Fanaroff | Ready for a party of their own

ITHACA, N.Y. — Sometimes, the schedule just works in your favor. Such was the case for the Quakers this weekend.

Yes, Penn lost both of its contests.

But for the second straight year, the Quakers were the victims of Cornell’s Ivy title-clinching victory. And watching from the sidelines as the Big Red players donned championship gear is motivation beyond anything coach Jerome Allen can supply.

Sophomore point guard Zack Rosen put it bluntly, saying “sometimes visuals hurt more than hearing about stuff.”

The visual inside Cornell’s Newman Arena Saturday night was enough to make any Ivy Leaguer jealous.

It began with a pregame Senior Night ceremony, honoring the Big Red’s eight seniors for their historic contributions. While all eight received standing ovations, it was the triumvirate of Louis Dale, Jeff Foote and Ryan Wittman that predictably received the biggest cheers.

When the game finally got underway, Dale hit a three to open the scoring, and the Big Red never looked back.

The real celebration began two hours later, as the final buzzer sounded with Cornell leading by double digits.

Fans may not have rushed the court, but the players immediately donned championship hats and tossed t-shirts into the crowd.

None of the nights’ events were much of a surprise. Despite Penn’s 79-64 victory earlier this season, Cornell was still a 20-point favorite, and few believed those seniors would play as poorly in their final home game as they did at the Palestra last month.

But now that the Big Red’s coronation as three-time Ivy champions is all but a guarantee, Penn fans can turn their attention to the squad’s future hopes. Rosen knows what those hopes should be.

“[Cornell’s] got a good team,” Rosen said. “But at the same time, I know where we can go, and hopefully we’ll be doing what they’re doing right now next year and the year after that.”

Though the team’s youth was a primary discussion point last year, when the team struggled to a sixth-place Ivy finish, the Quakers have declined to make excuses this season.

Still, it can’t be ignored that only two Penn players — a quarter of Cornell’s total — are likely to be honored at the Senior Night ceremony Saturday night.

All five starters from the Cornell game will return, and 95 percent of Penn’s minutes and points will be back next season, barring any unexpected departures.

Beyond that, Penn will be returning four contributors from injury and adding at least seven freshmen.

“We’ll soak it all in and make it part of our testimony and be stronger for it in the coming years,” Rosen said.

Rosen and his teammates should take what they saw to heart and use the image of the celebrating Big Red squad as extra motivation to make a true push for the Ivy title in the next two years.

Maybe then that testimony will conclude in 2012 with Rosen given a standing ovation from a packed Palestra on Senior Night, Mike Howlett sporting a two-time Ivy championship hat and Rob Belcore tossing championship gear into a screaming student section.

NEIL FANAROFF is a senior economics major from Potomac, Md., and is former Design Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. He can be contacted at dpsports@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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