City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2022-23 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 9. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season click here)

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2022-23 Penn Quakers Primer
Coach: Steve Donahue, 7th season (92-76, .548)
Last Year: 12-16 (9-5 Ivy); lost in Ivy League semifinals (Yale, 67-61)

Penn played a KenPom-rated Top 25 non-conference schedule a year ago, with contests against a trio of AP ranked opponents, and ultimately entered Ivy League play with a dismal record of 3-12. Things panned out a little more for the Quakers once they got into the conference slate, but struggled to find rotations consistency, as just two players appeared in all 28 contests and 12 unique players recorded starts. But with a very high proportion of returning talent, if the Quakers can stay healthy, there’s hope that they can build upon last year’s Ivy League Tournament bid. 

Key Departures: G Jelani Williams (6.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.0 apg), F Michael Wang (6.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.3 apg)

Of the 13 members of Penn’s 2021-22 squad that averaged at least one point per game, these two are the only ones to have left the Quakers, having both graduated. Williams started in all 25 contests in which he appeared, and was most notable as a distributor, finishing third on the team in assists. As for Wang, the 6-10 forward — who entered the program with promise as a three-star recruit per 247Sports’ composite rankings — injuries marred much of his Penn career. 

Wang’s college years got off to a red-hot start when he dropped 23 points in a memorable December 2018 win at Miami, but he ultimately played in just eight games as a senior, and 34 total over his four years in Philadelphia. Junior guard Bryce Washington, who averaged just 2.6 points in 12 appearances last season, transferred from Penn to Hofstra. 

New Faces: G Reese McMullen (So./Christian Brothers, Tenn.), G Cameron Thrower (Fr./Harvard-Westlake, Calif.), C Chris Ubochi (Fr./Williston Northampton, Mass.)

Penn’s 2022-23 roster features just two freshmen — Thrower and Ubochi — but McMullen works as a new face as well, having missed the entirety of his freshman season a year ago due to injury. A deep list of returners often means limited available minutes for newcomers. but coaches are pleased with what they’ve seen from Thrower — especially as it pertains to his size and shooting ability — and expect him to find minutes amidst a crowded and experienced backcourt. Ubochi is still a raw piece of the puzzle, but will have time to develop behind the likes of Lorca-Lloyd and other returning frontcourt players. 

Projected Starters: G Jordan Dingle (20.9 ppg), G Jonah Charles (6.7 ppg), F/G Max Martz (10.0 ppg), F Michael Moshkovitz (5.1 ppg), C Max Lorca-Lloyd (4.3 ppg)

Three of Penn’s starters feel pretty settled into their roles. First off, Dingle is locked in. That’s for certain. The 6-foot-3 junior led the Quakers in scoring by a mile a year ago, averaging 10 more points per game than the next most productive scorer on the roster. He shot solid clips of 44 percent from the field and 33 percent from distance, tacked on 3.6 rpg, averaged 2.8 assists, and looks to again be the driving force for Penn’s 2022-23 team.

Martz and Moshkovitz also feel pretty close to sure things in the wing-forward designation, having started in the majority of last year’s contests; each recorded 30 or more minutes in seven of Penn’s last eight contests. As for Lorca-Lloyd, the senior — who is listed as the only true center on the Quakers’ roster — . Between COVID and injuries, Lorca-Lloyd has yet to fully establish himself In four years at Penn, but after six starts to open the 2021-22 season before an injury derailed the rest of his junior campaign, Lorca-Lloyd looks to return to the starting center position as a senior.

The toughest call comes at the second guard spot; outside of Dingle and Jelani Williams, starts were sprinkled across an array of guards last season. That said, having logged 14 starts last season and consistent minutes throughout, Charles — a 6-foot-4 senior who had Penn’s highest three-point percentage amongst shooters with at least 20 attempts at 39 percent — will get our nod as a senior. 

