A tribute to the Greats

One hundred sixteen games, 79 wins and three Ivy League titles - that's a pretty impressive accomplishment for the senior class of Stephen Danley, Adam Franklin, Ibrahim Jaaber and Mark Zoller.

But how do they stack up with the greats from Penn - and the rest of the League - who have graced Ivy gymnasiums over the past four years?

Today The Daily Pennsylvanian's senior sportswriters bring you their observations from their freshman years onward.

So here's the best of what they've seen in the Palestra and elsewhere in the last four years.

Take a seat, Dominick Martin. You too, Delonte West. Let the discussion begin.

Here are our 10 best from the following categories: Penn players, Ivy players, Big 5 players and Penn opponents. Remember, we're talking about these playe rs in their primes, not necessarily in the game (or games) we saw them.

All-Penn 1st team 1) Tim Begley 2) Steve Danley 3) Ibby Jaaber 4) Jeff Schiffner 5) Mark Zoller

All-Penn 2nd team 1) Adam Chubb 2) Charlie Copp 3) Brian Grandieri 4) Eric Osmundson 5) David Whitehurst

It was a challenge to determine who belonged in the fifth spot on the first team. Jaaber and Begley were locks because they were Ivy players of the year and Zoller and Schiffner were both first team all-Ivy selections. We decided Danley belonged on the first team over Chubb and Osmundson largely because of his junior year performance.

The only player that we felt may have been left off this list was Jan Fikiel. While Fikiel will always be remembered for his three-point shots off the bench against Princeton in 2005, we felt Whitehurst and Copp made more significant contributions to the team. They were also more well-rounded than Fikiel, who for his size, did not provide much of a presence as a rebounder or interior defender.

Where this team would go in the NCAA tournament: We believe the first team would likely be a 10-seed in the tournament.

They would be primed for a patented 7-10 upset with Chubb coming off the bench if Danley or Zoller gets in foul trouble, Grandieri making a great sixth man, and Whitehurst providing excellent defense. The lack of size up front might be a problem, but it would be on any Penn team.

All-Ivy 1st team 1) Tim Begley 2) Jason Forte 3) Ibby Jaaber 4) Matt Stehle 5) Mark Zoller

All-Ivy 2nd team 1) KaRon Barnes 2) Lenny Collins 3) Dominick Martin 4) Will Venable 5) Judson Wallace

Begley, Forte and Jaaber were all locks for the first team, with each of them earning at least one Ivy League Player of the Year award. Zoller could have easily won the award his senior season as well, so he also gets a spot.

Stehle makes it on the basis of being a two-time All-Ivy first-teamer and one of the best all-around - and at seven feet tall, most unique - players the league's seen in a while.

The only automatic for the second team was Martin, who gets the nod, if for nothing else, based solely on the fact that he was a Quakers-killer. Collins, Barnes, Venable and Wallace make the list over John Bauman, Leon Pattman, and Edwin Draughn, all of whom were quite good, but did not quite have the next level of greatness and the ability to take over a game in the clutch like these other athletes often did.

Where this team would go in the NCAA tournament: This Ivy All-Star team would likely get a 7-seed and has Sweet 16 potential. They are an explosive scoring force and Martin can come off the bench to do nothing but grab rebounds. Jaaber is the defensive presence and a solid point guard as well, and as long as Begley and Zoller worked themselves open on the outside, no Tournament team would be all that safe.

All-Big 5 1st team 1) Randy Foye 2) Jameer Nelson 3) Alan Ray 4) Steven Smith 5) Curtis Sumpter

All-Big 5 2nd team 1) Pat Carroll 2) Mardy Collins 3) Ibby Jaaber 4) Kyle Lowry 5) Delonte West

Figuring out the Big 5 team provided for some of the most heated discussion.

All five first teamers garnered All-Big 5 first team honors at least twice. They are explosive players, and include a national player of the year in Nelson. The biggest debates were over the last spot on the first team, where we took Sumpter over Carroll, because Sumpter was All-Big 5 first team twice and will be undoubtedly be on it again this season. Carroll, although he was player of the year in 2005, did not win the award in a particularly strong year, and was not the same kind of major threat that Sumpter is.

All-Opponent 1st team 1) Devin Harris 2) Acie Law IV 3) Jameer Nelson 4) J.J. Reddick 5) Shelden Williams

All-Opponent 2nd team 1) Randy Foye 2) Tyler Hansbrough 3) Alan Ray 4) Craig Smith 5) Alando Tucker

All of these players have provided Penn fans with some of the most exciting games in the last four years. Well, maybe not Smith. But the 2004 matchup between Nelson's Hawks squad and Penn was a classic that nearly derailed St. Joe's perfect season. And a string of fantastic Villanova teams has given us some of the most thrilling games we've ever seen.

Where this team would go in the NCAA tournament: This team would surely be the No. 1 overall seed and prognosticators would be foolish to think they would achieve anything less than a national championship. It is a balanced team that can run, pass, defend and score at will. Not that the team needs a spark, but Collins can come off the bench for instant jump-shot offense.

This task was nearly impossible. Foye, the No. 7 NBA draft pick, could not crack the first team and neither could Tucker, a player of the year candidate and the player of the year this season in the Big 10. The first team has two national players of the year in Nelson and Redick. Law is the best clutch player we have seen, Williams is a monster inside and Harris is an NBA stud.

Not only was it challenging to place players between the first and second team, but we could not find room for a spate of exceptional players. An argument certainly could be made to replace several of these players with LaMarcus Aldridge, P.J. Tucker, Jared Dudley or Brandan Wright.

Where this team would go in the NCAA tournament: This team has an odd construction with three point guards. Hansbrough might start instead if this were a real team just to even out the frontcourt. We figure they would just alley-oop all day until they were recognized as one of the best collegiate teams of all time.

In the end, we have been extraordinarily lucky to have seen some of these players over the last four years. That's what makes Penn better to go to than some other Ivy League schools that do not schedule this caliber of opponent.

Now all we have to do is debate amongst Phil Martelli, Jim Boeheim, Jay Wright, Billy Gillispie, Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and Al Skinner to coach that last squad.

But that's another column.

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