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Glenview’s Hansen skates on runner-up team at world championships

March 26, 2012 By

(Glenview Announcements)  Team USA closed the Single Distance World Championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands, on Sunday with a silver medal in the Men’s Team Pursuit.

The defending World Champions, comprised of Chicago’s Shani Davis, Glenview’s Brian Hansen and Champaign’s Jonathan Kuck, posted a 3:43.42, 1.99 seconds behind Team Netherlands.

“It was great ending the year strong with a second place finish in the Team Pursuit,” said Hansen.

“It was a nice way to finish the season with a medal winning performance,” added Team USA coach Kip Carpenter.

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Glenview’s Gehring takes charge of U.S. speedskating team

March 8, 2012 By

(Chicago Tribune) Lana Gehring knew immediately that her role changed when teammate Katherine Reutter decided in January to have season-ending surgery on both hips.

“I definitely felt extra pressure,” Gehring said. “One of the first thoughts I had was I didn’t want to let down the team, especially Katherine, because she has done much for us.”

Champaign’s Reutter had been the leader of the U.S. short track speedskating team the past four seasons, getting better every year.

In 2010, Reutter became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic medal (silver) in an individual short track event since 1994 and helped the relay — including Gehring — win a bronze.

Last winter, she became the first U.S. woman to win a world title since Bonnie Blair 25 years earlier. Reutter also led the World Cup overall season standings as well as the standings in two individual events.

Now Glenview’s Gehring has the leadership role as the U.S. team prepares for the World Championships Friday through Sunday in Shanghai.

“I’m kind of excited to lead our team,” Gehring said. “I think I was ready for it, so I didn’t let the pressure be a negative thing.”

That was apparent at two February World Cup meets, when Gehring, 21, had by far the most impressive stretch of her six seasons on the circuit.

In four individual events, Gehring won two gold medals — her first since the start of last season — plus a bronze and a fourth place. At the second meet, she won all seven races, heats through finals, at 1,000 and 1,500 meters. She also helped the U.S. relay take two silver medals.

“She is actually our lifesaver,” Jae Sun Chun, the U.S. short track head coach, said of Gehring.

She credits changes in her training for being able to carry herself — and the team. It included a 30 percent increase in volume and intensity starting last summer. That helped her overcome doing well only in early rounds of a competition or only in the early part of the season.

“In the past, I would always fade,” Gehring said. “You have no idea what a surprise it was for me to do so well at this point in the season.”

But there were days when Gehring would look at Chun’s workout plan and wonder how she ever would get through it.

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Yapor explodes for 4 goals in Hofstra season opener

February 21, 2012 By

(Glenview Announcements)  Hofstra sophomore attackman Lance Yapor has been selected as the GoHofstra.com Student-Athlete of the Week for the week ending Feb. 19.

Yapor (Glenbrook South) scored a game-high and career-high four goals and added an assist in Hofstra’s season-opening 11-9 win over the Pioneers of Sacred Heart at James M. Shuart Stadium on Saturday. The Glenview native scored once in the first half, and after a 5-5 tie at halftime, exploded for three goals and one assist in the final two periods to lead Hofstra to the victory.

The Glenbrook graduate, who prepped at the Salisbury School, in Connecticut, struggled through an injury-shortened 2011 season at Hofstra, playing in just six games. He tallied two goals and three assists in the Pride’s win over Massachusetts last April. His scoring against Sacred Heart topped his UMass effort and equaled his season point total of a year ago.

Yapor and the 14th-ranked Pride (1-0) return to action Saturday, when they travel to 19th-ranked Princeton.

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No more playing games for Cooley

February 16, 2012 By

(Chicago Tribune)  SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Hours upon hours of pixel fixation trained Jack Cooley in strategic retreat. And that rapture with all-consuming video games like “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” and “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” had basketball suffering from hand-eye subordination. Something had to give.

So Cooley, Notre Dame’s truculent road roller of a center, handed the games to a friend. There was one condition: Just don’t give them back to me. Consider it among the most critical turnovers of his career.

“Never get ‘SkyRim,’” Cooley advised, sounding vaguely somber. “You’ll never stop playing it.”

Seven straight victories have made the No. 23 Irish an important Big East team against all expectation. A significant component of that was basketball becoming important to the 6-foot-9 frontcourt pillar with the good humor off-court and, as his coach put it, a disposition “of eating raw meat” on it.

