Ivy Hoops Online’s writing staff voted on where all eight Ivy men’s and women’s basketball teams would end up for the 2019-20 season. Our projected order of finish for the men (and the women’s rankings here):
penn
Penn men’s basketball releases 2019-20 schedule
Although Penn Athletics released the men’s basketball home schedule on August 14, the complete slate was announced Wednesday, three weeks later. While the schedule is light on home games, coach Steve Donahue has crafted a strong 13 game nonconference schedule that will see the Quakers facing three Top-35 teams and anywhere from four to six top-90 squads.
Penn women’s basketball releases 2019-20 schedule
2019 Ivy League regular season co-champion Penn released its full schedule on Friday, revealing a 13-game nonconference schedule that is highlighted by games against Philly’s City 6 and holiday visits to Tobacco Road and Honolulu.
The Quakers, which went 4-1 overall against its neighbors and just missed out on winning back-to-back Big Five championships last season, will again face Drexel, La Salle, St. Joseph’s, Temple and Villanova. The Red & Blue, which played four of those games at the Palestra last season, will have to play four of five on the road in 2019-20.
Ivy 60 for 60: Steve Bilsky & Dave Wohl
Ivy Hoops Online announces the next entry in Ivy 60 for 60, our series running through 60 of the greatest players in Ivy League men’s basketball history after a hiatus to continue celebrating six decades of modern Ivy League basketball. An Ivy 60 for 60 for Ivy women’s basketball will follow.
In May of 1967, a cryptic but prescient one-paragraph article was to be found hidden away in the the nether regions of the Philadelphia Inquirer sports section. It stated that Steve Bilsky, Dave Wohl and Jim Wolf were about to become the core components of the 1967-68 Digger Phelps-recruited Penn freshman squad which could possibly be the “best freshman team in the country.”
In 1967, this meant a great deal.
The Jerome Allen story: A closer read
It was one year ago today that allegations that Jerome Allen took bribes were first reported by Bloomberg and the Miami Herald.
But the passage of time didn’t make Sports Illustrated’s deep dive last week into how Jerome Allen became guilty of bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion any easier to digest.
Most Penn basketball supporters will find it an uncomfortable read, but its revelations are simply too many to ignore.
They reconfirm what we already knew – one of Penn basketball’s most admired figures used his head coaching position for personal gain at the expense of the program.
But taken as a whole, the article’s revelations paint a far more holistic portrait than that.
Allen is and will always be more than an implicated figure on a witness stand, and his story as told by SI merits closer examination – as do the institutions and forces that shaped it. As someone who covered Allen and Penn basketball extensively for the Daily Pennsylvanian from 2012 to 2014, I thought I’d do a closer read of SI’s story, portions of which are italicized below.
Former Penn captain Dau Jok deploys to Iraq
WHO TV in Des Moines, Iowa reported earlier this week that Dau Jok, a member of Penn basketball from 2010 to 2014, departed Monday for Iraq as a member of the United States Army Reserve’s 103rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command. According to the station, Jok and his unit will be in Iraq for at least a year.
Jok, along with his younger brother Peter were born in Khartoum, Sudan. When Dau was six and Peter three, their father Dut, a general in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, was killed during the Second Sudanese Civil War. Their grandfather Jok Dau Kachuol, the chief of their village, would be killed in 2010, during a clash between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army soldiers and armed civilians.
Jerome Allen removed from Penn Athletics Hall of Fame
Ivy Hoops Online reported early Tuesday morning on Jerome Allen’s sentencing in federal court for accepting bribes from a Florida businessman to place his son on the Quakers’ recruited athletes list. At the conclusion of the article, we noted that Allen’s name was no longer on the online list of Penn Athletics Hall of Fame honorees.
While Allen’s individual Hall of Fame page was still accessible, his name could not be found on the site’s “Listing of Hall of Fame inductees by sport”.
Jerome Allen to stay with Boston Celtics
Jerome Allen will remain with the Boston Celtics organization as an assistant coach following his sentencing to four years probation Monday for accepting bribes from a Florida businessman to place his son on the Quakers’ recruited athletes list, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
Allen faces six months of house arrest, and the Celtics recently hired Joe Mazzulla and Kara Lawson as assistant coaches.
But Allen’s house arrest will allow him to travel to work, and the Mazzulla and Lawson hirings were not related to Allen’s situation.
The Celtics did not provide a statement on Allen after a request was made by Ivy Hoops Online.
Former Penn coach Jerome Allen sentenced to four years probation
Former Penn head coach Jerome Allen was sentenced to four years of probation in a Miami courtroom Monday afternoon for accepting bribes from a Florida businessman to place his son on the Quakers’ recruited athletes list.
“If there is any lesson here, you can’t pay your way in and you shouldn’t be able to pay your way out,” U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said. “There is a debt owed — it’s more than just a reputational cost to you.
Yale junior guard Miye Oni declaring for NBA Draft
ESPN reported Friday that Yale junior guard Miye Oni will declare for the NBA Draft after being named Ivy Player of the Year for the 2018-19 season.
“I plan on entering the 2019 draft,” Oni reportedly told ESPN via text message. “I submitted my name to the Undergraduate Advisory (Committee) to legally protect myself and my NCAA eligibility, but I have every intention of staying in the draft. I’ll be signing with agent Harrison Gaines of SLASH Sports.”
The 6-foot-6, 210-pound wing out of Northridge, Calif. contributed 17.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game this season amid Yale’s Ivy title run.
Oni also announced the decision on his Instagram page, saying that he made the decision to declare for the NBA Draft after discussing his options with his family.