching and recruiting. This means that she takes care of logistical details, like scheduling games, ordering gear, making travel
plans, and ordering meals. As for how her role has changed, Parks has taken on more administrative duties. That said, being a manager prepared her for the responsibilities she has now. “Some things, like, for example, working with development for alumni relations, are completely new, and then other things aren’t as new,” Parks said. “With travel, I’m pretty used to what we do in travel, it’s just a matter of handling the things myself.” Parks is currently the only female Director of Ops. for men’s basketball in the Ivy League. As a woman work-
ing in a male-dominated field, Parks hasn’t faced too many blatant expressions of sexism. She says that the staff has never done anything to make her feel unqualified because she is a woman. Most of the struggles she has faced have been from administrators at other schools. “It’s really small things that you kind of notice. So, for example, someone will reach out and they want to schedule a game and they’re like ‘Oh, can you please send me his contact information?’” Parks said. “It’s small things that you notice — like that, where they kind of expect a male to be in the role. “I wouldn’t say there are any
huge obstacles that I’ve had to overcome. It’s more trying to change perceptions of people on the outside who kind of just expect a male to be in the role. You just shock them a little bit [and] then move forward.” Though the season hasn’t officially begun, Parks has already taken her responsibilities in stride. “I think across the department, everyone has been really impressed with the work she’s doing,” Fadem said. “Obviously the season hasn’t really started yet, and things get crazy, but up to now, I think she’s far exceeded any expectations.”
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Crawford and Jones slated for breakout seasons Two starting spots open after graduations of former stars WILL DiGRANDE Sports Editor
Sometimes the most important players aren't even the ones who start. The junior pair of forward Tori Crawford and guard Michae Jones picked up valuable minutes off the bench last year for Penn women’s basketball, and their roles are only set to increase this season. As sophomores for the Red and Blue, the two played the most minutes on the court outside coach Mike McLaughlin’s typical starting lineup, with Jones averaging 14.4 minutes a game and Crawford not far behind at 13.1 minutes. “They’re both limitless,” McLaughlin said. “They can both play upwards from 15 to 35 minutes, and I have complete confidence in both of them.” Among last year's starters were guard Ashley Russell and forward Princess Aghayere, leading the way for the senior class with a combined 23.0 points and 13.2 rebounds a game. However, their graduation means that playing
time is up for grabs. “Those two are difficult to replace. I think we can replace the minutes and offset some of that, but we’re gonna miss them,” McLaughlin said. “They both won a lot at Penn and you can see what they did as winners translate to this junior class.” Even since the end of last season, both McLaughlin and the pair themselves have seen a noticeable change as the two enter their third season with the team. Whether on the court or off, Crawford and Jones know they have a crucial role to play at all times. “They both have a different skill set and level of command. They know how to coach a group now,” McLaughlin said. “They know what it takes to succeed now and they’re really acting more like seniors than juniors.” “It’s a step up,” Crawford agreed. “Once you become an upperclassman more is required of you, whether you play more minutes or not.” The 6-foot-2 Crawford was dominant on the boards for the Quakers and snatched 105 rebounds last season, good for fourth on the team and second among non-seniors. Over two-thirds of her rebounds came off
the defensive glass, so Crawford has the potential to kick up the tempo and launch a series of fast breaks when she comes down with the ball. “It translates into being more prepared and seeing things from a different angle coming off the bench, so hopefully minutes open up with the loss of some players and that will help [Michae and I] in gaining some more minutes this year,” Crawford
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said. And while Jones is one of the smallest members of the team at 5-foot-8, she makes up for it with her speed and tenacity. Working on consistency will be her overarching goal for this year, because Jones has been hard to stop when she's playing at her best. The Thibodaux, La. native put up five double-digit games last year, and all the more impressive is the fact that she played fewer than 20 minutes in three of those contests. Jones' season high of 19 points came in a key Ivy matchup against Harvard that the Quakers snatched in overtime, so she will be one to watch in high-pressure scenarios. “My freshman year I didn’t get to play as much, but sophomore year I got a lot of confidence, and that’s just gonna roll over into my junior year,” Jones said. One obstacle to the increased role
of the juniors is the emergence of sophomore forward Kennedy Suttle, who was out for much of last season with an injury. “Kennedy Suttle, if we started right now, would be our starting four,” McLaughlin said. “That whole class has improved, which is what we want, but Kennedy Suttle is the one who has made that stance here that she’s here to play … I think you’ll see a little of Ashley [Russell] in her.” With three of last year’s starters — junior Eleah Parker and senior guards Kendall Grasela and Phoebe Sterba — coming back this season, it wouldn't be surprising to see a host of players fighting for the last few spots in McLaughlin’s rotation. Only time can tell if Crawford and Jones will live up to the additional expectations set for them this season, but don’t be surprised if the pair steps up when the team needs them most.
