Duane King limped his way up the Weightman Hall stairs, swung open the doors of the sweltering gymnasium and made his way to a place he has become all too familiar with during his time at Penn -- the sidelines.
The junior shooting guard could only watch as the Penn men's basketball team held its first official practice of the 2001-2002 season on Saturday.
"Each and every time [I get injured], it gets more and more tough," said King, who has missed a good portion of the last two seasons with nagging injuries. "[Basketball] is something I love to do more than anything."
King's latest injury is a stress facture to his left foot suffered in a pickup game this fall. He hurt his other foot last year and missed most of his sophomore season.
"If it weren't for bad luck," King said, "I wouldn't have any luck."
King is slated to return to action shortly, and barring any more bad luck he will be ready for Penn's season opener at Georgia Tech on Nov. 19.
Watching his teammates from the sidelines, the junior conveyed an optimistic outlook for the upcoming season.
"We couldn't wait for the opportunity to get back," said King, an Air Jordan sneaker on his right foot, a SportMedicine boot on his left. "We've got a new attitude."
Junior Ugonna Onyekwe agreed that the Quakers were anxious to get back on the hardwood after a disappointing 1999-2000 campaign, which saw Penn fall from Ivy prominence to Ivy mediocrity.
"We have a different perspective," the 6-foot-8 power forward said after Saturday's intense workout. "We came in excited and we're ready to get things under way."
While the basketball team does not conduct a Midnight Madness celebration like many of the big-time Division I schools, the Quakers still took to the court as soon as the clock struck midnight on Oct. 13, the first day teams are allowed to conduct official practices.
Penn then returned to Weightman Hall at 3 p.m. on Saturday for another full practice.
With its seven-man freshman class, 18 players suited up for the Quakers, making the practices all the more competitive.
When the regular season rolls around, only half of those guys will see significant time.
"The best five guys are going to play," said coach Fran Dunphy, who stressed that each player will have ample opportunity to make the squad, which will have, at most, 15 players. "We have a lot of analyzing to do."
The star of the afternoon practice was Andy Toole, a junior transfer from Elon. Toole sat out last season due to NCAA transfer regulations but still practiced with the team.
On Saturday, the 6-3 point guard controlled the flow of the scrimmages, nailing jump shots, penetrating the lane and feeding Onyekwe and Koko Archibong for some highlight-reel alley-oops.
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