Key Reserves: G Clark Sajchert (10.7 ppg), G Lucas Monroe (4.8 ppg), G George Smith (5.3 ppg), F/C Nick Spinoso (3.5 ppg), F/C Gus Larson (0.4 ppg)

Sajchert makes things quite interesting in terms of the starting guard discussion; the 6-foot-1 junior started just twice last season, but finished second on the team in scoring, fourth in assists and fourth in minutes despite almost exclusively coming off the bench. At minimum, he’s likely to fill the same quasi-starter sixth-man role; he certainly thrived in that role a year ago, so an if-it-ain’t-broke mentality would make sense as it pertains to Sajchert in the rotation. But after scoring double-digit points in five of Penn’s last six games, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him in the starting five. Monroe, now a senior, and Smith, now a sophomore, combined for 20 starts a year ago and each averaged more than 15 minutes. Monroe was a standout rebounder, finishing third on the team with an average 4.5 boards.

Outside of its projected starters, Penn has several returning frontcourt players on its roster, but will need one or two to step into a larger role this year; outside of Moshkovitz and Martz, no returning forward or center averaged more than 11 minutes last season. The 6-foot-9 Spinoso, though, — having appeared in 22 contests, averaged 3.5 points and 2.4 boards, and connecting on seven of his 12 three-point attempts — looks to be settling into a larger role. According to Steve Donahue, he expects Spinoso to “split minutes” with Lorca-Lloyd at the center position this season. Larson, who appeared in just seven games last season, also should find some time as a backup power forward; Penn coaches noted considerable offseason progress from the 6-10 sophomore. 

By the Numbers
(33.5): Penn didn’t necessarily shoot the ball poorly from distance, but on a national scale, the Quakers certainly didn’t shoot the ball well; their 33.5 percent clip was just outside the Top 200 in Division I. Penn wasn’t the only Ivy League program to fall below average on three-point shooting, but when talking about an always-growingly-important stat in which league champion Princeton ranked fifth nationally a year ago, that’s one Penn may want to improve upon. It’s also worth noting that Penn ranked 93rd in three-point attempts a year ago, so an increased success rate on high volume has the chance to pay major dividends. .

(17.2): We covered this a little bit earlier, but 17.2 is the total percentage of scoring the Quakers will lose from last season. It’s, obviously, a pretty small number. And that’s a very good thing, as roster continuity and experience are invaluable college basketball resources. Progression isn’t always linear, but the other 82.8 percent, coupled with a healthy Max Lorca-Lloyd, is certainly reason for optimism.  

(57): There are a few factors that led to the above stat being the case, and one of the main ones serves as a third number to keep in mind: 57. That’s 57 percent, the proportion of scoring that was concentrated between just three players — Jordan Dingle (who accounted for nearly 30 percent himself), Clark Sajchert and Max Martz. That’s not a huge number, but there’s a noticeable scoring dropoff after those three players looking at last year’s stats; only the three aforementioned players averaged double digit scoring, while the rest of Penn’s returning players all averaged 6.7 points or fewer. It’s nice to have most of the scoring return, but balancing it out a bit more may be a key to finding further success with generally the same overall rotation. 

Keep an eye on…
November: Steve Donahue’s teams have certainly become synonymous with a no-fear approach to early-season high-major road games, having been to Arkansas, Miami, Alabama and Washington during his tenure. Those trips don’t often produce wins but they’re strength of schedule boosters at the very least; even without a high-major conference slate, Penn’s overall KenPom SOS still ranked 125th, a noticeable distance ahead of the rest of the Ivy League pack. Penn faces a pair of Power 5 programs on the road within the first two weeks of its season, visiting Missouri November 11 and West Virginia November 18. Throw in a challenging season opener at Iona, and the Quakers’ slate opens with five of its first six contests on the road. 

Defense: Looking at KenPom’s efficiency metrics, it’s not hard to figure out where Penn may have gone wrong a year ago. The Quakers ranked 295th in adjusted defense, as compared to 111th in adjusted offense. The offense was where it needed to be; it wasn’t on par with league champion Princeton, but it was leaps and bounds ahead of the next closest Ivy League school, 166th-ranked Cornell. Defensively, only Columbia — which had a disastrous 4-22 season — ranked worse than Penn among Ivy schools. Most of the scoring is back, of course, so if Penn’s going to take a step forward this year, it’s going to be on the defensive end.