Cooley’s third consecutive double-double against Rutgers on Wednesday made it 21.7 points and 14.7 rebounds per game in that stretch. He was named Big East Player of the Week two days earlier and is surging toward first-team all-league honors. All because he finally became a center of attention.

“It was just coming into the gym a little more and focusing on school and basketball and really nothing else,” said Cooley, who is averaging 14.2 points and 10.5 rebounds in conference play.

“My day consists of waking up, eat, class, eat, basketball, eat, sleep. That’s really it. I’ll watch half a (basketball) game maybe and go to bed. I just know I have to focus. I’m too big a part of this team now to do anything else.”

Sheepishly, and ill-advisedly, Cooley also noted his girlfriend is currently in Rome, but there are less glib reasons for his advancement. In anticipation of starting this year, the former Glenbrook South star devoured film to amplify his post repertoire and altered eating and conditioning habits.

Still, he scored in double figures only once in the first eight games. He didn’t start Nov. 27 against Bryant for slouching academically. He missed the Maryland game Dec. 4 with illness, vowed to rededicate himself, notched 22 points and 14 rebounds in the next game and has added seven more double-doubles after that.

“He has come a long way in his day-to-day hunger,” Irish coach Mike Brey said. “I’ve been very pleased to see that when Jack has had success, he has continued to want to have more. I had been worried about him stepping back and going, ‘That’s pretty good, that’s enough.’ Not really seeing that.”

The hunger, as a residue of the focus, manifested itself variously. Cooley half-complained that his Big East weekly award was overdue after he made the league’s “Honor Roll” multiple times.

Asked how he knows Cooley is applying himself, guard Eric Atkins notes he no longer hears the incessant video game chatter. And Wednesday, with the victory in hand, Cooley knocked an insignificant loose ball out of bounds off a Rutgers player and bellowed a triumphant “Oh yeah!”

“He’s focused more than I’ve ever seen him focused, and it’s paying big dividends,” forward Scott Martin said.

Cooley also knew that if individual accolades caused some slippage, his father would “just rip me apart for the next two days.” Instead he zeroed in, dominated Rutgers, received a standing ovation, did the postgame television interview and then applauded remaining fans before galloping off to talk about what took him so long.

“I didn’t realize how important I was,” Cooley said. “I should have started doing this way long ago.”

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Career on court comes full circle – Former GBS basketball star having breakout season with Fighting Irish

February 2, 2012 By

(Glenview Lantern)  Its long been said that true stars shine bright on a big stage.

Glenview native Jack Cooley must have taken that to heart.

Starting at forward for Notre Dame, the former Glenbrook South basketball standout recently stole the show on the biggest of all stages, leading the Fighting Irish to an upset of top-ranked and undefeated Syracuse in a nationally televised ESPN game on Jan 21.

While his 17 point, 10 rebound effort – which included a thunderous second-half dunk – has become somewhat standard for the 6-9, 248 pound junior, even Cooley admitted the chance to tilt the nation’s best was something special.

“It was a dream come true,” he said. “It was unreal. To just think that could happen is phenomenal. It was a great experience.”

But in truth, Cooley’s individual efforts in the contest weren’t all that different from the way he’s played throughout his entire basketball career.

Cooley arrived at GBS in 2005 as somewhat of a “gangly and uncoordinated kid,” according to Titans coach Scott Nemecek.

He spent his first year with the freshman team, but his talents didn’t go unnoticed. By his sophomore season, Cooley was playing up with the big boys.

“He was a warrior,” Nemecek said. “He would go full tilt on many, many possession to the point where he would just have to stop. He always was putting out a great effort. He had a very good attitude about trying to be the best player and he liked to guard the other team’s best player. We definitely hitched our wagon on his back and he pulled us along.”

It didn’t take those outside of the program long to notice Cooley’s talents, either.

Some of the country’s top colleges began calling during the 2007-08 season, a year in which Cooley averaged 20.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.4 blocks and 3.1 assists per game as a junior.

As an intensive recruitment process began winding down, he was ultimately able to narrow his potential collegiate destinations down to an impressive top three: Illinois, Wisconsin and Notre Dame.

“It was a whirlwind,” Cooley said. “That experience was nuts. I don’t know how I got any schoolwork done. It was really exciting.”

The recruitment process came to an end on a Sunday afternoon in January of 2008.

