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  • Acaden Lewis looks like ‘the real deal’ in Villanova’s debut, an exhibition win against VCU

    Acaden Lewis looks like ‘the real deal’ in Villanova’s debut, an exhibition win against VCU

    Villanova began a new era of men’s basketball Sunday with a 70-51 exhibition victory against Virginia Commonwealth at the Finneran Pavilion. Acaden Lewis scored a team-high 15 points and added three assists in his first collegiate minutes.

    “That Lewis kid is the real deal,” VCU coach Phil Martelli Jr. said of the freshman guard. “He’s going to be a problem for a lot of people. I didn’t realize his ability at that young of an age, to be able to play the game that much with the ball in your hands, to make the right reads, and to make the right plays.”

    Lewis starred last season at Sidwell Friends School in the Washington area. “It has been seamless,” Lewis said about his transition to college. “Sometimes I’m playing with really good players. … So I’ve tried my best to just let other dudes rock out and get mine when they’re needed in the flow of the game.”

    New coach Kevin Willard’s starting lineup included two first-year players. Lewis ran the point and was joined by redshirt sophomore Bryce Lindsay, junior Tyler Perkins, redshirt freshman Matthew Hodge, and senior Duke Brennan.

    VCU’s Terrence Hill guards Villanova’s Bryce Lindsay during the second half Sunday at Finneran Pavilion.

    “I think one of the biggest things with young players is getting the casualness out of their game, understanding that every possession is really important, ” Willard said. “They can score the ball in different ways, but getting them to understand college basketball, like you just can’t come down and just be casual. It has to have purpose on every possession.”

    The Wildcats made 44.6% of their shots (25 for 56) and went 6 for 21 (28.6%) from beyond the arc. Villanova’s defense smothered the Rams, forcing 15 turnovers.

    Phil Martelli Jr. makes his VCU coaching debut in an exhibition against Villanova

    At forward, Hodge tied for the team high with seven rebounds along with 10 points in his Villanova debut. Sophomore guard Malachi Palmer and freshman Chris Jeffrey were the first off the bench.

    Fast-paced basketball

    Last season, Villanova averaged 64.8 possessions per 40 minutes, ranking 358th out of the 365 Division I teams. Willard noted over the summer that he wanted to play at a faster pace and the Wildcats finished Sunday with 69 possessions, which would have ranked in the top three games last season.

    He started three guards — Lewis, Lindsay, and Perkins — and the Wildcats had 18 points off turnovers along with 12 steals.

    Coach Kevin Willard directs Villanova in his first game with the team.

    “I think these guys are very unselfish,” Willard said. “ … They kind of understand at any one point, [Lewis] can get 30 [points]. Malachi can get 30. We have guys that can really score the basketball. I think they understand, as long as they play together, they’re all going to benefit.”

    Perkins finished with 14 points, Lindsay had 12, and Brennan 10.

    Injury report

    Grad student Devin Askew, a guard, remains out with a right knee sprain. He has been sidelined for two months, but Willard expects him back at practice after the season opener against Brigham Young on Nov. 3 in Las Vegas.

    “We kind of just have to piece together practice,” Willard said when discussing the injuries. “Once we get Dev back for practice, hopefully after BYU, I think that will help. [Lewis and Lindsay] don’t get any rest in practice. They take all the reps. … I’m more worried about long term when you hit in January and February, and all the sudden they’re a little gassed because they haven’t had rest in practice.”

    Two weeks ago, junior guard Zion Stanford suffered a left ankle sprain. Willard said he might not return until December. Senior forward Tafara Gapare (right foot) is set to practice next week.

    Up next

    Villanova will play an exhibition game at Virginia on Friday at 7 p.m. (radio: Villanova Sports Network).

  • Phil Martelli Jr. makes his VCU coaching debut in an exhibition against Villanova

    Phil Martelli Jr. makes his VCU coaching debut in an exhibition against Villanova

    The first thing Virginia Commonwealth coach Phil Martelli Jr. wanted to know when he walked into his postgame news conference Sunday was whether the Eagles won.

    “Shoot, our offense looked like [the Eagles] offense for the first how many weeks,” Martelli joked as he sat down to address the media.

