Penn coach Jerome Allen will resign following the end of yet another losing season with the Quakers.
Allen's resignation will be effective after Penn's season finale Tuesday against Princeton. The Quakers are 9-18 overall and 4-9 in the Ivy League.
He began his coaching career as an assistant with the Quakers for 2009-10, following his retirement from a professional playing career in Europe. Just seven games into that season, Allen was promoted into the interim head coaching position to replace Glen Miller.
Allen, a two-time Ivy League player of the year with the Quakers, led them to his only winning season in 2011-12 with a 20-13 record.
''After considerable soul-searching and reflection, I've decided to resign from my post as the men's Head Basketball Coach at the University of Pennsylvania,'' Allen said. ''Nothing could be harder for me, because this institution and program have been so dear to my heart. This program gave me my start as a player, and it helped launch my coaching career. During the past six years, I have been blessed with a tremendous opportunity to which I gave all of my heart and soul. So I leave the program with head held high, knowing that a foundation has been laid for my successor to take this program and return it to the standard of excellence we all expect.''
Penn athletics director Grace Calhoun is set to make her first major hire and one of the candidates could include former Penn assistant and Cornell and Boston College head coach Steve Donahue.
''Jerome has always been held in the highest regard by his teammates, by his fellow basketball alums, by people in the Penn and the Philadelphia communities, and most of all by the players he has coached these last six years. Coach Allen always put the program first, and I am confident that he will continue to be a strong ambassador for the University of Pennsylvania and the Penn basketball program,'' she said.
