Angel | Some fibs pass, but others linger

Let's be blunt: Glen Miller's line about Remy Cofield, the one Penn used to break the news that he was leaving, was contradicted by Cofield himself.

Miller's statement read, in part: "Remy has been dealing with some ongoing family situations, and has reached a point where he feels it is in his best interests to spend more of his time focusing on them."

The only "family situation," Cofield says, was that his folks sensed how unhappy he was riding Miller's bench (the coach declined to comment on those remarks through a spokesman).

"Ongoing family situations" does sound a lot better than the real reason. Sadly, a fib like that is a legitimate option at a place like Penn. The nonsense could have stuck, because there's hardly a flock of media clamoring to hear the truth about Remy Cofield.

Even if there were, no one would care for that long. Some tall tales do fade with no fuss.

***

This could've been Keenan Jeppesen's last year of eligibility. Remember him? Brown's basketball talisman, the smooth-stroking Canadian guard, the kind of athlete Miller wanted to bring to Penn?

Well, Miller tried, shortly after he left Brown for Penn in 2006, and he failed. Here is a primary reason why, in the words of dearly departed Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson: "We feel badly about taking students from Brown. . We just don't think it's fair to take someone from the other Ivies."

Jeppesen himself was still dumbfounded when we spoke last year. (He was not bitter, despite the indignity of having learned the outcome of his transfer application from The Summer Pennsylvanian.)

He made all the counterarguments. Players transfer from Ivy to Ivy all the time - Harold Bailey, Class of 2003, even went from Penn to Brown.

Anyway, it's all over now. Jeppesen's graduated. Phew. Bullet dodged.

***

But that's the trouble with a hazy explanation, isn't it? It's not always over in a quick-and-dirty, four-sentence press release. Sometimes it comes back to haunt you.

That's what Keenan Jeppesen might do, no thanks to Remy Cofield's recent reminder:

"I do have a short list of schools that I would enjoy going to that are closer to home. . I'm just looking for a school with comparable academics to Penn and a low-key atmosphere."

I can think of one school that fits Cofield's description, just an hour's drive down I-95 from his Newton, Mass., home. You can take any course you want pass/fail. No general requirements, either.

I don't know if Brown is on Cofield's radar screen. I do know this: If he does end up in Providence, people will want to know a lot more about Penn's "we don't take transfers from other Ivies" policy.

If he doesn't, I doubt I'll be the only one wondering if there was a quid pro quo, tacit or otherwise, that could have kept him from going there.

Penn would look lame in the first case and spiteful in the second. This situation could have been avoided with a twist on the old kindergarten rule: Next time, if you don't have anything true to say, please don't say anything at all.

Sebastien Angel is a senior Political Science major from Worcester, Mass., and is a former Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. His e-mail address is angelsd@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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