City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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UNIVERSITY CITY — The transition was quick.

Tyler Perkins proved he was more than just a promising freshman with a 24-point outing against Bucknell two games into his career.

Two games later, as he waded through the sea of red blue on the court at the Palestra, taking selfies with those who stopped him along the way, it was clear he is a burgeoning star.

Perkins scored in 22 points in his team’s 76-72 upset win over No. 21 Villanova on Monday night. The moment was never too big for the 6-foot-4 guard from Landon School (Va.). TIme after time he came up with a big play that helped the Quakers to their second Top 25 win since 1998.

“It was kind of surreal,” Perkins said of the postgame celebration. “That’s what you work for. You dream about those things. It was amazing. Big shout out to the fans for coming and supporting us, and we’re glad we can get it done.”

As Penn went through its scout for Monday night’s matchup against Villanova, Perkins was confident. The freshman told senior guard Clark Slajchert he felt good about the Quakers’ chances.

From the start, he was unfazed by the opponent in front of him, going right at a talented Wildcats’ backcourt led by graduate guard Justin Moore. Perkins drilled a three plus the foul just under four minutes in.

It was a tone-setter that gave Penn a lead it would rarely relinquish. He had 13 points before half as the Quakers led 32-30 at the break. 

“When we started I felt confident with our guys and I felt like we matched up well with them,” Perkins said. “Coach had a great plan. When we started off good, I knew. When we weren’t scared, I knew it was gonna be a good game.”

A three by Perkins with 8:26 to play pushed Penn’s lead to nine as the Quakers’ crowd started to believe. Another with 4:02 left made it 68-57 and all of the sudden the upset bid felt real. 

Perkins, who Penn coach Steve Donahue calls the best rebounding guard he’s coached, pulled down two clutch boards in the closing minutes, including one with 17 seconds left before he knocked down a pair of free throws. He fittingly had the ball in his hands to toss in celebration before the Quakers' students tossed their streamers and stormed the court.

“He’s going to be a really good player in his league,” Moore said. “Gets to his spots and he could finish at the rim and make plays, so he’s pretty talented.”

Perkins, who played AAU for Team Takeover, was the Interstate Athletic Conference Player of the Year as a senior at Landon. He was a player who blossomed late in his career, scoring more than 1,000 points in just 50 games.

When Jordan Dingle transferred this offseason, a path to Penn's starting lineup began to materialize. Donahue knew he had a special competitor coming to campus when Perkins committed last fall. Perkins delivered and more upon his arrival this summer.

“The honest answer is you never know,” Donahue said. “But with this kid, even when I recruited him I was like he’s not a great athlete. He's a good athlete. He’s not great shooter. He’s a good shooter. He’s an incredible defender and rebounder and most importantly, he competes in every aspect of the game, almost to a fault. It was pretty apparent early on in the fall to everyone in our practice and workouts he just competes at an elite level that he’s gonna be able to make this transition.”

Everyone else found out pretty quickly too that Perkins can play. He had 15 points in his Penn debut against John Jay. He followed with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting in a win over Bucknell in the second game of his career last week.

Then came some adversity in a loss to St. Joe’s last Friday. He went 3-for-11 for eight points and four turnovers. He didn’t let it linger. 

The performance on Monday’s stage was something special.

“I’m not surprised that Tyler learned from that really fast,” Slajchert said. “Tyler works harder than anyone I’ve ever seen. I actually don’t think it’s healthy how much he works out every single day.”

Perkins is up at 6 a.m. daily for his two-hour workouts. He’s in the weight room right after — part of the reason he already looks the part physically of a star Division I guard.

“Just growing up, with my parents, my sister, they told me if you want it, you’ve got to go get it,” Perkins said. “No one’s going to give it to you. Just the people in my circle, my coaches and stuff, they keep telling me to work at it, work hard every day.”

Perkins is averaging a team-high 17.3 ppg and 7.8 rpg as his team is out to a 3-1 start. Slajchert will carry the team on some night’s too. Junior forward Nick Spinoso can uniquely take over a game as well.

It won’t all be on Perkins’ shoulders just yet, but when the Quakers do need him to be a star he’s proved he’s up for the challenge and ready for the moment.

“He’s already had some ups and downs and he’s still going to have that,” Donahue said. “He’s nowhere near where he’s going to be when he’s a finished product, but in the meantime. He just competes. That’s what we want.”