It wasn’t just the final game of another lost season for the Pennsylvania Quakers. It was the end of an era. Last night’s season finale against arch rival Princeton was also the final game in Jerome Allen’s tenure as head coach. Allen was informed early last week by athletic director Grace Calhoun that he would be out of a job after the season. Allen finished with a career record of 66-104 in five seasons as head coach. Allen took over as head coach just seven games into the 2009-10 seasons after Glen Miller was fired following an 0-7 start. Allen was given the job permanently after that season. Many questioned why he would be given the job since he had just become an assistant coach that season. Many alumni felt he was set up for failure by former athletic director Steve Bilsky as a result, promoting him before he was ready.
The game itself was a story of two halves, and typical of how the season went for Penn. The team played well and kept things close throughout the first half, but Princeton made the necessary adjustments at halftime and overwhelmed Penn, winning 73-52. In the end Penn just hasn’t been good enough but they have a group of young players that look very promising. Everyone involved with the program believes better days are ahead, they just need to find the right coach. Hans Brase led all scorers with 18 points for the Tigers, with Spencer Weisz adding 16. Penn did not have a single scorer in double figures. The Quakers were led by freshman point guard Antonio Woods with 8 points. Fellow freshman Darnell Foreman and leading scorer Tony Hicks added 7 points each.
No matter who the coach is next year, he will inherit a team with some good young talent. Hicks will be a senior, but four freshmen received significant minutes this season and were among the better players. Those four players-forwards Mike Auger and Sam Jones and guards Foreman and Woods-plus wing Matt Howard, who will be a junior next season, will be provide that coach with a strong core of players to begin his tenure. Penn finished the season at 9-19, 4-10 in the Ivy League and tied with Brown for last place. This is the first time in the school’s Ivy League history that is finished last and Allen is the first coach since 1914 to not win a league championship during his tenure.