Ivy League tournament a realistic goal for Penn basketball
It did not necessarily show up in the record, which was just two games better than the previous season. But Penn improved in 2015-16, coach Steve Donahue's first year back at the Palestra after head jobs at Cornell and Boston College.
It did not necessarily show up in the record, which was just two games better than the previous season. But Penn improved in 2015-16, coach Steve Donahue's first year back at the Palestra after head jobs at Cornell and Boston College.
The Quakers outplayed Princeton in the first game of the Ivy League season in early January before losing in overtime, 73-71. They made a wild comeback during the last game of the season in early March at Princeton before losing, 72-71.
Three newcomers will start the opener, and an excellent recruiting class is on the way. It won't be easy because the Ivy is strong and getting stronger. But it should not take too much longer for the Quakers, with Donahue's style of threes, layups and fastbreaks, to become contenders again. This season, a top-four finish and a spot in the first Ivy Tournament to be held at the Palestra is a reasonable goal.
"We're much further along than we were," Donahue said. "But there's a lot of building left. We're going to be relying on young players going forward. . . . We're a step closer with how we're going to play. I think you'll see us play faster, mix up defenses more, just play the way I envision us playing going forward."
Senior Matt Howard and sophomore shooter Jackson Donahue will start along with three newcomers, freshman forward A.J. Brodeur, Farleigh Dickinson transfer Matt MacDonald and junior college transfer Caleb Wood, each with two years of eligibility remaining. Penn will not be very big, but it will have more skill, the commodity Donahue values most.
If you gave Donahue his choice of one basketball skill, he would take long-range shooters. Penn shot just 30.4 percent from the arc last season, not nearly good enough for a coach who wants his players to shoot treys in volume.
Wood, who made 105 threes for his California community college last season, will be the point guard.
"He scores it and knows how to play," Donahue said. "He'll be one of the better guards, I think, in the league."
MacDonald will also help with the shooting.
"He's a very good standstill shooter," Donahue said.
Brodeur had 14 points and 15 rebounds in Penn's exhibition win over Rollie Massimino's Keiser team. The big forward is a critical piece of the future.
The Quakers should be able to go eight or nine deep, with Jake Silpe the backup point, guard Darnell Foreman and forward Max Rothschild clearly in the mix to get significant run.
"I think we'll be a much better offensive team," Donahue said. "We've got to be creative on defense as we get bigger, stronger, older."
The talent is going to get better as Penn has gotten commitments from Washington high school standouts Jelani Williams (Sidwell Friends) and Eddie Scott (Gonzaga). Yes, that is the high school exacta that are now seniors for Villanova's national champions - Josh Hart (Sidwell Friends) and Kris Jenkins (Gonzaga). Penn is also a finalist for 6-foot-9 Jarrod Simmons from Pittsburgh.
"I'm excited about where we'll be a year from now and two years from now," Donahue said.
This season?
"I wanted to add two older kids who could help us be competitive right away, get in the Ivy League tournament. People see you're winning. Recruits see you're winning," Donahue said.
Getting to the Final Four or winning 48 straight Ivy games is no longer a reasonable goal, given the changed college hoops landscape and the depth in the league. But there is no reason why Penn can't be winning Ivy championships again. The coach and the system are in place. Players who will help are in place. More are on the way.
All About Penn
Last season: 11-17 (5-9 Ivy League, fifth place.)
Coach: Steve Donahue (2nd season at Penn, 11-17; overall, 157-155).
Three-point shooting. Donahue wants this team to shoot tons of threes, just like his Cornell and Boston College teams. But the Quakers need to improve their 30.4 percent accuracy to make the three a bigger weapon
Turnovers down. The Quakers went from 342nd to 259th in turnover percentage in the coach's first season, a nice improvement for a team that regularly killed itself with TOs in previous seasons.
Newcomers. The Quakers will start freshman A.J. Brodeur as well as transfers Matt MacDonald (Farleigh Dickinson) and Caleb Wood (Lassen, Calif. CC.). They combined for 37 points in the Quakers' 84-66 exhibition win over Keiser on Oct. 29.
Style. Penn played Donahue's threes or layups style reasonably well in their first season together. If natural progression takes place, these players should be even more comfortable.
Roster
No. Name Yr Pos Ht Wt
0 Max Rothschild So. F 6-8 225
1 Ray Jerome Fr. G 6-2 200
3 Jake Silpe So. G 6-2 185
4 Darnell Foreman Jr. G 6-1 175
5 Jackson Donahue So. G 6-0 175
10 Caleb Wood Jr. G 6-4 180
11 Tyler Hamilton So. G 6-4 195
12 Devon Goodman Fr. G 6-0 160
13 Dylan Jones Sr. F 6-8 215
14 Sam Jones Jr. F 6-7 175
15 Zack Kaminsky Fr. F 6-6 200
20 Matt MacDonald Jr. G 6-5 200
21 Ryan Betley Fr. G 6-5 185
22 Jakub Mijakowski Fr. F 6-7 215
23 Shawn Simmons Jr. G 6-4 170
24 Matt Howard Sr. G 6-4 185
25 AJ Brodeur Fr. F 6-8 225
40 Dan Dwyer Jr. F 6-8 225
44 Collin McManus So. C 6-10 230
Schedule
November
11 at Robert Morris. . . 7
19 at Miami. . . 4
22 at Connecticut. . . 7
26 at Navy. . . 2
29 Villanova. . . 7
December
3 at Temple. . . 4
7 Lafayette. . . 8
10 George Mason. . . 2
12 UCF. . . 7
28 Drexel. . . 4
30 Fairfield. . . 4
January
7 at Princeton. . . 5
13 Yale. . . 8
14 Brown. . . 8
21 St. Joseph's. . . 7
25 at La Salle. . . 7
February
3 at Harvard. . . 7
4 at Dartmouth. . . 7
7 Princeton. . . 7
10 Columbia. . . 7
11 Cornell. . . 7
17 at Brown. . . 8
18 at Yale. . . 8
24 at Cornell. . . TBA
25 at Columbia. . . TBA
March
3 Dartmouth. . . 7
4 Harvard. . . 7