Best Basketball Moments of the Decade

Continuing with the holiday spirit, Penn Gazette Sports is proud to present its Top 10 Basketball Moments of the Decade. Considering the Quakers won six Ivy League championships this decade and had countless more memorable performances, narrowing it down to 10 was the hardest part. As always, lists like these are subjective, so feel free to disagree or post your own favorite memories in the comments section.

To help provide some color, I talked to former point guard Andrew Toole, who was involved in a few of the best moments as a starter on the excellent 2001-02 and 2002-03 teams. I know speculation has been running rampant about Toole since Glen Miller got fired, but for the record, the Robert Morris assistant coach said Penn has not contacted him nor does he expect them to. He did say he would love to return to the Palestra (his “favorite place in the world”) as an assistant or head coach some day, but he also stressed that he’s completely behind Jerome Allen. Also, I’m not sure if this was reported at the time, but Toole said Glen Miller offered him a position as an assistant in 2008 – a job that was eventually given to John Gallagher – but he did not think it was the right situation for him at the time.

Anyway, here is the list counting down from No. 10, along with some commentary from Toole:

10) Fan favorite Dan Solomito gives fans what they want, February 16, 2002: In most cases, a 38-point win over Dartmouth in the middle of February would not qualify as a “great moment.” But as far as midseason routs go, this one had about as much drama and poetry as you can ask for. With time running down and Penn sitting on 97 points, Duane King dribbled into the lane, seemed to stop for a few seconds and then kicked it out to his buddy Dan Solomito, who drained a 3-pointer to put the Quakers at 100 and turn everyone’s ticket stub into a coupon for a free cheesesteak at Abner’s. It was not the only time this decade that the Quakers hit the “cheesesteak” century mark, but this one was certainly the most special – especially for Solomito, who rode the bench for four years and heard his name chanted by the crowd only when it was time to empty the bench. I still remember Solomito coming into Abner’s and apologizing to the guy frantically making cheesesteaks, before he was spotted and a familiar chant broke out: SO-LO-MI-TO! SO-LO-MI-TO!

Toole’s Take: He was the only senior on that team so it was very fitting that he made the “3” to put us over 100. I just remember the fans starting to cheer “cheesesteaks” with about eight minutes to go in the game. After the game we went to Abner’s and the line was around the corner, but all the fans let us cut the line.

9) Jeff Schiffner takes center stage at MSG, Dec. 28, 2003: The Quakers have hit plenty of dramatic shots to beat the buzzer over the past 10 years, but this was certainly one of the best. At the very end of a double overtime game against St. John’s in the first round of the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden, Schiffner buried a tough game-winning jumper from the top of the key. The Quakers went on to win the Holiday Festival by beating Manhattan, an impressive accomplishment for a team trying to cope with the graduation of the decade’s best class.

8) Ugonna Onyekwe rocks Jadwin, Feb. 15, 2000: The outcome of the game was no longer in question when a Penn freshman named Ugonna Onyekwe got out into the open court and punctuated a win over Princeton with a 360-degree slam. But more than anything else, the play signaled a new era in Penn basketball, and the makings of a new star. The announcer said to best after the thunderous dunk: “That’s not Ivy League basketball!” And Penn fans got a taste of it for four years.

7) Penn caps off sweep of Big 5, Jan. 29, 2002: These days, it may seem like winning one Big 5 game would be a monumental achievement for the Quakers. But it wasn’t that long ago when Penn ruled the city. In 2001-02, the Quakers toppled all four of their Philly rivals for a perfect 4-0 Big 5 record, the first time they accomplished such a feat since the 1973-74 season. And from sneaking by Villanova in overtime (Toole hit some clutch free throws despite playing with a stress fracture) to hanging on to beat Temple (a game that’s probably best known for Temple’s mascot, Hooter the Owl, getting a technical foul), to beating St. Joe’s by two and then holding off La Salle in overtime to polish off the sweep, every game was truly thrilling … the way Big 5 basketball should be.

Toole’s Take: You could really tell how special and important the Big 5 was to our fans and alums when they were coming up and thanking us for winning the Big 5. I know I didn’t understand how special winning it was at the time.

6) A new decade begins with a perfect Ivy season, March 7, 2000: There’s only one thing better than beating Princeton … and that’s beating Princeton to cap off a perfect 14-0 Ivy League season. Michael Jordan, Matt Langel and the rest of the 1999-2000 Quakers did just that at the turn of the millennium, hammering the rival Tigers, 73-52, at the Palestra in the final regular-season game of the season. That team featured a rare blend of veteran leaders (Jordan, Langel and Geoff Owens) and rising stars (Onyekwe and Koko Archibong) but its stay in the NCAA tournament was painfully familiar as the Quakers dropped a winnable game to Illinois in the opening round.

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Coming shortly: Counting down the remaining five best moments of the decade