Tasting home cooking at the Votel household

By Josh Hirsch

Senior Staff Writer

jjhirsch@sas.upenn.edu

LEXINGTON, Ky., March 13 - When Penn's chartered plane landed here yesterday, it was probably the first time in the Bluegrass State for most of the passengers.

"I don't know about Kentucky, I really don't," Ibrahim Jaaber admitted after the selection show Sunday.

But not all the Quakers are so unfamiliar with this city.

"Brennan's a Midwest guy," Jaaber pointed out, hoping to get some tips from sophomore forward Brennan Votel.

Votel hails from Park Hills, Ky., which is 80 miles north of Lexington. So it could be up to him to keep the Quakers busy while they are not preparing for tomorrow's first-round clash with 3-seed Texas A&M.;

"I might be a tour guide," Votel said Sunday. "I guess everybody was saying they want to go cow tipping when we want to go down there, so I guess we can do that."

And will the team be welcome at the Votel house?

"If you knew my mom, that would not be a farfetched idea," he said.

However, Votel had more serious praise for tomorrow's site, historic Rupp Arena, calling the place where he played in his state championship "awesome."

The arena has significant history. It has hosted NCAA Tournament play 10 times before this year and has seen significant upsets in eight of them.

The most significant of these games in college basketball and Philadelphia history came in the 1985 championship game, when 8-seed Villanova shocked top-ranked Georgetown 66-64.

Dwayne McClain, who was the leading scorer in that game with 17 points, had some advice for Penn at Monday morning's Big 5 Coaches vs. Cancer breakfast at the Palestra.

"We had a great experience at Rupp," McClain said, adding that the fact that Villanova and Kentucky are both called Wildcats may have helped.

While that won't aid Penn, McClain had another pointer.

"Just bring that Philadelphia spirit with you," he said.

When Jaaber found out about the connection to Villanova, he did hope for a little mojo to rub off on his team.

"Maybe there will be some magic in the building," he said.

The last time Penn was in Rupp was not a win, but was a significant memory for athletic director Steve Bilsky anyway.

Penn lost its opening game in the preseason NIT 67-50 to Kentucky, but saw the debut of forward Ugonna Onyekwe, who Bilsky said dominated the game.

"He was the best player on the court as a first-game freshman," Bilsky said Sunday.

As the Quakers hope to make some new memories tomorrow, at least their leader is happy about where he is.

"I didn't want to go to Buffalo," coach Glen Miller said Sunday. "I wanted to take a little trip, you know, when you go to the NCAA Tournament for the first time."

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