On the advice of an assistant, Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey made a trip to Loyola to get his first true look at Cooley from the stands.

Nemecek recalls his star player putting up something along the lines of 20 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks in the contest, triggering a conversation with Brey after the game.

“Jack walked off the floor into the locker room and [Brey] said, ‘tell Jack I’m calling tonight and offering a scholarship,’” Nemecek recalled.

Cooley would commit soon after, and would go on to complete his high school career as the third-leading scorer in GBS history with 1,189 points.

But upon his arrival in South Bend, Ind., he was back at the bottom of the totem pole.

Cooley averaged just 5.3 minutes in 21 games as a freshman, registering 20 points, 37 rebounds and five blocked shots.

There was one – rather large – reason he was unable to become a larger factor.

Luke Harangody, the returning Big East Player of the Year, soaked up the majority of Cooley’s minutes.

Rather than being upset about no longer being the go-to guy, Cooley’s position coach at Notre Dame, Rod Balanis, said the then-freshman Cooley immediately stepped up to the challenge.

“He embraced that,” Balanis said. “That’s so refreshing. Most kids want to know how much they’re going to play instead the way it was supposed to be where you come in and earn your playing time.”

Cooley continued to work hard at practice, day-in and day-out, taking pointers from a soon-to-be NBA player in Harangody.

To this day, he credits those practice sessions to his success in the NCAA.

“Playing behind and against him everyday in practice was huge,” Cooley said. “That helped a lot with how I’ve developed.”

He improved the following year, developing into a key contributor off the bench while playing in every game for the Fighting Irish.

Balanis said his progression had a lot to do with his ability to handle the ball.

“I’ve been really pleased with how he’s developed offensively,” Balanis said. “He’s really worked hard on his footwork and low post stuff to really become one of the better big guys in the Big East. He’s very good with the ball. Just to throw it into him, even if he doesn’t have a scoring pass, he can make a good decision. He’s really coming into his own right now.”

Now a junior, Cooley has secured a spot in the Fighting Irish’s starting lineup.

Through 19 games, 17 starts, he’s averaging 10.7 points and 8.4 rebounds a contest – with even better numbers in conference play.

His newfound role as a scoring threat this season has allowed Cooley to somewhat return to his high school roots, when he was expected to step up in key situations.

“It’s surreal and it’s just a great experience just to be able to do that again,” he said. “Just to have fun, be the guy that everybody is looking to score and help win the game.”

Another year of eligibility remains for Cooley, it appears the best might be still to come.

Balanis said he believes the junior still has multiple, achievable levels of progression to reach, and that he should only get better with time.

But Cooley’s not ready to think past this year.

With the unforgettable upset of Syracuse now behind him, Cooley said he’ll just focus on doing the best he can.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see,” he said. “I have no idea how good it can go.”

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Cooley adjusting to bigger role for Irish

January 3, 2012 By

(Chicago Tribune)  With South Bend besieged by a lake-effect snow beatdown Monday, Jack Cooley’s 12-year-old car didn’t feel like turning. The Notre Dame forward wanted it to. It didn’t cooperate. Desperate measures ensued.

“I had to kick my car into four-wheel drive after it spun out,” Cooley said.

It’s more evidence of the junior getting things in gear lately. Notre Dame will attempt to maintain early Big East momentum Wednesday at Cincinnati, and Cooley will attempt to continue his midseason resuscitation, a well-timed swerve away from early frustrations.

The 6-foot-9 Glenbrook South product slimmed down in the offseason to prepare for a beefed-up role. For a player expected to be a key cog in the paint, the results were middling averages of 4.9 points and 7.0 rebounds in the first eight games.

A flu-fueled stint in the infirmary got him healthy in more ways than one. Cooley missed the Dec. 4 Maryland game, then scored 22 points in back-to-back games and has averaged 16.6 points and 10 rebounds in the five games since being laid up.

“I was sitting in a hospital bed watching us play Maryland and I wasn’t there, and it just kind of made it click,” Cooley said. “I was extremely frustrated and realized something had to change, and I had to make the change happen.”

Cooley considers it a steep learning curve: After being a bit player for two years, he had to feel out how and when to be an offensive contributor. When that didn’t snap into place instantly, the aggravation bled into other areas.