The senior averaged 17.6 points per game last season MICHAEL LANDAU Sports Editor
fensive strategy, which is often much different from what they have experienced in high school. “Getting them up to speed on such a complicated system that we run, it’s not going to be easy for anyone,” Brodeur said. “They’re not going to be where we need to be in order to be an Ivy League Championship team when we’re playing Alabama in the first game or even in the first couple weeks, but we’ve already made good steps to where we need to be.” Despite his scoring and rebounding prowess, that process of learning about the nuances of playing college basketball
at Penn and helping his teammates do the same is maybe where Brodeur has thrived the most. He has always been viewed as a true student of the game, as cliché as that might sound. “I’ve never had to worry one day about AJ. When we go to film, I know where he’s at. He’s the first one there,” Donahue said. “If you’re a teammate and you’re not watching that, you’re not getting it.” As impressive as Brodeur’s junior season was, this year could be even more significant for him in terms of accolades. Scoring just 463 more points would make him Penn’s all-
time scoring leader, and he is also a prime contender for Ivy League Player of the Year. Those accomplishments won’t mean a lot to Brodeur without a title, though. “I would love to be recognized as [Player of the Year] given that we win the Ivy League; otherwise, it doesn’t really mean that much,” he said. “I’m going to be playing my best, and if they think that’s good enough to get those kinds of accolades, then given that we win, that would be awesome to receive.” If those goals are achieved, it will be a perfect ending to an already historic Penn career.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019
There’s some good news for Penn men’s basketball heading into the new season. The team’s leading scorer, rebounder, passer, and shot blocker are all returning this year. The twist? They're all the same person. Senior AJ Brodeur was a dominant force for the Quakers in 2018-19. The two-time unanimous first team All-Ivy forward carried the Red and Blue to a Big 5 title and Ivy League Tournament appearance, controlling the paint on both offense and defense. Without star guard Ryan Betley on the court, nearly every possession had to run through Brodeur, and he produced, averaging 17.6 points throughout the season. However, that success came with a cost, as Brodeur played 32.5 minutes per game and was constantly involved in the action on both sides of the floor. “I think he’s gotten worn down at times,” coach Steve Donahue said. “I never take him out. If you look at fours and fives over college basketball, they don’t usually play over 30, and I’m playing him 35 or 37 minutes sometimes. I hope we can play him a little less.” Donahue might just get his wish. With the return of the injured Betley and the infusion of several talented underclassmen, the Quakers likely won’t have to rely on Brodeur as much for scoring, taking some of the pressure off him to do everything.
“I think it’s not going to be a reduced role, but I’m going to have to feel a little less stress [and] strain inside to feel that need to score it every possession because we’re getting a lot of scorers,” Brodeur said. That increase in offensive playmakers for the Red and Blue could allow Brodeur to be more efficient when he touches the ball. “Defenders won’t be able to double team like they did a lot last year because we didn’t shoot as well as we would have liked to,” he said. “Being able to have more room to operate both in the post and around the perimeter is just going to give us a lot more options as a scoring threat.” His on-court presence isn’t the only way Brodeur’s role on the team will change this year. With the graduations of several key seniors, including Max Rothschild, Antonio Woods, Jake Silpe, and Jackson Donahue, a void was left in terms of vocal leadership for Penn. In their absence, Brodeur, along with his fellow captains in Betley and senior guard Devon Goodman, has made an extra effort to speak up and help the younger players on the team in any way possible. “He’s definitely taking on that leadership role,” sophomore guard Bryce Washington said. “He’s speaking more, he’s encouraging other players more, especially the younger guys. He loves the game, he wants to win, and that’s reflecting on to the rest of the team.” In particular, Brodeur has been focused on getting the underclassmen acclimated with the team’s multifaceted of-
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AJ Brodeur is Penn's big man on campus
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Local talent highlights men's freshman class Max Lorca-Lloyd chose Penn over Ivy League rival Harvard JESS MIXON Associate Sports Editor
One word came to mind for almost every member of the Penn men’s basketball freshman class when asked about their strengths: versatility. With several big gaps to fill on the court this season, having a diverse skill set is helping the freshmen contribute in a big way to the Red and Blue. The class consists of guards Jonah Charles, Jordan Dingle, and Lucas Monroe in addition to center Max Lorca-Lloyd and forward Max Martz. Lorca-Lloyd was a highlytouted recruit at center, and he joins the Quakers after having turned down an offer to play for Harvard. His addition to the Red and Blue will continue the Northfield Mount Hermon School pipeline, as he joins former teammate AJ Brodeur and replaces graduated seniors Jackson Donahue and Collin McManus.
