Senior Nick Spinoso averaged 10.8 points and 7.9 rebounds for Penn last season. (Photo: Penn Athletics/Michael Nance)
By AARON BRACY
October 31, 2024
PENN 2024-25 Big5Hoops.com Preview Package
-Penn Player Spotlight Story: Nick Spinoso
2024-25 Capsule Preview
–Head coach/season: Steve Donahue/10th season
–2023–24 record: 11-18, 3-11 Ivy League (Big5Hoops.com 2023-24 Penn Season Review Story)
–Key returnees: 6-3 SO G Sam Brown (10.9 ppg), 6-9 SR F/C Nick Spinoso (10.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg)
–Key losses: 6-6 G/F Ed Holland III (5.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg; sitting out season) 6-4 G Tyler Perkins (13.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg; transferred to Villanova), 6-1 G Clark Slajchert (18.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg; out of eligibility)
–Key additions: 6-5 JR G/F Ethan Roberts (Drake), 5-11 JR G Dylan Williams (Triton CC), 6-5 JR G/F Michael Zanoni (Mercer)
–KenPom preseason ranking: 192 out of 364 Division I teams
–Ivy League preseason ranking: 7th out of 8 teams
–Tip–ins: The Quakers won the Ivy 10 times in 15 seasons between 1992 and 2007, the first nine under coach Fran Dunphy, but have won just one league championship since (2017-18). … Slajchert missed seven straight contests, including the first six in Ivy League play, with an ankle injury that contributed to Penn’s subpar season in 2023. … Brown shot 43.3 percent (61 of 141) from three-point range as a freshman last season. … Spinoso led the Quakers in assists in each of the last two seasons, with 107 last season and 93 in 2022-23. … The Quakers lost in the Ivy Madness semifinals in both 2022 and ’23 before not qualifying in 2023-24. … Zanoni averaged 6.2 points in 19.8 minutes as a rookie at Mercer in 2022-23 before playing in just four games in an injury-shortened 2023-24 campaign. … Williams led Triton to the NJCAA national title game. … Roberts was named the 2022-23 Patriot League Rookie of the Year while at Army after averaging 12.7 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 40.7 percent (59 of 145) from the arc. He netted 32 points in a game against Bucknell. He sat out last season following his transfer to Drake due to injury.
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages. His book on the 2003-04 Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team is expected to be published on March 1, 2025. Read a summary and preorder it by clicking HERE. Contact him at aaron@big5hoops.com.