Penn coach Steve Donahue believes the Quakers can be a contender in the Ivy League this season. (Photo: Penn Athletics/Michael Nance)
By AARON BRACY
October 31, 2024
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Outsiders do not have very high expectations for Penn this season. But do not tell that to coach Steve Donahue or the Quakers players.
After a disappointing and uncharacteristic 3-11 record in the Ivy League last season, Penn was tabbed seventh of eight teams in the Ancient Eight in the Ivy’s preseason poll. But Donahue had a surprising message at the league’s media day, something he reiterated in a Zoom interview with Big5Hoops.com: Penn can win the Ivy title this season.
“I feel really strongly that it’s going to be a team that challenges for a championship this year,” Donahue said at Ivy media day.
Last Season Gone Wrong
After winning the Ivy title 10 times in 15 seasons between 1992 and 2007, Penn has just one league championship since, in 2018 under Donahue. But the Quakers were knocking on the door of league supremacy, reaching Ivy Madness in 2022 and ’23 before bowing out in the semifinals each year. Still, hopes were high entering last season. Then, everything unraveled before and during the season.
First, Jordan Dingle announced his transfer to St. John’s after a standout junior season in 2022-23 in which he averaged 23.4 points and was named Ivy Player of the Year. Then, Max Martz announced his retirement from the team due to medical redshirt after being Penn’s third-leading scorer (10.8 points per game) in 2022-23. Dingle and Martz combined for 34.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest, which is a lot of production to replace. Still, Penn had solid pieces to be a good Ivy team, only to see leading scorer and senior Clark Slajchert go down in late December with an ankle injury that sidelined him for seven games, including the first six in the Ivy. The tough luck continued after the season when Tyler Perkins announced his transfer to Villanova after a terrific rookie season in which he averaged 13.7 points and 5.3 rebounds.
That is a lot for any program, and especially one in the Ivy league, to absorb and overcome.
This Season Gone Right?
In response to all of the losses, Donahue and the Quakers staff attacked the transfer portal and added three players who are expected to be starters in 5-foot-11 point guard Dylan Williams, 6-5 guard/forward Michael Zanoni, and 6-5 guard/forward Ethan Roberts. They will be joined in the starting five by returnees Sam Brown, a 6-3 sophomore guard, and 6-9 senior forward/center Nick Spinoso.
Donahue really likes the pieces in place.
“The casual (observer) probably think they’ve lost Perkins, they struggled last year, I don’t know what they have,” Donahue told Big5Hoops.com. “I feel good about this team that we can compete.”
Williams gives Penn a traditional point guard the Quakers have lacked in recent years. He led Triton junior college in Illinois to the NJCAA national title game. Roberts is a versatile player who was named the Patriot League’s Rookie of the Year while at Army in 2022-23 after averaging 12.7 points and 4.4 rebounds and shot 40.7 percent (59 of 145) from the arc. He transferred from West Point to Drake but redshirted last season due to injury. Zanoni also missed most of last season due to injury at Mercer, where he averaged 6.2 points in 19.8 minutes as a rookie in 2022-23.
“We all know we had to pivot a little bit and that was the reason for getting three transfers and getting back to what Penn basketball is used to being,” Donahue said. “The three transfers have had all three different experiences that have given a new fire to our program that maybe was missing. They’re all very competitive. They’ve all been in winning situations. And they all want to win.”
In addition to what Donahue has brought in, the Quakers have two very solid players returning in Brown and Spinoso. Brown, the son of former 76ers coach Brett Brown, averaged 10.9 points and shot 43.3 percent (61 of 141) from three-point range as a freshman last season. Spinoso has done a little bit of everything for Penn in recent years, leading the team in assists in both 2022-23 (93 total assists) and 2023-24 (107). He averaged 10.8 points and 7.9 rebounds last season.
Back on Track
Everyone in the program is motivated to get Penn back to its accustomed place as an Ivy contender.
“We feel after having such a disappointing season that it’s been hard on them,” Donahue said of his players. “We want to get this thing turned around and get people feeling good that support us and what Penn basketball has been for so many decades.”
Donahue believes the Quakers are back on track.
“I feel strongly that this group can get us back to the top again,” he said, “and then build from there and be a more consistent championship contender. I can’t tell you how excited I am. It’s a good group to come in and be around. They understand and are determined to get this turned around and get back to being what Penn basketball has been for so long.”
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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.