Stephen Danley | Penn basketball, reporting live

If I donated $5 to the University every time a girl found out I played basketball and asked, "Do you know that cute Zoller kid?" I'd have enough money to rename a high rise after myself. And while guys don't typically ask to be set up with a player, they ask an only slightly less-predictable question: "What's it like to play Division I basketball?"

And I tell them that, like any team, things look different on the inside.

Two seasons ago, fans saw a team that finished 20-9 and was blown out by Boston College in the first round of the tournament. But I can still hear Begs - Tim Begley - in the locker room before the St. Joe's game. We were on a five-game losing streak, slumping badly after a tough road trip to San Francisco and an overtime loss to Rider. Begs pulled the team together, telling us we needed to loosen up. His words carried us all the way through the Ivies: "Why not us?"

A year later, the motto, and the senior, had changed. Before every game Friedrich Ebede scrawled "all business" on the locker room white board. While to the outside world it appeared we were cruising to a second consecutive Ivy League title, we struggled with our health.

I broke my nose. Oz dislocated his shoulder. Dave's shot never came around after he fractured his hand.

So while the newspaper lamented our poor showings in overtime wins against Brown and Harvard, we were learning how to grind out wins against teams psyched to play the reigning champs. The end result was a less pretty 14-2 Ivy League record, but a team that was much more prepared to play under the lights against Texas.

At 4-2, this year's model is only starting to rev its engine. The sophomores are finding their rhythm and confidence, and it shows in the locker room. Cameron Lewis does an ever-improving Dunph impression. Aron Cohen mimics our new head coach - affectionately referred to as "Daddy Miller." Every time Andreas Schreiber walks in the door, Aron yells, "Sleep in bed, 'Dre," a phrase Miller first used when 'Dre struggled to learn a drill at practice. The phrase stuck to him like Ibby to a guard on the perimeter.

Of course, the coaching changes haven't been all smooth sailing. Four or five times a practice a guy cuts to the wrong spot on the floor and comes off the court shaking his head. Old habits die hard. But it helps that the new staff is likeable. Beyond Daddy Miller there is coach Martin, a guy who has coaching stardom written all over him. Coach Bromwell has taken a couple of the guys under his wing, especially freshman Darren Smith. Coach Sparks is in a class all of his own, having garnered the nickname "Bubba" early on; he's a bundle of energy and good for at least a couple of laughs every day.

One night early in the preseason, the team was lounging in the film room after practice, watching an NBA game. The seniors told stories about freshman year, when we failed to make it to the tournament, and tried desperately to convince the freshmen that when the schedule turns to Ivy League teams, back-to-back games are a completely new challenge.

Now, these same youngsters are the key to the team improving, and they're starting to provide the depth we'll need down the Ivy stretch. Darren, who has the habit of yelling "mouse in the house" after every basket he scores in practice (and there aren't many) went off for 17 against Florida Gulf Coast. Brennan's gotten comfortable coming off the bench and providing quality minutes inside, even if his brain freezes harder than a California freshman in December after a play is called. We're still waiting for Aron to find his stroke and for the "Dirt Show" (Joe Gill) to find the limelight, but the guys know it will come.

Poke your head in the locker room now, and the chants of "Why not us?" have faded. "All business" may still be written on the dry erase board, but Friedrich is nowhere to be found. But look harder and you'll find four seniors and two juniors who are gunning for their third Ivy championship.

You'll find three starters and 11 returning players from last year's championship team. And maybe, if you're lucky, you'll see Brian Grandieri getting hyped and yelling "get loose, baaaby" before he runs out on the floor. The chants may change, but the team lives on.

Stephen Danley is a College senior from Germantown, Md. His e-mail address is danley@dailypennsylvanian.com. Late Night Conversation appears on Fridays.

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