City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The 2022-23 season was a mix of positive and negative for Penn men’s basketball. An eight-game Ivy League winning streak from Jan. 23 to Feb. 25 got the Quakers the No. 3 seed in the Ancient Eight, and a non-league win over Temple was a nice note on the resume, but two consecutive losses at Princeton — to end the regular season and in the Ivy League semifinals — ended the year on a sour note, the final record 17-13 (9-5 Ivy).

Steve Donahue does have a few pieces to replace for next year, notably senior wing Lucas Monroe and senior center Max Lorca-Lloyd — both of whom are unable to use their final years of eligibility at Penn due to Ivy League graduate student eligibility bylaws rendering them unable to play another year in University City. 

On the flip side, their top three scorers — Jordan Dingle (23.4 ppg), Clark Slajchert (13.6 ppg) and Max Martz (10.8 ppg) — are all back for one more year, and fourth-leading scorer Nick Spinoso (8.8 ppg), a sophomore center, has two years remaining. Their fifth leading scorer, George Smith (5.6 ppg)? He’ll be back too. So there’s good reason for optimism at Penn, though nothing’s a given in a small-but-tough Ivy League.

We talked to Donahue in late March as part of our series of City 6 Q+As; here’s a transcript of our conversation, edited for readability and length:

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City 6 Q+A Series (Links will appear as stories are published)
MBB: Drexel | La Salle | Penn | St. Joe’s | Temple | Villanova
WBB: Drexel | La Salle | Penn | St. Joe’s | Temple | Villanova

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City of Basketball Love: The 2022-23 season, seemed like you guys took a step forward, analytics-wise, wins-wise, didn’t end the way you wanted it, but what’s the general attitude of the program coming off the year you just had?

Steve Donahue: I think we did well, our league now is up to the 12th-best conference in the country, and we were, on the last day of the season, playing for a league championship. Unfortunately that was the only team we lost to and the only court we lost on since Jan. 21. So I feel good where we’re at, [we] want to climb the mountain next year and do a little better.

CoBL: That Princeton team you lost to made a bit of noise there in the NCAA Tournament, making the Sweet 16. What was it like for you to watch that happen?

SD: I think having been in this league since 1990 and having teams make runs myself, but also [having seen] other teams that have really good teams, I’m very impressed, I respect greatly what they did, and I think our league prepared them for that as well. But I have great respect for them, getting to the Sweet 16 and doing our league proud for sure. 

CoBL: Does it do anything for the rest of the league when it happens? It seems like there’s already a pretty 

SD: I think we need to continue to validate how good this league is, and the way to do that is in the tournament. That’s the facts, people look at that. I think the big thing in 2010 when Cornell did it and then Harvard makes their run, they win a couple games, Yale makes their run, they win a couple games, I think it does really help our league and as I said, there’s 32 conferences, in KenPom we’re 12th, A-10’s 13th just to give you an idea of how good a league it is, I think it does matter, and I think that’s one of the reasons I’m really thrilled for Princeton and the Ivies that we can show the country that.

CoBL: Most programs right now, it’s the transfer portal and everybody’s coming and going, making decisions. Not that Ivy League schools are immune to it, but when you talk to other coaches where it’s more common, do you feel a little bit of the eye of the storm here?

SD: One, really thrilled to be coaching in the Ivies, I just think we have way less issues around coaching that my peers in the business have. And I do think that’s part of the reason that we can make another big jump, not just at Penn but you saw what Princeton did, in that we can be even more competitive nationally, because we don’t deal with transfers, we didn’t have an undergraduate transfer in our league the last two years. So we’re not dealing with all of the issues and the turnover that other programs in this country are. So I can dig in and I know what my team is coming back and we can get to work and get better and grow as a group. So yeah, I think all those are positives for us and the rest of the teams in our league. 

CoBL: You have brought in the occasional JUCO transfer: Caleb Wood, Michael Moshkovitz, those kinds of guys. How much are you paying attention to the portal, kids coming out of high-academic schools?

SD: We go through the portal pretty extensively, go through every single one that we think could be a help for us. The first thing is the basketball side, and then we look at the academics, and then obviously the financial aid piece. So we will not stop doing that, and we can add a person that can make us better, then we’ll do that, if it makes sense. We did it with Moshkovitz, I thought Caleb Wood was a big piece to our championship team, we’re doing that every day as well, just making sure if we can find a piece that can help us better ourselves, then certainly we’ll do it.

CoBL: In terms of this offseason, would your anticipation be that you’ll bring in somebody that way? Does it seem like that’s not going to happen this offseason?

SD: You know how that goes, right now we haven’t found one, but names keep populating the portal, and we’ll keep looking. So I can’t say, I feel really good about the pieces coming back and the guys coming in — I don’t think it’s a necessity. It would have to be the right fit, so it makes us better, and a right fit in all the other ways as well. 

CoBL: Assuming the right fit, is there a particular position at which you think that right fit would be best utilized?

SD: I think the frontcourt, size that fits us would be a good addition. Having lost Max Lorca-Lloyd and his rim protection and Lucas Monroe and his defensive rebounding, I think that’s probably most likely where we would find someone that can help us.

CoBL: You did lose a couple guys due to the COVID year and extra year of eligibility, but Jordan Dingle and Max Martz took that year away from school, allowing them to come back. When you think about where the program is right now, how critical was that decision three years later?

SD: I think that’s a good point, we finally took advantage of all these other schools had done with grad transfers, this was our way to bring two guys that basically started every game of their career and get four full years and combine that with some really good young players who are experienced, and the additional freshman class that we like. So for sure, it’s a big piece.

CoBL: Jordan Dingle’s accomplished so much already in his career from a scoring perspective; at 23 ppg I can’t imagine there’s much more to ask of him from that standpoint. So where do you need him to be better? What’s your message to him going into his senior year?

