Never mind that Larry Loughery was offered scholarships to play basketball at those schools. Forget that Penn, as an Ivy League school, provides no athletic aid.

"If Duke or North Carolina had offered, I would have gone to Penn still," the Academy of the New Church senior said.

With that, Loughery, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, made an oral commitment to Penn Tuesday after receiving an acceptance letter from the school.

"To be honest with you, I was waiting on Penn to the very end," said Loughery, who transferred from St. Joseph's Prep over the summer. "If it wasn't Penn, I would have gone to a prep school until I got accepted to Penn."

The 18-year-old has been a diehard Quakers fan for as long as he can remember. When he was a youngster, his father, Larry Loughery Sr., took him to the Palestra to watch Penn play.

During those trips, he always dreamed of leading the Quakers to victory. His goal never changed, even after he caught the eyes of scholarship-touting college recruiters. Nor did it change the opinion of his father, who longed to see his son live out a dream.

"My dad said that will be the first bill that he will be happy to pay," Loughery said of Penn's tuition.