Any realistic hope Penn had of reaching Ivy Madness died on Saturday night after the Red and Blue staggered through a road loss to Brown, 82-72, on the second night of a back-to-back.
Though Penn (6-16, 2-7 Ivy) was competitive throughout the evening and cut the deficit to as little as one point in the second half, the Quakers never led. A stepback three from Brown (12-10, 4-5 Ivy) superstar Kino Lilly Jr. pushed the Bears’ lead back to four with 10 minutes to go and Penn never seriously threatened after.
Brown is now effectively three games ahead of Penn thanks to its head-to-head sweep of the Red and Blue.
Instead of focusing on the minutiae of the game itself, this Saturday’s Quakeaways will serve as a progress report on the long-term questions I asked a few weeks ago:
Is Steve Donahue coaching for his job?
At this point, it sure feels like it.
Donahue remains an excellent offensive tactician and motivator. For all the physical deficits this Penn team has, Donahue has gotten it to play hard every single night, even as the losses have mounted.
What may ultimately bring his tenure to an end has been inconsistent recruiting. The Quakers have little depth, and have been forced to paper over a weak class of 2026 recruiting class with transfer portal additions. Of the six juniors currently on the roster, only Ethan Roberts is getting starter’s minutes (and he’s probably heading out the door in a few weeks).
Penn has been carried the past few years by superstars: AJ Brodeur, then Jordan Dingle. Dingle’s exit after his junior year set in motion a domino effect which has resulted in several other star players (Max Martz and Tyler Perkins) walking away or transferring.
That talent deficit, coupled with an ugly losing streak to Princeton and a possible second straight seventh-place finish in the Ivy League may be too much for Donahue to overcome.
Is the backcourt of the future taking shape?
Yes, to an extent.
AJ Levine has the starting point guard job locked down. He’s started every single one of Penn’s Ivy games and is probably already the Quakers’ best on-ball defender. He still has a ways to go offensively: on Saturday, Levine finished with a KenPom offensive rating of 65 points per 100 possessions.
Sam Brown dropped 19 points on Saturday and now has a nine-game streak of scoring in double figures.
As for Roberts, he led all scorers with 26 points on Saturday. His talent is undeniable.
If all three players stick together, Penn has a great base heading into next year. But we have no precedent for what will happen for an Ivy men’s team in the transfer portal if a coach is fired for performance reasons.
Who will be Nick Spinoso’s replacement?
We’re still no closer to an answer on this one.
The only meaningful recent movement we’ve seen was freshman Michelangelo Oberti finally getting some run after mostly sitting on the bench in Ivy play. He got 15 minutes on Friday against Yale, finishing with a KenPom offensive rating of 141 points per 100 possessions.
Meanwhile, classmate Bradyn Foster hasn’t appeared in a game since February 1.
Donahue opted to run with a small-ish lineup on Saturday, giving senior wing George Smith the start. But Smith won’t be around next year, either.
At this point, it’s looking like Penn will be rolling out mostly untested forwards next year, no matter who’s coaching.