The All-Decade Team

With 2010 fast approaching, everyone seems to be compiling “all-decade” lists. Some are depressing, some are ironic in their timing, and some are just fun to remember. For Penn basketball fans, I think it’s fair to say that the last decade has been a very good one – even if it may not seem that way based on the last couple of years. In the 2000s, the Quakers won six Ivy League championships, set a few program records and had one miraculous comeback against its hated rival (more on that later).

On a personal note, my own Penn basketball odyssey began around the turn of the millennium. As a scrawny, wide-eyed freshman, I went to the Palestra for “The Line” in 1999 and immediately got hooked. I still vividly remember watching star seniors Michael Jordan and Matt Langel talk trash to each other during a 3-point shooting contest while fans playfully ribbed them with their famous “Airball” chant – which, by the way, makes everyone laugh the first time they hear it.

Since then, I’ve followed the Quakers closely as both a reporter and a fan. So it’s with a keen eye, and a lot of great memories, that I present Penn’s “Team of the Decade.” This is not necessarily a list of the five best Penn players, but a group that I think makes the most cohesive unit. And one quick disclaimer: Jordan and Langel are not eligible in my opinion, since they only played a few months in the 2000s. Either way, here’s an all-star team that is guaranteed to make Princeton fans quake:

G—Andrew Toole, 2001-03: The transfer from Elon only played two years for the Quakers, but as teammate Andrew Coates once said, he was the “glue that made everything fit.” It was the insertion of Toole into the starting lineup that coincided with the transformation from Penn into a team that started 0-8 in 2000-01 to a team that won back-to-back Ivy championships, as well as a Big 5 title in 2001-02. In addition to being a tremendous floor leader, Toole was a sweet shooter, hitting over 100 trifectas in two seasons and shooting a whopping 87.3 percent from the free throw line as a junior.

G —Ibrahim Jaaber, 2003-2007: Maybe the best all-around player of the decade, Jaaber played defense like nobody else. With the uncanny ability to get his long arms in the passing lane or pick the pocket of opposing guards, the skinny guard finished his career with a program-record 303 steals, nearly twice as many as the next Quaker on the list, Penn’s current head coach Jerome Allen. Jaaber also developed a fantastic offensive game, amassing over 1,500 career points and tying the single-season records for assists (162) his senior season. I can still hear the “IB-BY JAA-BER” chants reverberating through the Palestra.

G—Tim Begley, 2001-2005: The self-deprecating jokester used to say he was slow, he couldn’t jump and that his biggest strength was the chest pass. But the Quakers’ big recruit out of New Jersey also had serious game. As both a young starter on Penn’s championship teams in 2002 and 2003 and the undisputed senior leader on the 2004-05 team that won a surprise Ivy title, Begley proved to be a terrific offensive player, scoring 1,165 points over his four-year career. And despite his unorthodox “scissor-kick” shot, he made more 3-pointers (253) than any other player in Penn history.

F—Mark Zoller, 2003-2007: With the help of Jaaber and Steve Danley, Zoller led Penn to its only three-year Ivy title run of the decade. The versatile forward out of St. Joe’s Prep also stamped his name in the record books with 141 career steals (fourth all-time) and 1,429 career points (10^th all-time). As a senior in 2006-07, he led the Ivy League in scoring (18.2 points per game) and was second in the conference in rebounding (7.5 rpg). He scored 16 points in the second half of Penn’s loss to Texas A&M in the 2007 NCAA tourney – his final college game.

F—Ugonna Onyekwe, 1999-2003: One of the best players in Penn history, Onyekwe was truly a transformational figure for the Quakers. Though he was often a whipping boy for then coach Fran Dunphy, the Nigeria native probably could have played – and started – for any team in the country. He scored 1,732 career points (second on the all-time list only to Ernie Beck) and played in three NCAA tournaments, pouring in 30 points in his college finale against Oklahoma State in 2003. His expression was usually blank, but Penn fans delighted in his athleticism, holding their arms in the shape of a “U” and bellowing the first letter of his name every time he made a good play – which happened often.

Sixth man—Jeff Schiffner (2000-2004) gets a slight nod over Koko Archibong (1999-2003) in my mind, because he was one of the best shooters ever to come to Penn. For his career, he shot 42 percent from long distance, tying him with Begley for third all-time. Both Schiffner and Archibong were 1,000-point scorers.

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Coming Tomorrow: A look at the top moments of the decade, with a little bit of assistance from Toole.