Quakers report: Strategy and personnel
 

The Sports Xchange
 
 
Strategy and personnel · Getting inside · Notes, quotes
 

THE GOOD NEWS
The Quakers return all but one starter and will build with three freshmen -- F Tyler Bernardini, G Harrison Gaines and F Jack Eggleston -- who combined to win nine Ivy League Rookie of the Week awards. They're also expecting the return of sophomore G Darren Smith and junior F Tommy McMahon, who were expected to start or play significant minutes but combined to play one game because of injuries.

THE BAD NEWS
The Quakers are still going to be young with the best of their talented players being sophomores. Most of the returning juniors and seniors will be role players. Plus, Cornell returns all but one player off a team that finished 14-0 in the Ivy League and became the first Ivy team other than Penn or Princeton to reach the NCAA Tournament since 1988.

KEY RETURNEES
Gs Darren Smith and Harrison Gaines, and Fs Tyler Bernardini, Jack Eggleston, Andreas Schreiber, Justin Reilly and Tommy McMahon.

ROSTER REPORT

--While senior G Brian Grandieri could return next season if he chooses, he has no plans to do so. Grandieri missed his freshman season because of a knee injury, giving him another season of eligibility, but he told the Philadelphia Daily News it was time to move on. "I think my dad has probably invested enough in my education," Grandieri said. "Obviously, you want to win every game. It's what competitors do. I'm a competitor. There's nothing better than that. But I won't miss practices, or getting better in the summer."

--Grandieri remained Penn's most consistent and dependable player, but it was Tyler Bernardini who stood out as the team's most talented player as a freshman. Bernardini could be up and down, especially late in the Ivy season, but he finished second on the team with 12.9 points per game and led the Quakers with 5.9 rebounds per game on his way to five Rookie of the Week awards.

--Jack Eggleston, another freshman forward, also emerged as a building block for the future by averaging 8.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, including 8.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in league play.

--Harrison Gaines flashed some of his potential as a freshman point guard and finished with 8.1 points and 3.6 assists per game.

--Penn had high hopes for Darren Smith and Tommy McMahon but injuries prevented them from contributing. Smith, one of two returning starters from Penn's 2007 NCAA Tournament team, suffered a broken patella in his right knee in the first half of the season opener against Drexel. McMahon sat out the season following preseason back surgery.

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