Penn exits NCAA tournament at peace, with eye to the future

Penn acknowledges its fans following its first-round NCAA tournament game against Illinois in Greenville, S.C., Thursday.  (Photo:  Penn Basketball)

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GREENVILLE, S.C. – Coming back to Penn was a dream come true for Fran McCaffery. The Philadelphia native finished his collegiate playing career as a Quaker after growing up with visions of playing in The Palestra.

Facing a third-seeded Illinois who shot 70 percent through three second-half segments without star Ethan Roberts was quite the opposite.

The Quakers’ magical Ivy League championship season came to an abrupt halt late into the South Carolina night Thursday. What could have been a horror film quickly turned into a love story.

The love started from Penn players Cam Thrower and Michael Zanoni, who expressed that they, too, shared their coach’s dream.

“Since (I was) a kid, I’ve always dreamed of this,” Zanoni said of his NCAA experience. “To go out there and do it was really fun, especially with Penn across my chest – that’s a dream come true. It’s a dream school for me. Just to play with my brothers out there and hit some shots was a really cool feeling. I know my younger self is super happy.”

Zanoni has another year of eligibility remaining. Thrower, however, played his final collegiate game on the biggest possible stage.

“It’s definitely been a dream come true,” Thrower said. “Like Mike said, a lot of kids dream of this opportunity. For me, it was an opportunity to step up. I just wanted to be aggressive, leave no regrets, and seize the moment.”

Star forward TJ Power should have played as big a role as Thrower and Zanoni. Instead, Power battled sickness all week, and though he played a significant amount Thursday, his struggles were apparent.

“TJ wasn’t himself,” McCaffery said. “He was sick for two days. We thought he was going to get better. We put four or five IVs in him to try to get him through it. He played 30 minutes for me. When I took him out the last time, I was not going to put him back in the game. It would not have been fair to him.”

“You could tell – in particular on the glass, because he’s an elite rebounder – that he didn’t quite have the energy or the explosion that he normally does, but there was no question that he was going to show up and fight for us. I’m so proud of him.”

The pride in McCaffery shone through. He was softer and more reflective. He seemed at peace with the result. Then, he responded to a question and confirmed the perception.

“I didn’t break down the game at all with them. I just told them how proud I was of them,” McCaffery said. “I’m a new coach here. I just said, ‘Hey, I came in and I asked you to follow the path that I’m gonna try to show you.’ To a man, they did that every day. We practiced in the morning, and they showed up early. They just worked extremely hard and had an incredibly positive attitude every day.”

“I know coaches say that a lot, but when you have 18 guys, some of them aren’t playing. It’s not always easy to be that hard-working, that committed to your brother, that committed to winning. Every one of them was. It gives me great pride, because I wore that jersey. I told them that.”

McCaffery praised his team and its commitment to one another.

“What they accomplished this year together – to watch them celebrate last Sunday, there’s no better feeling as a coach,” McCaffery said. “I have not had more fun coaching a team than I did this year.”

McCaffery’s focus then shifted from Thursday’s game to a much larger game.

“My teammates were at practice today. My teammates were at my press conference. This is about relationships,” McCaffery said. “All three of my roommates were at the game on Sunday. That’s what it’s all about.”

“Those relationships endure. I think some of those things get lost these days in a transactional world of college basketball. It’s not like that at Penn. It’s not like that in the Ivy League. This summer, I’ll go to two weddings of my former players. There’ll be 20 people there that were his teammates or their roommates. That’s why I’m so proud of Cam. I want them to know how special these years are.”

The years are special for McCaffery, too. His dream – just like those of Thrower and Zanoni, and every other player in a Penn jersey Thursday night – came true. Now, he can reap the joy that sees its first seeds sown in the mind and heart of a son of Philadelphia.

“Unless you grew up in Philadelphia and spent every Saturday night at The Palestra pretty much all your childhood years, you probably wouldn’t completely understand it,” McCaffery said. “(I was) dreaming of one day wearing the jersey of a Big 5 team. I knew the power of the academic profile at the University of Pennsylvania, and that became my number-one choice.”

“My alma mater said, ‘Okay, this is our guy.’ I know how important the basketball program is to the university. Yeah, we’re part of something bigger – the university and the athletic department. Penn basketball and the tradition is something that a lot of people take great pride in, and they put me in charge. I couldn’t be more thankful. It’s truly a blessing to be at my alma mater, to be home, and then to have a group like I have and the support from our administration that I have. You can’t do it alone.”

The Quakers won’t have to do it alone next season. A large part of Penn’s core – save for Roberts, Thrower, and Johnnie Walter – returns next season. They will bring with them a tremendous experience – results be damned – and will play for a coach who seems to have proven that you can go home again.

“I feel so blessed to have been doing this for as long as I have. I’m going to keep doing it because I love these guys,” McCaffery said. “I’m incredibly fortunate and incredibly proud. I can’t wait to get back to work.”