At 6-foot-9, Lorca-Lloyd could see significant minutes on the court this season, as Penn looks to replace forward Max Rothschild. In the preseason, the freshman has looked to more experienced teammates as a resource in his transition to the Red and Blue. “I’ve just been trying to soak up as much information as I can from [Brodeur] and Jarrod [Simmons] as well. With all the older guys in general, I’ve just been trying to learn and compete with them at the same time,” Lorca-Lloyd said. While there is some uncertainty about who is going to see the most minutes this season, it is clear that the entire freshman class has the ability to contribute from a variety of positions. “I’ll be playing a little bit of point all the way down to everything but the center position,” Monroe said. “I think that’s helpful offensively because [coach Steve Donahue] can sub guys and then just move me over positions and also defensively because I can guard multiple guys. So versatility is definitely one of my strengths.”
“I’m definitely a versatile player. I like to think that my game is very wide and that I can do whatever a coach needs me to do on the floor,” Dingle said. “Our play style is more on the side of positionless basketball where multiple people can perform multiple actions on our offense. We have a bunch of ver-
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satile guys on this team who are able to contribute in various different ways.” While guards like Monroe and Dingle stand out for their adaptability, Charles has stood out for his shooting prowess. The Quakers will look to shore up their shooting this season, as the team struggled to rack up points from outside last year. To that end, Charles’ shooting performance looks promising for the Quakers, as the freshman went 4-for-8 behind the threepoint arc during the Red and Blue Scrimmage last week. “Once people start to notice that I’m a really good shooter, people are going to start not allowing me to shoot threes, which will actually allow the floor to open for my other teammates," Charles said. "That’s one less defender they have to worry about, so I can help them get to the basket that much easier.”
Although Martz and Dingle have faced some preseason setbacks — each coping with minor injuries — one thing is clear about the freshmen: They are excited to play whatever role is needed of them, and play it well. “I think we can all have a huge impact on the team. We just need to, first of all, all get healthy, and then just play our role and do it to the best of our ability and do whatever we can to help the team win,” LorcaLloyd said. Going into their first collegiate game against Alabama on Nov. 5, the freshmen all have the same end goal in mind. “I’m looking forward to winning. I’m really looking forward to winning. The culture of success here is a really fantastic one, and I just want to add onto that legacy,” Dingle said. Charles echoed this sentiment. “I’m excited to win. All I want to do is win.”
Padilla may crack Penn's starting lineup as a rookie CHARLIE DOLGENOS Sports Reporter
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school earned her a 70th overall ranking in her recruiting class by ESPN, making her easily the most highly touted member of this Penn class and one of the most highly touted recruits in recent memory. The transitions for both Padilla and Milliman have been pretty seamless. Part of that is due to their on-court ability, but part of it is also attributable to the efforts of the team and the coaching staff. Early in the year, McLaughlin organized a Navy Seal Boot Camp training not only for physical fitness but for team bonding as well. “We had to army crawl across the whole field [at Penn Park]," Padilla said. "We had to carry our teammates on our backs, we had to carry heavy stones, things like that. It was intense." In addition to the on-court and on-field activities, the team has made an effort to get closer to each other. “It’s just little things. The team makes an effort to go out and eat together,” Padilla said. Penn's season opens on Nov. 9 at home against Siena, and the team's freshmen will almost definitely play a big role.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019
This year's Ivy League preseason poll ranked Penn women's basketball tied with Princeton for first place. The Quakers are projected to be right in the running for an Ivy League championship, and it’s relatively uncommon for freshmen to immediately step in and contribute to such a strong college program. However, freshmen Kayla Padilla and Silke Milliman look ready to make an impact right away. Last year, freshmen weren’t huge contributors for Penn. No first-year player averaged more than 10 minutes per game. However, with the graduation of seniors Ashley Russell and Princess Aghayere, that could change this season. “Coach [Mike McLaughlin] says no one player completely replaces another. Ashley was a great player and a great scorer,” Padilla said. “I’m gonna try to score as much as I can, because I feel like that’s one of my strengths.” Padilla, a guard, cites her offensive versatility as her biggest strength. She averaged 19 points as a senior in high school and was named a 2019 McDonald's AllAmerican nominee. She finished her high school career with 1,907 career points. Though she is only 5-foot-9, she has little trouble scoring. “If we were going to start the season tomorrow, Kayla’d be right out there in our first five,” McLaughlin said. “She’s confident. She’s got a unique skill set. She can score all three ways. She can shoot the three, she can get to the basket, [and] she can get to the free-throw line.” Milliman brings a different set of skills. “[My biggest strength is] my speed, in terms of running the floor and in transition. I’m often a lot faster than people at my height or that play my position,” Milliman said. A 6-foot-1 forward, Milliman set program records at her high school for rebounds and blocks. What sets her apart is her ability to use her height and speed to run the floor and get easy baskets before the defense gets set. Milliman’s efforts in high
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Padilla and Milliman ready to make an impact
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