“Maybe it’s really starting to come together that he believes he can be one of the top big guys in the Big East,” Irish coach Mike Brey said. “We certainly reinforced that with him throughout the fall. There’s a real confidence level of being a main guy.

“I still think he can give us more offense. If he’s got a 12-footer and he’s open, I want him to take it. If he’s open, he can make those shots. Right now, we want to ride him.”

Inconveniently, Cincinnati big man Yancy Gates returns from a suspension Wednesday. Conveniently, the Irish’s best counter to Gates has taken a turn for the better.

“Last year there were other people who would score, other people we would turn to,” Cooley said. “This year, it isn’t always going to be someone else. I’m going to have to try my hardest to be one of those scorers every game.”

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Glenbrook Swimmers Settle Score – 40 Years Later

December 13, 2011 By

(Journal Online) Two technicalities that occurred in the 1970s added a special dimension to Friday’s boys swim meet at Glenbrook North.

In a 1971 meet with rival Glenbrook South, a timer fell in the pool before one of the swim events was complete giving GBN the win by default. In 1975, GBN coach Jim Runkle made a mistake on his entry card, writing down the wrong name, giving GBS the victory. Both events remained shrouded in controversy awaiting resolution.

Friday, the match between GBN and GBS provided an opportunity for the athletes of the ‘71 and ‘75 an opportunity for closure.

While many of the swimmers from the Glenbrook classes of 1972-1975 attended the University of Illinois and even roomed together, there was good-natured ribbing over the years and electronic messages leading up to the event. “Even after 40 years, you still get butterflies in your stomach,” was the consensus from both sides. In 1972, the price of gasoline was about 35 cents. Swimmers who grew up in the neighborhood gladly traveled as far away as Anchorage, Alaska (Mike Booth, GBS Class of ’72). Times and prices have changed but the neighborhood rivalry has remained much the same.

When kids are asked normally to clear the pool because it is time for adult swim, there are usually jeers. In Northbrook, the announcement of this rematch and the months of planning was met with applause and local television coverage. A full pavilion and anxious alumni waited patiently to settle a long overdue conclusion. The 40-year reunion featured just two races, so there was a chance if the meet was not swept by GBN the result would be a friendly tie.

But GBN won the rematch by winning both the 200-yard and 400-yard relay races. The forever-proud Titan alumni were content with how they swam despite the loss. The Titans claimed that GBN won with trick mirrors, and were pleased that no timers were thrown in. They also claimed they are better swimmers now than they were 40 years ago. Forty years makes tales taller, legends lengthier, and bellies plumper.

All the Titan alumni wore shirts with a frightening shark prominently displayed. “Ancient, huge and dangerous was the motto for the Titans for this rematch,” Loren Sheffer described in his created shirts. Sheffer, Class of ‘72, flew in from Delray Beach, FL.

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Glenview’s ‘two Jodies’ keep young heads above water

September 12, 2011 By

(Glenview Announcements) The “two Jodies” are known to hundreds of teenagers and families on the north suburbs, especially Glenview and Northbrook.

And the two friends love what they do.

Jody Nolan and Jodi Compton have taught swimming at Glenbrook South High School for years, showing teenagers pool safety, leadership and personal responsibility.

The community program, called the Glenbrook South Student Guard, gives teens an opportunity to instruct first through fifth-graders in proper breathing and the four basic swim strokes in the Learn-to-Swim lessons.

The two Jodies take great pride in their work and together have amassed 27 years in teaching young people.

“We teach students how to be guards and how to interact with kids. The guards must constantly know who’s in the water,” said Nolan, of Glenview.

“We’re dealing with teenagers who can be as young as 14, so we need to make sure they are very involved with the young kids,” she said.

On a typical Saturday, about 12 guards are assigned to teach two classes of 50 children each.

“The guards, by volunteering lots of their time, give back to the community,” said Compton, a Mount Prospect resident.

Guards who participate in Learn-to-Swim during all four years of high school can accumulate up to 300 hours of volunteer teaching experience.

Depending on how many hours students volunteer in fall and spring session, they can land a summer job at the Glenbrook South pool.

A 1980 graduate of Glenbrook South, Nolan was a guard beginning her freshman year. She also took lessons in Learn-to-Swim for six years.

“All four of my children were guards,” Nolan said.

But Nolan’s family ties to Glenbrook South Student Guard program go back even farther.