    Martelli was raised in Drexel Hill, which means Philadelphia is in his blood. He grew up watching his father, coach Phil Martelli Sr., lead St. Joseph’s for 24 seasons. It allowed the younger Martelli to spend countless hours inside Big 5 venues as a child, player, recruiter, and now coach.

    Acaden Lewis looks like ‘the real deal’ in Villanova’s debut, an exhibition win against VCU

    With his father and family in the stands watching, Martelli led the Rams from the sideline for the first time in an exhibition game against Villanova. He is no stranger to the Finneran Pavilion, playing there in PIAA District 1 playoff games with St. Joseph’s Prep and later in college with St. Joe’s.

    “I mean, it’s huge to be able to come back here,” Martelli said. “Any time is fun. Honestly, I was hoping to be back here while an NLCS or World Series run [for the Phillies] was going on, but that wasn’t in the cards. Playing here, coaching here, recruiting here, just being here for whatever, it’s special. It’s special to walk into those places.”

    Villanova forward Matt Hodge (33) and VCU forward Jadrian Tracey (2) reach for the ball during an exhibition game on Sunday.

    Martelli coached Bryant to an NCAA Tournament berth last season. He thanked Villanova coach Kevin Willard, who is also in his first season with a new program, for his willingness to play and host VCU. The Wildcats prevailed, 70-51.

    “I really appreciate Kevin, his staff, and everyone here at Villanova for having us,” he said. “We make a lot of these calls to try and get games like this specifically for the regular season, but now with exhibitions, and there’s a lot of people that either don’t respond or come up with a reason not to play. They were very willing to play, and I’m very appreciative of that.”

    Maddy Siegrist doesn’t ‘remember what I said’ while meeting fellow Villanova alum Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican

    Before heading to shootaround on Saturday night, the Rams headed to Martelli’s parents’ house for dinner.

    “To be able to do that and share that with the players and share that with my family will always be the ultimate for me,” he said.

    With VCU in the Atlantic 10 Conference, the team will face two Big 5 programs: La Salle and St. Joe’s. The Rams will host Martelli’s alma mater and his father’s former program, the Hawks, in conference play on Jan. 19 (3 p.m., CBSSN).

    VCU will return to Philadelphia on Feb. 11 to face La Salle (6:30 p.m., ESPN+).

  • Despite a surprising slide, Penn State doesn’t intend to play scared under interim coach Terry Smith

    Despite a surprising slide, Penn State doesn’t intend to play scared under interim coach Terry Smith

    STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State didn’t play scared in its 25-24 loss to Iowa on Saturday.

    Interim head coach Terry Smith, who took over after James Franklin’s dismissal last Sunday, trusted his first-time starting quarterback in a hostile environment. He allowed Kaytron Allen to be a workhorse running back. He went for it on several fourth downs, including one at his team’s 40-yard line.

    Most importantly, he showed belief in a group searching for some confidence amid an emotional coaching change and a three-game slide.

    His team repaid that trust against the Hawkeyes (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten), enough to earn a chance to win late. But Ethan Grunkemeyer’s fourth-down heave fell incomplete, and so did the Nittany Lions’ comeback bid.

    Penn State quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer performed well in his first start in place of the injured Drew Allar.

    Smith asked his players to leave it all on the field. His message was well received.

    “I think our guys played hard. I think our guys left it out there,” Smith said. “They gave everything they had. There was no one who didn’t give great effort. We just have to execute.”

    Penn State (3-4, 0-4) fell under .500 for the first time since 2021, the same year it last lost four straight games.

    Penn State’s woes continue after suffering fourth straight defeat following a road loss to Iowa

    Emptying the clip

    Under Franklin, Penn State stuck to a script. It played the same players, no matter their production, and rarely gambled on fourth down or in end-of-half situations.

    Saturday showcased Smith’s differing approach, one that asked his team to “empty the clip.”

    Penn State converted two fourth downs on its first scoring drive and later attempted two more. Its offense aggressively pushed to score at the end of the first half rather than worrying about handing its opponent an extra possession, which Franklin did against UCLA earlier this season.

    “We knew coming into the game we wanted to be aggressive,” Smith said. “You’re on the road at night in a place like this. You have to come to win. You can’t try to just lose your way into victory.”

