M. Hoops onto next obstacle

Dan Solomito was a mere freshman on the Penn men's basketball team's bench on Feb. 9, 1999. Along with fellow freshman Jon Tross, he witnessed Penn jump out to a ridiculously large lead in the team's first game against Princeton that season.

The Tigers had been ranked as high as eighth in the country the year before, but 1998-1999 was supposed feature a changing of the guard in the Ivy League, and the first half of that night's game certainly supported that contention.

Of course, what happened after Penn's red-hot first half on that fateful Tuesday is now infamous, which is why those who remember that night couldn't help but be reminded of it during this past Tuesday night's stunning -- and complete -- 62-38 victory over Princeton. Penn jumped out to an eerily familiar 24-3 early lead and a 37-15 halftime advantage.

Penn was able to vigilantly maintain a blowout margin at Jadwin Gym two nights ago, and history never really came close to repeating itself, but that didn't keep the thoughts of many -- if not most -- from wandering back towards 1999.

"I definitely [remember] what happened three years ago, and it definitely stuck in the back of my head," Solomito, who understandably termed the 1999 game the worst loss of his basketball career, said. "But a lead is a lead, and I'll take it against anybody at anytime."

With the past put back to rest and the biggest win of the year under its belt, yesterday was The Day After for Penn -- with no practice scheduled, coach Fran Dunphy and his assistants put Princeton behind them and started formulating plans of attack for the difficult tasks to come.

Difficult task number one arrives at the Palestra tomorrow night, and its name is Harvard. The Crimson, who have a game advantage on the Quakers in the win column of the Ivy League standings, look to continue a string of recent successes over the Quakers. Dartmouth then rolls into town on Saturday, bolstered by a road sweep of Cornell and Columbia last weekend that pulled it out of the Ivy League cellar.

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While the current roster of Penn players is shooting for the Ivy League title, Dunphy is in the thick of the yearly process to bring tomorrow's Quakers into the fold.

At this point, Dunphy can't mention any names. Nevertheless, he is encouraged by the results thus far.

"Recruiting's going fine," Dunphy said. "We're doing OK. We're pleased with where we are in the recruiting process."

Dunphy, who attended a high school game last night, has performed this annual rite many times before, often with great success.

"You're always trying to do the same thing," said the longtime coach, whose 223 victories put him four behind leader Lon Jourdet on Penn's all-time wins list. "It's trying to get a guard who can play both [backcourt] positions, you're trying to get a swing player who can play two or three spots, and you're trying to get a big guy who can rebound and play defense. That's always your focus each year."

Penn will not experience a great deal of personnel turnover until after the 2002-03 season, when Ugonna Onyekwe, Koko Archibong, Andrew Toole, David Klatsky, Duane King and Andrew Coates graduate.

"It'll be interesting to see how it all pans out," Dunphy said.

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Aspiring college hoops coaches, take note -- tomorrow night's game will feature a Fran Dunphy look-alike contest, and students are encouraged to don mustaches for the occasion.

During the first half, representatives from the Penn athletic department will comb the Palestra stands for the 10 best Dunphy doppelgangers, and at halftime, a panel of judges will narrow the pool to a final four, from which an eventual winner will be selected via spectator applause.

The prizes include a round-trip airline ticket, a gift certificate to Polo, a gift certificate to Cosi and the opportunity to become an honorary Quakers coach for a day. In addition, the winner will have his or her picture taken with the real deal just prior to the start of the second half.

"Anything that would get more students to come to the game, I would try to do," Dunphy said. "Somebody asked me to do that, and I said OK.

"I would love more students to come to the games. It would be great."

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