Her father, Bill Stetson, was head swim coach and aquatic director at Glenbrook South High School when it opened in 1962, and started the guard program three years later after residents approved a referendum to build a pool.

“The pool facility was to benefit community swim lessons, family swim, Boy Scouts, swimming units for physical education, and what my father felt was most important — starting the Glenbrook South Guards Organization,” Nolan said, adding Stetson retired in 1988 and lives in Hilton Head, N.C.

Stetson graduated from New Trier in Winnetka 1952 and was captain of the Boys Swim Team and head guard for the New Trier Guard Organization.

“My father’s head coach and director to the New Trier Guard Organization was David H. Robertson, who was an extremely successful aquatic coach and leader. He stands among the greats in national and international recognition among his coaching peers,” Nolan said.

“Throughout my father’s young coaching career, his mentor was always David H. Robertson. He was the reason that my dad wanted to continue on some capacity in bringing aquatic programs to a community.”

Allison Kraft, an eighth-grader at Springman Middle School in Glenview, joined the program this summer, said her mother, Linda, who runs a home daycare center.

“I’ve utilized lots of the swim programs at Glenbrook South for the children. Jody and Jodi have special way of getting to know each student,” Linda said.

“The beauty of the guards classes is that students not only learn to swim, but teach, too. They can use this skill for life.”

For more information on the Glenbrook South Learn-to-Swim Program, call our (847) 486-4270 or email Jody Nolan at gbslearn2swim@gmail.com

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Progar Plays with Chip on his Shoulder

July 15, 2011 By

(Glenview Announcements)  Glenbrook South alum Sean Progar admits he plays every down of every game at Northern Illinois with a purpose.

As a senior at Glenbrook South in 2008, the all-state defensive end believed his future was to be at the University of Michigan. He had spoken to Wolverines head coach Lloyd Carr at a summer camp, and the coach said a scholarship offer likely would be forthcoming.

But Carr announced his retirement and his replacement, Rich Rodriguez, never extended the offer.

Perhaps Rodgriguez’s troubled two-year stint in Ann Arbor would have been more successful if he had.

The 6-foot-3, 260-pound Progar ended up at Northern Illinois, where as a sophomore last season he was named first team all-Mid-American Conference and Lineman of the Year for a Huskies team that went 11-3, earned a national ranking, won the MAC’s Western Division and defeated Fresno State in the Humanitarian Bowl.

Progar, whose NFL dreams are in full technicolor, possesses size, speed and fine technique. He’s also driven by a desire to prove that the big-time coaches who passed on him made a mistake.

“I want to show all the coaches and scouts and players who doubted me that I’m here and playing well,” Progar said.

Progar has given several Big Ten coaches a first-hand look at his abilities. In Progar’s two seasons in Black-and-Red, the Huskies have defeated Minnesota and Purdue and lost by a combined total of 14 points to Wisconsin and Illinois.

In NIU’s 26-22 defeat in Champaign last season, Progar had eight tackles, including a sack.

“Without a doubt my best game in college was also the one I was most excited to play, U of I,” Progar said. “Being from Illinois and having a lot of friends down at U of I who had not seen me play since high school, to play that game, get the tackles and the sack, it was my best game so far in college.”

In recent months, Progar’s responsibilities have grown at NIU. In the spring, new Huskies coach Dave Doeren had players vote for a captain from each position. Progar, one of the two returning starters on the Huskies’ defense, was named captain of the defensive line.

Progar has been running defensive line workouts this summer and is required to meet with the other position captains at a player leadership council meeting once a week.

Progar is proud of the recognition and has embraced his new role.

“I’ve been here three years and started two, and I feel like I deserve (to be a captain), and the players around me thought I was one of the captains,” said Progar, who maintains a solid B average while studying criminology and sociology. “I’ve been paying my dues and put in the hard work going on four years now, and the players see that and respect me for that and gave me the responsibility.”

Former NIU fullback Connor Flahive said Progar is a player who commands respect in the locker room.

“Sean leads by doing,” said Flahive, a Niles Notre Dame alum. “He doesn’t talk up much, but when he does, people listen.”

Progar said he believes a captain’s responsibilities are to lead by example and by words, when necessary.

“I feel like in order to be a captain you have to do both. I’m not a hoorah guy, I don’t go out yelling every day. But if something needs to be said, I’ll be the guy to say it,” he said.