    Smith played several players who rarely, if ever, saw action through the first six games. Notably, Koby Howard and Jaxon Smolik, who both had not played since Sept. 13.

    Howard, a freshman wide receiver, caught a 14-yard pass in the opening quarter for his first collegiate reception. Smolik, Penn State’s speedy backup quarterback, ran several option plays, an added element to Andy Kotelnicki’s offense. He finished with four carries before exiting with an injury and returning with an air cast on his left arm.

    Smith also relied heavily on Allen, who entered Saturday tied in total carries with Nick Singleton despite averaging nearly 3 more yards per carry. Against Iowa, Allen rushed a career-high 28 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Singleton rushed six times for 15 yards, both season lows.

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    When Smith assumed the interim title, he said no one would question his team’s effort. That included Allen, who refused to quit amid Penn State’s four-game slide.

    “I’m all about playing football for my team,” Allen said. “I would never quit on my team, never quit on anybody. That’s just who I am. Whatever I start, I’ve got to finish.”

    Getting used to QB1

    Grunkemeyer’s inexperience showed in his first collegiate start.

    In a hostile environment, he seemed to rush his decisions. And against the nation’s No. 8 scoring defense, his two interceptions proved costly.

    The redshirt sophomore completed 15 of his 28 pass attempts for 93 yards. He pushed Penn State to midfield on its final drive but couldn’t march farther.

    “Not good enough,” Grunkemeyer said. “We lost the game, so [we’ve] got to get better and learn from it.”

    His biggest blunder came late in the first half when he tossed a third-down pass off Luke Reynolds’ face mask and into an awaiting Iowa defender’s grasp. The Hawkeyes followed with a touchdown to take the lead. Smith said Grunkemeyer forced his throw to Reynolds but praised his overall performance.

    “I thought [Grunkemeyer’s] game was solid,” Smith said. “I thought he managed the line of scrimmage, the calls at the line of scrimmage, and handled the crowd.”

    It wasn’t all bad for Grunkemeyer, who led two 10-play scoring drives and completed five straight passes in the second quarter.

    Up next

    Penn State gets to regroup on a bye week before its road clash with No. 1 Ohio State (7-0, 4-0) on Nov. 1.

    Follow the Inquirer’s complete coverage of Penn State athletics right here!
  • This La Salle triathlete competed in an Ironman world championship earlier this month. She hopes it’s the first of many.

    This La Salle triathlete competed in an Ironman world championship earlier this month. She hopes it’s the first of many.

    Between adapting to college coursework, independent living, and the freshman flu, a college freshman faces plenty of challenges in their first semester.

    La Salle’s Sofia Nordbeck faced those challenges while also adapting to life in the U.S. and racing in the 2025 Ironman World Championship on Oct. 11 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

    Nordbeck, who moved to the U.S. from her native Sweden to join the Explorers’ triathlon team this fall, completed the 140.6-mile IWC race in 13 hours, 9 minutes, and 45 seconds. She finished 51st among women aged 18-24 in the ultraendurance triathlon.

    “There were so many times during the race where I thought it wouldn’t happen,” Nordbeck said. “I was very shocked, and I’ve been shocked for a few days now. I still can’t really wrap my head around what I’ve done.”

    Triathlon training

    Nordbeck, a 20-year-old freshman, is an experienced triathlete. When coach Sage Maaranen recruited Nordbeck to join La Salle’s triathlon program, which is in its first season, Maaranen knew Nordbeck had qualified for the Ironman World Championship and intended to run it.

    “It was definitely, ‘I want to come, but I’m going to do this Ironman. Can I come and do Ironman?’” Maaranen said. “She knows it’s a huge accomplishment to qualify for Kona, and there’s no guarantee that she’ll qualify again. So I was definitely very supportive of it.”

    An Ironman race is very different from the sprint triathlons in which La Salle’s team competes. The Ironman consists of a 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.2-mile run. Sprint triathlons, half of the Olympic triathlon distance, typically are a 0.47-mile swim followed by a 12-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run. Running an Ironman is a solo task, while La Salle’s sprints are a team event. Triathlon is among the NCAA’s emerging sports for women program, which aims to create more athletic opportunities.

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    The differences between the formats leads to disparate training needs. For an Ironman race, one needs endurance training and mental fortitude, while sprint triathlon calls for more strength training and higher-intensity bursts of effort.

