Rascoe's at home in Penn lineup

From the Bronx to Rosemary-Choate to Penn, junior defensive lineman Larry Rascoe has learned how to adapt. For the first time in a long time, Larry Rascoe is enjoying life. The Penn defensive lineman, who grew up in one of the worst neighborhoods of the Bronx, N.Y., has been striving to achieve this goal for as long as he can remember. At the age of 16, the junior had the option of toughing it out in New York or escaping the Melrose Projects on 153rd Street and traveling to Connecticut to enroll in one of the finer boarding schools on the East Coast. On the surface, it would appear an easy decision. But for Rascoe, the thought of attending Choate-Rosemary was slightly intimidating. The make-up of Choate was nothing like the junior high school Rascoe had attended. The defensive specialist went from an institution where white students were the minority to an Academy where he was one of only a handful of African Americans. Rascoe admitted, "I never really enjoyed my time at Choate," but added that he recognized how important it was to receive a good education. Especially when Rascoe had no intention of remaining "poor" for the rest of his life. At Choate, Rascoe spent the first few months adjusting to his new friends and the "new atmosphere." While not taking to the often "awkward" social climate, he did like having the opportunity to play football with many future Ivy League football athletes. And it was through his experiences on the football field, basketball court and track field that Rascoe made many friends. After three years at Choate, Rascoe was more than ready to move back to an urban environment and Penn fit the mold. Rascoe's mother, Iris, felt differently and wanted her son to attend Cornell. As a city boy, the final decision was a tough one. Rascoe was eventually swayed to make West Philly his new home after meeting with Penn defensive line coach Jim Schaefer and watching the Quakers win back-to-back Ivy crowns. Rascoe's freshman year, however, did not give him the happiness he was looking for. "The freshman experience was real tough, mentally and physically," Rascoe said. "First I had to adjust to a new practice schedule and then I had to hit the books, plus I was trying to make new friends all at the same time." Rascoe is the first to admit his three years at Choate came in handy when it was time to make the transition to Ivy academics. Although he referred to Penn's social atmosphere as similar to Choate's, he still had a difficult time making friends. A surprise to the upperclassman was how easily he made friends with many of the white students who were "a lot like the students at Choate." However, his interactions with the African-American community at Penn were not as smooth as he had anticipated. "A lot of the blacks here were much different than me," Rascoe said. "I had a hard time adjusting to them, because I thought they were going to be like the people I met back home. But most of them came from the suburbs and it was just a hard adjustment." As a sophomore, things began to clear up for Rascoe. The 6'3'', 255-pound defensive lineman realized how his future with the Quakers' football squad was going to take shape. He accepted his roll as back-up to ex-Penn nose guard Chris Osentowski. Even though Rascoe's playing time in his second season was cut short because of the flu, which according to him "just would not leave me alone," he remained optimistic about his future. With the completion of the 1996 season, Rascoe knew he would have a legitimate opportunity to start the following fall. A smile was beginning to form, and things were finally looking up for "Big Larry" -- as he is called by his teammates. When spring ball came along, Rascoe buddied up with fifth-year defensive lineman Mitch Marrow and the two formed a close bond. According to Rascoe, the two athletes constantly push each other on game day. In addition to their relationship during contests, the two upperclassmen have become good friends. "We have just clicked," Rascoe said. "We feel real comfortable around each other and we just joke around a lot." Marrow said some of the ongoing gags between the two Quakers involve Marrow joshing with Rascoe about being one of the only starting African-American players on the defensive line, and Rascoe returning the favor by kidding his teammate over his incredible bulk, despite being one of the few Jews on the Red and Blue Rascoe admits racism is "a serious issue in America" but commented that it is nice to be able to just "kid around every now and then to loosen things up during some grueling practices." On a more serious note, he has been rather critical of his own performance this season -- through nine contests Rascoe has 29 total tackles and two sacks. He would like to see at least two improvements in his game, starting with Cornell this Saturday. "I want to begin fine-tuning my techniques in order to make my game more complete," Rascoe said. "But where I would really like to work on is my consistency. I mean I will make a great play on one play and then go back to being sub-par on the next play. It's like coach 'Shaef' says, "I look like Superman one play and dogshit the next play.' But I think I have kind of gotten away from playing like dogshit." Rascoe added he feels he has the ability to make a "great play every play," but in order for this to happen he has to become more "focused mentally during each play." Penn defensive coordinator Mike Toop agrees with his emerging star on 'D'. Toop referred to Rascoe's ability to "punch out" the oppositions offensive lineman as being one his great strengths. Like so many other players Toop has coached, he said it is only a matter of time before Rascoe puts it all together. For the Bronx native, that time is now. He recognizes his role on the Penn football team. Rascoe is aware of how much potential he has and looks forward to his remaining 11 games. But most importantly for a young man who called himself a "cool nerd" in his youth and takes pride in escaping the ghetto, Rascoe is finally happy about where he is and what the future holds in store.

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