Penn's (l-r) TJ Power, coach Fran McCaffery, and Ethan Roberts address the media following Friday's 84-68 win over Drexel. (Photo: Aaron Bracy/Big5Hoops)
By AARON BRACY
November 22, 2025
Big5Hoops.com
It took Penn just 11 minutes, 17 seconds to walk to Drexel’s campus for Friday night’s crucial Big 5 contest at the DAC.
The road back to respectability has been seemingly as short in Fran McCaffery’s first year at the helm of his alma mater.
The Quakers dominated Drexel in a fashion that is rarely seen against well-coached Zach Spiker teams, running the Dragons out of their own gym, 84-68, in front of a setting that was packed in the stands and on press row. The victory sends Penn into the Big 5 Classic title game on December 6 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena, where they will play either Temple or Villanova.
The winner will hoist a banner to the arena’s rafters. That Penn is in this position is rather shocking considering the hard times that has befallen this proud program in recent years.
Penn has been an afterthought in the Ivy League in the last two years, going a combined 7-21. They have made just one NCAA tournament since 2007. Crowds at the Palestra have been sparse. Enthusiasm for the program has waned.
That all has changed in just one week, with the Quakers following Monday’s surprising 83-74 win at home over Saint Joseph’s with Friday’s convincing victory over the Dragons.
“I’m excited for our players, I’m excited for our school, for our fan base that has really followed this program intensely for so many years,” McCaffery said.
The coach knows first-hand the passion surrounding Penn’s program, having helped the Quakers to a 36-6 Ivy record and 1982 NCAA berth during his time as a player. While it might be lost on current students based on recent struggles, this is a program that has won 26 Ivy titles, including a 48-game league winning streak during one unfathomable stretch in the 1990s, and reached 24 NCAA tournaments. Entering this season, there were just 23 programs with more all-time victories than Penn’s 1,854.
Not much was expected of the Quakers this season, either, as they were picked seventh of eight teams in the Ivy’s preseason poll. But they have looked really good so far—and certainly a team that could make some noise in the Ancient Eight with Ethan Roberts and TJ Power playing at this level.
Roberts torched the Dragons for 30 points after dropping 31 on the Hawks on Monday. Power, the former five-star recruit who came to Penn following stops at Virginia and Duke, followed his 23-point, 15-rebound effort versus St. Joe’s with a strong, 18-point, four-rebound outing against Drexel.
“It’s probably my favorite season I’ve ever played,” Roberts said.
After stints at Army and Drake, Roberts played really well in his first season at Penn a year ago, averaging 16.8 points. But he said there is a different energy with McCaffery.
It also helps to have Power alongside him.
The 6-foot-9 native of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts looked every bit like the former Gatorade Player of the Year from his home state and No. 16-ranked recruit by 247 Sports during stretches on Friday night. There was the recognition of a mismatch on a switch and quick drive past a Dragons big man for an easy layup. There was the leap over everybody to grab an offensive rebound. There is coolness and poise and skill to Power’s game not usually seen in the Ivy League. It’s the kind of game you see down the road at the big arena, where Power’s good friend and former Duke teammate Jared McCain now plays with the 76ers.
McCain was there on Friday night after arriving home in the early-morning hours following Thursday’s 76ers game at Milwaukee, cheering on his buddy when he wasn’t being approached for pictures or autographs.
“It shows how selfless of a friend he is,” Power said.
After a relatively slow start to the season, Power has picked it up this week. Perhaps he has found his spot after not really getting the minutes at Duke he expected and then going through the surprise retirement of Tony Bennett at UVA last season.
He said he’s just focused on playing hard and playing to win and letting the game come to him.
Clearly, there is a new energy around the Quakers. Roberts credits much of it to McCaffery, who has the pedigree and the love for the program. He has won at every stop, claiming conference titles at each of his four previous stints, at Lehigh, UNC Greensboro, Siena, and Iowa. McCaffery’s Hawkeyes reached seven NCAA tournaments in his 15 years and his up-tempo style led the league in scoring five times.
Now, he seems in just the right spot, right where he wants to be, right where Penn needs him to be.
“My job is to provide a culture,” McCaffery, speaking about his players, said., “where I know they’ll enjoy the journey.”
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Aaron Bracy has covered sports in Philadelphia for nearly three decades for various publications and as a freelancer for the Associated Press. His first book, A Soaring Season: The Incredible, Inspiring Story of the 2003–04 Saint Joseph’s Hawks (Brookline), can be ordered HERE. He is working on his second book, which will chronicle the memorable 2000–01 season of Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. It will be published in April 2027. Follow Bracy on social media HERE. Contact him at bracymedia@gmail.com.