    “They’re both triathlons, but they are two completely different sports,” Nordbeck said. “Ironman, yeah, it’s longer, but that’s not the big difference. The difference is you’re all alone. You’re not allowed to race with a team. … So you’re kind of stuck in your head with yourself, with your demons, the whole race.”

    Maaranen, who was named the first head coach of La Salle’s triathlon team in July 2024, worked to accommodate the training needs Nordbeck had while preparing for the Ironman race.

    “It’s incredibly difficult to train for an ultraendurance event like that while also doing the extreme opposite,” Maaranen said. “And so trying to balance those few needs, train her for short-course racing while she was still maintaining the endurance she needed for Kona, was quite the challenge. I think Sofia handled it incredibly well.”

    Iron family

    Nordbeck was born into an Ironman family. Her parents, Carl and Lotta, met at triathlon events in Sweden. Nordbeck grew up following them as they competed at triathlon and Ironman events “all over the world.”

    As Nordbeck got older, she started to take interest in triathlons. She competed in shortened versions of the Ironman designed for children, then progressed to sprint triathlons once she turned 14. When she turned 18 and met the Ironman age requirement, she set out to take on the full race.

    She started Ironman Sweden in 2023, but did not finish. She returned to the race in 2024, finishing the course in 12 hours, 23 minutes, and 20 seconds. The race qualified Nordbeck for the 2025 Ironman World Championship.

    Nordbeck had been to Hawaii before, as her father competed at the 2017 Ironman World Championship in Kona, finishing in 12 hours, 16 minutes.

    “He said he would never do the race again because it was so hard,” Nordbeck said. “He would probably never be back [to Kona].”

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    But with Nordbeck and her mother qualifying for the 2025 race, the Nordbecks made the trip out to Hawaii. Since the Kona race was an all-women’s event in 2025, Carl served as the family’s bike mechanic while Sofia and Lotta raced. Lotta finished in 15 hours, 52 minutes, and 12 seconds, 202nd in the 50-54 age division.

    In addition to his role as bike mechanic, Carl also served as a documentarian for Sofia, posting videos from her race to her Instagram account, @sofianordbeck. Nordbeck said she gained around 3,000 followers during the race, more than doubling her follower count.

    “I don’t do the social media part for my followers, I mostly do it for me,” Nordbeck said. “It’s kind of my notebook. It’s just so fun that I’ve gained so many followers and people are actually interested. I’m a bit shocked, still.”

    Sofia’s setbacks

    Nordbeck faced challenges in the weeks leading up to her race in Hawaii. She contracted strep throat, and on the day she flew from Philadelphia to Hawaii, Nordbeck had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic she had been prescribed.

    Her ailments combined with hot, humid, and windy race day conditions on the Big Island made Nordbeck nervous at the starting line.

    “You don’t really know how your body will react in that heat, and when you’ve been sick before, too,” Nordbeck said. “So, I was extremely nervous.”

    Nordbeck was able to push through the challenges posed by the Hawaiian elements and her own immune system to finish the race.

    “It was the hardest race of my life, and probably the worst race of my life, too,” Nordbeck said. “But, I would definitely do it again, 100%. I want to [go] back and I want to be competitive.”

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    It may be the first of many Ironman World Championship races for Nordbeck. Her ultimate goal is to pursue a professional career in Ironman after her sprint triathlon career at La Salle.

    “If I keep combining them both and focus on sprints at the same time, I will be more than ready to, hopefully, be good enough to become [a] professional when I graduate college,” Nordbeck said.

    Nordbeck returned to La Salle on Wednesday after some postrace sightseeing in Hawaii. Her body is still recovering from the grueling race, but she intends to compete in La Salle’s next event. The Explorers enter the postseason at the East Regional Championship on Oct. 25.

  • In a blowout of Charlotte, Temple picks up its first AAC road victory since 2019

    In a blowout of Charlotte, Temple picks up its first AAC road victory since 2019

    Temple turned a first-quarter tie into a 49-14 rout over host Charlotte on Saturday.

    In doing so, the Owls (4-3, 2-1 American)posted their first conference road win since 2019, while head coach K.C. Keeler earned his 275th career victory. The Owls’ fourth win of the season also marked their most since 2019.

