On his first day on the job, Dan Leibovitz was at work at 7 a.m., conditioning with the men’s basketball team on the track.
Later, the new assistant coach met some of his Weightman Hall colleagues, took care of some personal business and even attended the Big 5 banquet with his new point guard, Zack Rosen.
In short, “Today was good,” he said, some 14 hours after he started in his new postion.
Aside from dealing with the stresses of moving his family back to his native Philadelphia, from Hartford, Conn., Leibovitz also faces the pressure of being the top assistant for an ailing Penn basketball program.
But despite the challenges, he is eager to be part of a tradition that he thinks “can be brought back to prominence.”
Though Leibovitz still has to hash out exactly what his role will be on head coach Jerome Allen’s staff, the former Hartford coach already has his goals set.
“I don’t care what the number is,” he said of next year’s record. “I want to hang a banner.”
Still, there lies a long road ahead before Leibovitz can add to the collection hanging from the Palestra’s rafters.
“I’ve really focused my attention so far on the guys in the program,” he said.
Leibovitz has already started working with the current players, and he’ll soon be reaching out to next year’s freshman — many of whom were close with former assistant John Gallagher, who swapped jobs with Leibovitz at Hartford.
He figures to be in good company though, as Leibovitz was quick to credit assistant coach Mike Martin and Allen as “outstanding recruiters.”
“Penn has brought in great players forever. They’re coming here to be a part of the tradition,” he said. “I don’t think any one of them came here for any one guy other than the head coach.”
As for what brought him back to campus, Leibovitz cites the tradition, the Ivy League, the Big 5 and the opportunity to come back home.
“I don’t know if I was ever completely adjusted and completely comfortable in Hartford,” he said. “I think it’s a great place, but I always knew that Philadelphia was my home, and some day I wanted to come back.”
Now officially back in the City of Brotherly Love, on day two of his new job Leibovitz will hit the road to recruit for the program that he watched win three championships as a student.
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