City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The Palestra woke up for its first hoops contests of 2023-24, the Penn men and women taking to the Cathedral’s court for the annual Red & Blue scrimmages. 

Here’s some notes and stats from the pair of intra-squad scrimmages, starting with the women’s game:

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Gayle impresses in Penn debut

No doubt the biggest eye-opener for the women was Fulshear (Tex.) product Mataya Gayle. The 5-foot-7 freshman point guard and 2023 Georgia 6A Player of the Year impressed as a ball-handler and on-ball defender, knocked down a rhythm 3, and had a tough baseline drive which resulted in a smooth up-and-under, getting her started on a day where she finished with 17 points and five assists, shooting 6-of-8 from the floor (3-3 3PT) in 33 minutes of action. 

Gayle played on a team with fellow projected starters Jordan Obi, Stina Almqvist and Simone Sawyer, and it’s no surprise that Red squad won the women’s game 68-35. Almqvist led the way with 19 points (8-13 FG, 2-4 3PT), and Obi/Sawyer added 10 each as the Red team shot 28-of-47 (59.6%) overall and 7-of-14 (50%) from 3-point range; junior Lizzy Groetsch (8 points) and sophomore Ella Ray (4 points) rounded out the victors in a game that was played in three 10-minute segments. 

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Toonders in a boot (+ more injury news)

The Quaker women have 17 on the roster, but only 13 suited up on Saturday. The biggest absence was senior forward Floor Toonders, who came out in a boot but spent most of the game stretching and riding a bike on the sidelines, bootless. 

A 6-4 forward from the Netherlands, Toonders spent her first two seasons at Florida before coming up to Penn. In her first season as a Quaker, she started 28 of 29 games, averaging 6.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.2 apg and 1.1 bpg as an imposing presence in the middle. It’s unclear exactly how much time she’ll miss; Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said he expects her back at some point this season, but it seems likely she won’t be ready for tip-off against 

Also out for Penn are senior guard Michaela Stanfield, recovering from an ACL tear suffered last season, as well as freshmen forwards Tina Njike and Tobi Ademuwagun, who are both out for this season due to ACL injuries suffered earlier this year. 

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Men’s group shows balance; Perkins flashes potential

While the women’s team seemed to be split more by starters and reserves, the men’s squad — 15 deep, all healthy and participating — seemed to be an even divide, though the team’s top two returning players (senior guard Clark Slajchert and junior forward Nick Spinoso) were on the Blue squad. Despite that, it was the Red team which rolled to a 78-58 win, with quite a few newcomers and deeper members of the rotation impressing. 

Certainly the player with the most buzz coming in was freshman Tyler Perkins, who the staff has been high on all offseason; the 6-4 guard from Virginia finished with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting (1-3 3PT), with two assists and a rebound in 27 minutes. It wasn’t a mind-boggling debut for the freshman, but there’s certainly a lot to like about the left-hander’s size, athleticism, and versatility, and several Quakers raved about his work ethic and fit on the team during preseason interviews. He’ll almost certainly start and will be a major piece from the get-go.

The Red team had four players in double figures, led by junior Ed Holland III (15 points, four rebounds); freshman Augustus Gerhart (12 points, nine rebounds), sophomore Cam Thrower (11 points, five assists) and junior George Smith (nine points) all contributed to a group that shot 63.8% (30-of-47) overall, had 15 assists to six turnovers, and was 11-of-22 (50%) from downtown. 

Perhaps the best sign for Quaker fans was the development of Holland, as the Friends’ Central product looks primed to take a major step up in production, perhaps even starting as a small-ball ‘4’ if not playing a major role off the bench. He was 6-of-8 from the floor and hit both of his 3-pointers, while also grabbing four rebounds without a turnover in 28 minutes of action.

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Local freshman update

The Quaker men have two new area products on the roster: freshmen Sam Brown (Lower Merion) and forward Augustus Gerhart (Hill School). Both look like they’re going to be integral parts of the Penn rotation from the get-go, likely as two of Steve Donahue’s top reserves. Brown, a 6-3 left-handed guard, contributed seven points on 3-of-7 shooting, but he also had the best plus-minus (-13) of any of the Blue team’s starters by five points. Gerhart came one rebound shy of a double-double in his 34 minutes of action, making a few great rolls to the bucket for layups and generally playing hard, not getting lost in the flow of Penn’s offensive action.