    Temple got the rout underway on its second possession of the second quarter when quarterback Evan Simon capped a four-play, 44-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. On Charlotte’s ensuing possession, Owls cornerback Adrian Laing jumped in front of a pass from Grayson Loftis and ran it back 64 yards for a pick-six, which gave the Owls a 14-point cushion and marked the beginning of the end for the 49ers.

    Too close for comfort

    After its loss to Navy last week, Keeler was adamant the Owls had to wipe the slate clean to avoid a downward spiral. Charlotte (now 1-6, 0-4) made the perfect opponent for the Owls to bounce back against. The 49ers ranked 122nd in the country in scoring defense, and its lone win was against an FCS foe, Monmouth.

    At first, the 49ers hung with every punch the Owls threw. They forced a Temple punt on the first drive, and when Temple found the end zone on the next drive, Charlotte found gold with a touchdown of its own.

    Loftis threw the ball with ease in the opening frame. He completed six of eight first-down pass attempts and found tight end Gus McGee on a 2-yard touchown pass to knot the game at seven. The 49ers’ defense did its part as well, containing Temple’s offense to just 100 first-quarter yards to Charlotte’s 110.

    Air it out

    Temple’s run game couldn’t get going, so the offense leaned on its passing game. Simon, who just had a career game seven days prior against Navy, threw for 194 yards and three touchdowns, in addition to his rushing TD.

    Simon’s 176 first-half passing yards opened the floodgates for an offense that averages 30 points per game. He found wide receiver JoJo Bermudez three times for 45 yards, including a 29-yard gain to get to the 49ers’ 5-yard line. The very next play was when Simon scored on a keeper to give the Owls a 14-7 lead.

    Wide receiver Kajiya Hollawayne followed up on his 146-yard game against Navy with 85 on Saturday. He was on the receiving end of a 46-yard strike from Simon to pour onto the lead.

    The second half was more of the same for Temple. The running game got its legs under it, with a 44-yard rush by running back Jay Ducker, who punched the ball into the end zone to extend the Owls later in the quarter. He finished the game with 114 yards, while Simon continued to deal.

    Simon had one more touchdown pass before being taken out for backup Gevani McCoy in the fourth quarter.

    Bend don’t break

    The 49ers’ offense finished with 359 yards and coughed the ball up three times.

    Laing’s pick came when Charlotte was driving to tie the game in the second quarter. Two drives later, Temple allowed Charlotte to its 40-yard line before defensive tackle Allan Haye forced a fumble that bounced into the hands of safety Avery Powell.

    The Owls allowed the 49ers to amass just nine plays after the takeaway. When Charlotte started moving the ball again, the game was out of reach.

    The cherry on top came when Charlotte running back Cameren Smith fumbled and Temple safety Louis Frye, who was back following a two-game absence, scooped up the ball and ran back for a 73-yard touchdown.

    Up next

    Temple will stay on the road next week to take on Tulsa (2-5, 0-4) on Oct. 25 ( 3:30 p.m. ESPN+).

  • James Franklin says he was ‘in shock’ after being fired from Penn State

    James Franklin says he was ‘in shock’ after being fired from Penn State

    STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Former Penn State football coach James Franklin appeared Saturday on ESPN’s College GameDay for an exclusive interview, which marked his first public statement since the university fired him last Sunday.

    Franklin, who spent 12 seasons in charge in Happy Valley, said he was shocked when Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft informed him of the school’s decision to fire him on Sunday afternoon.

    “At about 1:30, the athletic director walked in and said, ‘We’re going to make a change. I’m sorry,’” Franklin recalled. “I was in shock … And then I walked down and had a super emotional meeting with the team to tell them I was leaving.”

    Franklin’s 104 wins rank second in program history, trailing only Joe Paterno’s 409. He led Penn State to the 2016 Big Ten Championship and to its first College Football Playoff appearance last season.

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    Franklin said he wants to focus on the “unbelievable moments” and relationships he built in State College.

    “I had a great run there. Twelve years. Penn State was good to me and my family,” Franklin said. “I’m a players’ coach, so walking away from all those young men in that locker room, the recruits that were committed to us, that’s the challenging part. It’s [about] the people at the end of the day.”