This year the goals at NIU are clear: Maintain the form that has produced 21 wins over the last two seasons, but go a step further and capture the MAC title. The Huskies fell 26-21 to Miami (Ohio) in last fall’s MAC title game in Detroit.

The Huskies are also looking to continue gaining attention and respect, both in the Chicago sports media and nationally. Progar said Doeren, like former head coach Jerry Kill, regularly talks about NIU becoming the Midwest’s version of a Boise State or TCU, a so-called mid-major that has crashed the BCS party.

Progar said he’s far from the only Huskies player who feels he has something to prove to the college football world.

“We’re in the MAC, we’re a smaller school, an underdog. But we embrace it,” Progar said. “Most of the guys felt they could have gone to bigger schools, but were told they were too small. So they’ve got a chip on their shoulder. We don’t get the credit we should, but we’re just worried about winning and controlling what we can.

“We’re getting a little more respect, and another good year, a 10-win season, having more success like we’ve been having, and we’ll get even more respect.”

The Huskies will have chances to prove themselves against some big-name opponents early this fall. On Sept. 10, they visit Kansas. A week later, NIU takes on Wisconsin at Soldier Field.

 

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GBS Grad Monckton Extends Basketball Career at Tulane

July 11, 2011 By

(CSL Insider) Several months ago, former Glenbrook South all-conference football and basketball standout Dan Monckton thought his competitive athletic career might be over after missing his senior season with the University of Pennsylvania’s basketball team following micro-fracture surgery on his right knee.

While the 6-foot-6 small forward learned an old cliché the hard way, he got a second chance at concluding his collegiate career on the court when he signed with Tulane June 28, using his final year of eligibility while he attends graduate school to earn a master’s degree in sustainable real estate development.

“Sitting out all of last year when we were teeter-tottering in the beginning of Ivy League (competition) and having a chance, I felt like I could really contribute to help us win the Ivy league,” said Monckton, who earned an undergraduate degree in Communications from Penn. “That took its toll on me. Sitting out the whole year you realize what you miss when it’s taken away from you, as everyone says. Once I thought it could potentially be forever, I realized how much I loved basketball and how much I missed it.

“My goal is just getting 100 percent healthy and just being able to contribute in some way, shape or form. I’m not trying to come in and be a big-time star, but I just want to get some playing time.”

Monckton averaged 7.1 points per game his junior season for the Quakers, which included a career-high 19 points against Harvard and a buzzer-beating, game-winning put back against Brown. Penn went 13-15 overall and 7-7 in the Ivy League last season while the athletic wing player was sidelined for his senior year.

Following the season, Penn coach Jerome Allen informed Monckton that his career might not be over just yet.

“I didn’t know about the rule,” Monckton explained. “Unfortunately with Ivy League rules, I was too far along academically for them to grant me a medical fifth year of undergrad. I also couldn’t play a varsity sport in grad school in the Ivy League.

“So my coach told me about the transfer rule, where I could transfer to another school with a graduate program that wasn’t offered at my school and I could be up for immediate eligibility. To me it was a no brainer. I was pretty upset about having my senior season taken away and I honestly thought that was it and I’d have to hang ’em up and look for a job. So when he told me that, I was pretty elated.”

Monckton gave Allen a list of schools that piqued his interest, and Allen sent out some feelers. However, Tulane immediately separated itself academically and athletically for Monckton.

“Once schools started contacting me, I was able to look at programs they had that would be of interest to me,” Monckton said. “Tulane was just the perfect fit. They were the most serious and the real estate program was real interesting and something I could see myself finding a profession in.”

Tulane coach Ed Conroy and the Green Wave finished 13-17 last season, 3-13 in Conference USA.

Monckton has already settled in New Orleans and is working out with his new teammates. While he is still getting his legs back under him after missing a full season, he anticipates being at full strength when the season rolls around.

Now refreshed at his chance to end his collegiate basketball career on his terms, Monckton is hoping to bring his experience playing three seasons in the Ivy League to the up-and-down Conference USA.

“The first time I was here with the guys, guys were dunking the ball left and right,” Monckton said. “Contrary to many people’s beliefs, there are athletes in the Ivys. But across the board, it’s not nearly as physical.

“But you learn a lot of things playing in the Ivy League like learning how to win and compete without overpowering athleticism. At Penn, we played Duke, North Carolina and a strong out-of-conference schedule, so I understand the pace and how competitive you have to be at this level.”

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