City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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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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It wouldn’t be surprising to hear Jordan Dingle was tired at the end of last season.

He shouldered a lot for the Penn men’s basketball team.

“He was probably asked to do too much,” Penn men’s basketball coach Steve Donahue said. “His usage rate was probably number one in the country.”

Very few teams relied on someone as much on the offensive end as the Quakers relied on Dingle last season. He took 36.1 percent of his team’s shots, which ranked sixth in the country, and was used on 33.7 percent of his team’s possessions, which ranked 16th, according to KenPom.

The result was a unanimous first team All-Ivy League season as Dingle averaged 20.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg and 2.4 apg, while shooting .445 percent from the floor. But it also took away from some of the other things Dingle brings to the table as a player.

“He needs to be more of a point guard, more of a two-to-one assist to turnover, a 40 percent catch and shoot three and then the ability to guard multiple guys,” Donahue said. “I think at times we were asking him to do so much on offense it hurt his defense as well. Now, can he focus on being a better defender on-and-off the ball, be a playmaker and be a catch and shoot guy, take the easier threes and then when we need to go get a bucket, which he can do.”

Dingle averaged 2.3 assists and posted a 0.84 assist to turnover ratio in his first two seasons at Penn — both highlight areas where there is room for improvement for the Quakers’ primary ball handler. 

However, while Dingle, the son of former UMass player Dana Dingle and the nephew of former Temple player Dan Dingle, certainly has the talent for scoring his basketball upbringing points to an appreciation for making winning basketball plays in whatever shape or form they come.

During his two seasons at Blair Academy, where he won a pair of MAPL titles, Dingle said his role was often as a playmaker. His expectations for himself this season are much the same.

“What the team has needed of me my first couple years here has been mostly to score the ball and in some cases to be more of a playmaker,” Dingle said. “Now, I get the chance to show that I have the playmaking ability, which I did a lot of in high school. I still do a lot of it in practice, but it’s just going to be in games this year.”

Don’t expect a lot of the big offensive outings to stop altogether though. The Quakers will still need him to get buckets. 

The goal is for those points to come in a more efficient manner as he creates better shots for himself and his teammates on offense this season.

“I don’t play for the statistics, but I also am of the mindset that there’s no reason I have to take a step back in any area,” Dingle said. “If I make more free throws and become a more efficient player I can score just as many points and get more assists. Time will tell.”

An improved supporting cast will help Dingle take that next step as a player. Penn didn’t have many other players who could or would take the shots that Dingle did, forcing him to try and carry the team at times.

After leaning on a young core last season, the Quakers return junior guard Clark Slajchert (10.7 ppg), junior forward/guard Max Martz (10.7 ppg) and seven of their top nine scorers in total — all a bit more experienced after last season.

“We’ve got a really talented team. Last year, guys were just young and inexperienced,” Dingle said. “This year coming back, they’re going to have that confidence, that experience and confidence in themselves and their games. Now it’s going to be my job to get them the ball in spots where they can score.”

His teammates understand their responsibility as well.

“I do believe that he’s one of the biggest parts of the team, probably the biggest and he’s very important,” Penn senior forward Michael Moshkovitz said. “But I do think for us to get better, we need to take some of the load off him.”

Dingle holds himself to a high standard, so he’s not shying away from the things his coaches are challenging him to do this season. 

Honors like Ivy League Rookie of the Year and last season’s first team all-league selection are welcomed, but he wants more out of himself and his team this season after a 12-16 (9-5) season that finished with a loss in the Ivy semifinals.

“I’m really focused on helping this team win,” Dingle said. “Any individual accolades that come along with that, I welcome but that’s not my goal.”