    The Nittany Lions entered this season with national championship expectations after returning Heisman Trophy candidate Drew Allar, hiring defensive coach Jim Knowles to the richest coordinator contract in the nation, and earning the No. 2 ranking in the Associated Press preseason poll. But after losses to winless UCLA and unranked Northwestern dropped Penn State to 3-3, the school’s patience ran out.

    Franklin said he didn’t have an answer as to why the team fell apart so quickly before his firing.

    “I’m still working through it myself. It feels surreal,” Franklin said. “To think, essentially, six games ago, we were fighting for a chance to be in the national championship, a two-minute drive away … I thought we were going to win a national championship there. I guess we’re just going to go to win a national championship somewhere else now.”

    James Franklin couldn’t explain why the team fell apart so quickly before his firing.

    Penn State went 4-21 against AP top 10 opponents during Franklin’s tenure. The constant blip on his resume was his inability to win the big game, which happened again on Sept. 27 when the Nittany Lions lost 30-24 in overtime against Oregon.

    While Franklin said it is not his place to say whether Kraft’s decision was fair, Nick Saban, who won seven national championships during his coaching career, didn’t hold back his disdain for Penn State’s decision.

    “It’s unfair as hell for you to go to the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, get into the final four, come out being ranked No. 1 this year — an expectation that you created by what you accomplished at Penn State,” Saban said. “And for those people not to show enough appreciation for that and gratitude for all the hard work that you did, I’m saying it’s unfair.”

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    Franklin is owed more than $49 million in his contract buyout, which will be spread across multiple payments, according to On3.

    But if he accepts another coaching gig, which he has to make a “good faith effort to obtain,” according to documents related to Franklin’s 2021 contract extension that were obtained by Front Office Sports, Penn State only has to pay the difference between the annual salary it owes him and his new yearly compensation.

    The longtime coach sounded ready to get back in the saddle.

    “I don’t know anything else [other than coaching]. I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I don’t have hobbies,” Franklin said. “This has been such a big part of my identity, such a big part of my family. We love it. So I think it was take a deep breath, and then we got to get back to doing what we do, which is helping young people achieve their dreams … I can’t wait for that next challenge.”

  • Maddy Siegrist doesn’t ‘remember what I said’ while meeting fellow Villanova alum Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican

    Maddy Siegrist doesn’t ‘remember what I said’ while meeting fellow Villanova alum Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican

    Last week at the Vatican, two Villanova legends finally came together: Pope Leo XIV and former basketball star Maddy Siegrist.

    Siegrist took a short trip to Rome to visit the big landmarks, including the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum and spent a day with Villanova at an Augustinian conference, where she got to meet the pope.

    Last year, the Villanova women’s basketball team took a group trip to Italy and the Vatican, but Siegrist, still in the middle of the WNBA season, couldn’t attend. This time around, after the Dallas Wings were eliminated from playoff contention, Chrissy Quisenberry, who helps organize alumni trips at Villanova, reached out to let Siegrist know they were planning another trip and that they might get an audience with the pope, also a Villanova graduate.

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    “People always joke because he [went to] Villanova, like, ‘Is he going to do the wedding?’” said Siegrist, who’s engaged to Stephen Perretta, an assistant women’s basketball coach at Drexel and the son of former Wildcats coach Harry Perretta. “When it did happen, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is crazy.’ We have a family group chat of all my cousins and aunts and grandparents. I sent the picture, and they’re like, ‘Are you joking?’ It was kind of a last-minute trip, so I didn’t really tell anyone because I didn’t know — when they said audience, it could be 1,000 people outside, which would have been unbelievable, but I didn’t realize I was actually going to have the opportunity to shake his hand.”

    The group attended mass at St. Peter’s Basilica and toured the catacombs before meeting with Pope Leo. Siegrist got a photo shaking the pope’s hand — which she did have to pay for, like a Disneyland ride photo — and said it was a bucket list moment, which “rejuvenated” her Catholic faith.

    Pope Leo XIV wears a Villanova hat gifted to him during a meeting with an Italian heritage group in June.

    Pope Leo frequently goes viral for his White Sox fandom and has been pictured in Villanova hats on multiple occasions since assuming his new role. But even with a group from Villanova in the building, Siegrist said he was careful to stay impartial.

