The University of Pennsylvania released a statement yesterday announcing that men’s basketball head coach Jerome Allen will re-sign after Tuesday’s season finale against archrival Princeton. Allen, a 1995 Penn graduate and one of the school’s greatest players, enjoyed a long and successful playing career in Europe before retiring in 2009 to become an assistant coach at Penn. Allen joined Glen Miller’s staff for the 2009-10 season and was promoted to head coach after Miller was fired just seven games into the season. Allen had just one winning season, finishing 20-13 in 2011-12 while finishing second in the Ivy League. Allen is just 66-103 in his five seasons as head coach. This season the team is just 9-18 and 4-9 in the Ivy League. If Penn loses Tuesday they will finish in last place for the first time in school history.
Rumors have been circulating for months about his fate with a new athletic director in place before the season started and disillusioned alumni and students losing interest in the program. The intensity of the rumors picked up earlier this week when ESPN published a report saying he would be fired. Multiple reports then began surface confirming his fate. However, with today’s announcement, the University allowed Allen to resign instead. The school is immediately launching a coaching search, with former Cornell and Boston College coach Steve Donahue expected to be a leading contender. Donahue is a former Penn assistant. Other names expected to draw interest are former Penn players Andy Toole, now coaching at Robert Morris, and Matt Langel, head coach at Colgate. Another name to watch is University of California assistant Yanni Hufnagel. Hufnagel is known as an excellent recruiter and knows Penn from his time as a Harvard assistant. It is thought Penn wants someone with Division I head coaching experience but not much else is known at this time.