Flip through the men's basketball team's media guide or stop by a practice, and there are a few things that aren't hard to pick out.
Senior forward Steve Danley may be the most outspoken on the team, and the player with the most imposing physical attributes. And look a little closer and you'll notice that his classmate, Mark Zoller, is the one with the most swagger in his step.
But take all of this, and you still don't have the team's heart and soul.
These would be found in the wiry and unassuming Ibrahim Jaaber, the kid who, just a few short years removed from being spurned by the likes of Quinnipiac and Fairleigh Dickinson, could be on the verge of winning a second consecutive Ivy Player of the Year Award, and completing one of the most illustrious careers the Ancient Eight has ever seen.
But few could have seen it coming.
Flash back to 2002. Jaaber was a 6-2, 150-pound wisp of a guard at Elizabeth High School in his eponymous hometown in New Jersey, and Division-I programs recruited him as such - even Columbia wouldn't take a chance on him.
Patrick Brunner, Jaaber's coach at Elizabeth, knew that he was sitting on a gem.
"I always told every college coach that I came across that I thought he was the most under-recruited player in New Jersey," Brunner said.
But his coach's words did little in the way of persuading college programs. Jaaber was forced to make a decision between attending the Peddie School, a preparatory academy, for a year to boost his reputation, or taking a scholarship offer from Division II Stonehill.
"A lot of people thought that I should have just accepted the scholarship," Jaaber said. They thought "I probably wouldn't be able to do much better than a Division II scholarship."
But Jaaber knew that he wasn't a D-II player.
Attending Peddie upped his stock, and he garnered attention from several mid-major conference teams. Jaaber endeared himself to former Penn coach Fran Dunphy, who left for Temple after last season, with his raw talent and high basketball IQ.
"He was a leader, a talented player, a good person and team guy," Dunphy said.
While Jaaber's game has undergone some substantial changes - he has shored up his jumper and has gained some semblance of three-point range - his off-the-court skills have evolved as well.
Dunphy and Brunner said that Jaaber has always tended to lead by example, but his teammates are also noticing that Jaaber is well-aware of the new role he'll have to play in his senior season.
"The biggest thing is he's being more vocal," Danley said. "He understands that this is his basketball team in a lot of ways."
Jaaber may not have the archetypical team leader personality, but judging by his numbers and accolades, it would be hard to argue with Danley.
A menace on defense, Jaaber was second in the nation in steals last year with 3.3 per game, and he broke Penn's career record midway through his junior year.
But Jaaber, dubbed "Man of Steal" by Sports Illustrated, defiantly showed last year that he was much more than a pesky on-the-ball defender. The senior upped his scoring average by seven points to 18.2 per game last season, showing improved range and an uncanny ability to finish near the basket among the bigs.
Not bad for a little guy nobody seemed to want.
As he has done since his high school days, Jaaber is still defying the conventional knocks against him.
Not only has he improved his shot and his ability to run the offense, but he put on weight this offseason under new coach Glen Miller's strength training program. And above all, his ability to adapt to the new coach's system gets better by the day.
But this time around, he's getting attention beyond D-II Stonehill.
"I think he can play at any school in America," said La Salle coach John Giannini, who has seen his Explorers fall to Jaaber and the Quakers two times in a row.
"It takes a very mature player to have that mix of energy and comfort and confidence. He kind of has the whole package mentally," said Giannini.
All of this, along with the fact that Jaaber is an odds-on favorite to become just the fourth back-to-back Ivy Player of the Year in history, begs the question: How does Jaaber feel about being essentially deemed unworthy of a D-I roster spot by Peddie?
"It was mostly a matter of circumstance," he said, without a hint of bitterness.
And that was it. No resentment for being passed over by team after team and no defiant 'I-showed-them' attitude.
Jaaber knows his play has spoken for itself, and that he doesn't need to prove anyone wrong.
But this year, for the first time, he may have to deal with some expectations that extend beyond Philadelphia and the Ivy League basketball faithful.
Jaaber was recently ranked the 73rd-best college player in the country by Collegehoops.net, placing him within earshot of nationally heralded guards such as Taurean Green of Florida and Eric Devendorf of Syracuse.
However, for Jaaber, his own accomplishments are overshadowed by that of his team.
After his four years at Penn are over, after the awards and the statistical achievements, after the unforgettable cheers of "Ib-by Jaa-ber!" reverberating through the Palestra, it's been all about the experience for the kid who almost never got a shot.
Reserved as always, Jaaber made it short and sweet: "I'm pretty sure I could write a 20-, 30-page essay about my time at Penn and Penn basketball, and what it's done for me."
Sounds more like an introverted philosopher than a guy leading a D-I team with an NCAA Tournament victory on its mind.
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