    “He’s not biased at all,” Siegrist said. “I’ve seen a few pictures of Villanova hats and stuff. I think he addressed that. Dr. [Barbara] Wall was on the trip, she was one of his professors, so that was pretty cool to be with her during that moment. He knew there was a small group from Villanova at the conference, I think about 20-25 people. Such a cool experience. I really don’t even remember what I said in the moment. You just get so starstruck. You’re so nervous.”

  • Penn believes that behind its young women’s basketball roster, ‘anything can happen’

    Penn believes that behind its young women’s basketball roster, ‘anything can happen’

    Penn believes it has all the right pieces to be a competitive women’s basketball program in the Ivy League.

    Now the Quakers just have to put it all together.

    After a season in which Penn lost in the first round of the conference tournament for the third straight year, the Quakers find themselves only a month away from opening tip at the Palestra with plenty of questions still left to answer.

    Having to reinvent the offense to make up for the loss of first-team All-Ivy forward Stina Almqvist — who led the team in total minutes, points, and rebounds — coach Mike McLaughlin recognizes that the starting rotation needs a lot of ironing out .

    Penn will miss the production of Stina Almqvist, who led the team in total minutes, points, and rebounds.

    “I think we need a little more in the post. … We need to see who’s going to be three, four, and five in that rotation,” McLaughlin said. “ … That is the area that I need to see more of because that’s been inconsistent so far.”

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    Big shoes to fill

    Katie Collins, last year’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year, is the only other front court player to log significant minutes for Penn — and is preparing to adapt to playing next to a more traditional center in Tina Njike.

    “Little different from last year with Katie and Stina,” McLaughlin said. “They could both play inside and out. Katie is going to need to adapt a bit because Tina’s ball skills away from the basket are not where Stina’s were.”

    With McLaughlin believing Njike to be capable of playing only 20 minutes a game because of her physical style of play, the team will have to find valuable minutes from players eager to make an impact.

    Katie Collins (center), last season’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year, will be relied on even more in her sophomore season.

    Kate Lipatova, a 6-foot-3 stretch forward from Moscow, rounds out the frontcourt group alongside fellow international freshman Ari Paraskevopoulou (Greece).

    “[Lipatova] hasn’t played, unfortunately, she got hurt 10 minutes into practice, and will be out at least a couple more weeks, which is going to impede her growth,” McLaughlin said. “She had a nice preseason. … This is definitely a setback.”

    Figuring out the rotation

    Point guard Mataya Gayle is set to take center stage for the first time with the Quakers. After being a strong No. 2 to Almqvist in 2024 and former first-team All-Ivy forward Jordan Obi in 2023, Gayle will be Penn’s go-to player when it comes to scoring.

    “This kid is ready,” McLaughlin said. “She’s going to have a huge year. She’s going to score it, she’s going to assist it, you’re going to see her rebound the ball better, you’re going to see her in big spots being significantly further along.

    “I think for someone with her stature after the first two years, she’s taken massive growth, [and] I just love where the kid is mentally — I just think she’s doing it the right way.”

    Which players get to fill out the rotation, besides Gayle and Collins, is still up in the air. Stalwart guards Saniah Caldwell and Abby Sharpe, who played significant minutes last year, are battling injuries already — leaving the door open to establish a larger rotation of guards.

    “If we can add 10 players that can actually get out there and play at our level every day, I think this team has a chance” of competing for a championship, McLaughlin said.

    Penn men’s basketball gives a first glimpse of its new era in a preseason scrimmage

    Confidence through it all

    Roster overturn and injuries will always lead to uncertainty. Gayle, though, is confident that this is the roster that will bring Ivy glory back to the Palestra.

    “This is the most excited I’ve been about a season — I see us taking this to the next level,” Gayle said. “We’ve had a lot of team conversations, internal work, and I think we are all on the same page this year, which is obviously winning an Ivy League championship.”

    Penn guard Mataya Gayle (right) enters as one of the team’s leaders on offense.

    With the season growing closer by the day, McLaughlin feels as though this squad has the ability to rise to the occasion by the end of the season.

    “If a couple of these kids take a bigger step before we get to league play, anything can happen from there,” McLaughlin said. “ … We have a ways to go to get to where we were last year, but our ceiling couldn’t be higher.”

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