SD: I think it’s two things. One, for him personally, he has to continue to grow to be a complete guard. He obviously can score like no one else, literally in the country. So now for him to further, when he leaves here, be as good a defender as he can be, affect the game on the rebounding part of it, and lastly be a complete guard on the offensive end, making others better, finding guys that are open, make his teammates get easier baskets. So it may not be averaging more, it may be us winning more and him allowing other guys to be very successful by making them better, by finding them easier shots.

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(April 11 update)

CoBL: Since we talked, Jordan Dingle declared for the NBA Draft on April 5, while retaining his last year of eligibility, and he didn’t go in the transfer portal. Any update on that?

SD: Jordan’s going through this process, he’s going to have NBA teams work him out, give him great feedback,and if he gets great feedback, [maybe] someone feels he’s ready to come out now. Otherwise, he gets some feedback that helps him when he comes back and makes us better.

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CoBL: I don’t want to touch on every player on the roster, but there’s a couple other guys I wanted to get to. Nick Spinoso’s been splitting minutes with Max Lorca-Lloyd the last couple years; with Max graduating, Nick’s going to see even more minutes at the ‘5’ spot. What were your thoughts on the step he took as a sophomore?

SD: He’s a big piece of, if we’re going to take another step, Nick has to take another step. Didn’t play much as a freshman, was hurt on and off. Had a terrific year, had some really great games and he had some really inconsistent performances. Our message to him is like, if he can grow into someone that we can really trust will give us consistent effort every game, then we’re going to have a chance to be really good. The ‘5’ spot is always big for us, having size with someone that skilled, with what we’ll have around him, is a big part of if we’re going to take another big step. So, I would agree with you, and making a big step will have a lot to do with how good we can be.

CoBL: When you look at next year’s roster, obviously Dingle, Spinoso, Slachjert and Martz are big pieces, and George Smith has played significant minutes the last two years too. Then you have this group of guys: Andrew Lachkowski, Reese McMullin, Cam Thrower, Gus Larsen, that have seen some minutes but haven’t had the spotlight on them too much just yet. What’s your message to that group this offseason?

(Ed. Note: Gus Larson entered the transfer portal on April 11, 2023)

SD: There’s guys you mentioned that I think could honestly pass some of the previous guys you mentioned. And I mean that because I do think some of them have shown signs. They just weren’t ready this year. Cam Thrower, Gus Larsen in particular, even Christian Ubochi at the ‘5’ spot backing up [Spinoso] could, and should, be a bigger part of our team, and could help us once again take a bigger step.

CoBL: Is that a weight room thing? 

SD: Some of it is, some of it is, weight room. Some of it is inexperience, injuries. They all have little things they have to get better at, but they’ve shown signs of, they’ve got a chance. This is their chance to show. Even Eddie Holland, put him in that group as well. There’s times that Eddie is one of our best scorers in the program. How can he be consistent so we can add him? There’s not a weak piece on this roster. And it’s going to be really exciting to see who competes for minutes and who takes that next step to help us be a better team.

CoBL: Who’s your incoming freshman class this year?

SD: Sam Brown, Tyler Perkins, Augie Gerhart and Nik Polonowski. 

CoBL: I know the two local guys (Brown from Lower Merion and Gerhart from the Hill School) — where are the other two from?

SD: Tyler Perkins is from D.C., first-team all-Metro for the Landon School. Six-four guard, and I think the thing that Tyler does, he does everything really well. He can really score it, he’s got some physicality, rebounds at a high level, defends. He’s a guard, makes plays, can handle the ball like a point guard. Guards ‘1’ through ‘4,’ just does everything really well. I wouldn’t say anything right now that’s ‘oh my God, he’s going to be an incredible 3-point shooter’ or an incredible scorer, but he does everything well, and in the past, for me, those are the kids that translate and make the transition to Division I really well.

Ed. Note: Polonowski is from Illinois, the son of former Michigan wing Steve Polonowski; he has Danish national team experience thanks to his mother’s heritage, and played at Lyons (Ill.) high school.

CoBL: It’ll be months before you even get those kids on campus, but based on roster makeup and watching them in their senior years, any sense of which of those four might be most ready to help you out this fall?

SD: I think Tyler and Sam area. I think losing Lucas and what he did, someone’s going to have to handle the ball, another guard, and I think Sam and Tyler both are really mature competitors and will transition well to college. Augie will play, I think, as well; we need minutes up front, he’s someone that if he continues to progress, he will make an impact and Nik Polonowski, we haven’t seen him much but it doesn’t mean he’s not [capable], but he’s 6-6, an athletic wing, his teams have always won, he can shoot the ball. He’s another one that I’m very happy coming in and we’ll have good players here, so it’s a little harder for these guys to make an immediate impact, but I’m very confident that all four will be if not in the rotation right away, by the end of the year, making an impact on the court.

CoBL: I know you don’t get a ton of time with the guys in the summer, but big-picture team things, with the time you do get in the offseason, what are the focal points?

SD: We’re basically a top-75 offensive team and just barely a top-200 defensive team [Ed. Note: they finished the season 80th and 216th, respectively]. We’ve got to get both of them; I think we can be a top-50 offensive team, I want to be a top-100 defensive team. When those things click, then you’re a really good team. Just better play from everybody on both sides of the ball, but in particular guarding the ball better, keeping people in front without giving up easy 3’s. We should be able to do both really well, there’s a stat on KenPom, lineup continuity. This year we were sixth in the country but we were still like 275th in experience [Ed. Note: sixth and 243rd]. Next year we’ll probably be ‘1’ in continuity and top 50 in experience, I expect that team to improve to those kinds of numbers offensively and defensively.