Penn basketball showing potential

After seeing Penn's men's basketball team for the first time this season in its 78-68 win at Delaware Wednesday night, my impressions are it's a developing team with potential.

Leading scorer Zack Rosen and Jack Eggleston, the newest member of Penn's 1,000-point fraternity, give the Quakers scoring punch. Tyler Bernadini adds to Penn's experience.

Freshman Miles Cartwright looks like a player. He's quick and can score (12.1 points per game). Against Delaware, 6-7 senior Conor Turley was a presence, scoring 14 points.

Rebounding is an issue for the Quakers. Prior to Delaware, they were being out-rebounded 4.5 per game. Against Delaware, they held their own with each team snaring 32 boards.

Coach Jerome Allen liked the way his team played hard on each possession. My sense is, the Penn upperclassmen want to end their collegiate careers on a positive note following the negativity of the last three Glen Miller years.

In the Ivy League pre-season poll, the Quakers were considered a dark horse behind Princeton, Harvard and perhaps three-time defending champion Cornell.

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Ever since Elena Delle Donne returned to basketball last season, the attendance at Delaware's women's games has topped the men's games.

With the UD women hosting Saint Joseph's Wednesday night, 3,243 braved the First State chill. Many, however, were disappointed when Delle Donne, the nation's leading scorer (26.0), didn't play. Delle Donne alerted UD coach Tina Martin before the day's shoot-around that she wasn't feeling well. Delle Donne missed one other game and most of the La Salle game.

Following the Hawks' 50-45 victory over UD, a significant number of fans departed the Carpenter Center, thereby missing a competitive Penn-UD men's game.