A two-time transfer, forward Ethan Roberts has quickly become a leader at Penn

Ethan Roberts could not run this time last year, let alone dribble, shoot, or defend because of a debilitating stomach ailment.

Now, the junior transfer forward is the focal point of Penn‘s offense and averages a team-high 18 points along with 5.5 rebounds.

In his freshman season at Army, Roberts was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Year after he averaged 12.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. After the firing of coach Jimmy Allen, Roberts transferred to Drake.

He never saw the court for the Bulldogs, though, because of stomach problems that sprouted up before the season began. Roberts said he lost 25 pounds in a single weekend because of repeated vomiting linked to the undisclosed ailment.

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Roberts spent his sophomore fall in doctors’ offices, and he was not cleared to play until the end of December. At that point, he had fallen out of playing shape and did not return. Roberts said he has had no health setbacks since.

“It was the toughest time of my life,” Roberts said. “I really hit rock bottom for myself last year, as I came off a great year at West Point and was doing great at Drake [in the preseason]. … Mentally, it was really, really tough.”

After the departure of another head coach, Darian DeVries, who left Drake for West Virginia, Roberts looked to the transfer portal again for his third team in as many years.

Roberts “was just someone that wanted to come here and lead,” said Penn coach Steve Donahue. “[He] wasn’t like, ‘Where’s my role? How many points am I going to score? What am I going to do?’ It was about, ‘I can help Penn, after a bad season, get back on the top of the Ivy League.’”

Over the weekend, Penn (3-5) hosted the Cathedral Classic at the Palestra. Roberts scored a career-high 33 points Friday in an 86-78 loss to Navy. He was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 25.3 points and six rebounds as the Quakers went 1-2. He also was named Ivy League player of the week.

At 2 p.m. Saturday, Roberts and Penn will face Drexel (5-4) at the Wells Fargo Center in the Big 5 Classic fifth-place game.

Roberts played at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Ill. He averaged 20.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists and was named to the Chicago Sun-Times all-area team in his senior year.

He grew up in Memphis, where he learned to play a hard-nosed brand of basketball synonymous with the city.

“It’s super aggressive. You pick up full court,” Roberts said. “It’s really like a glorified almost pickup game at times.”

In Memphis, Roberts met current teammate Reese McMullen, a guard.

“Reese was my best friend in Memphis,” Roberts said. “I grew up with Reese since I was like 12 years old. We played on the same AAU team. We were high school rivals. We would hang out all the time. So, like, his friends are almost my friends here. I think I was here without being here.”

As underclassmen in high school, Roberts and McMullen played together for the M33M AAU team (now Hoop City Basketball Club), a Memphis-based team headed by former NBA Player Mike Miller.

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The two bonded over being “afterthoughts” on the team, McMullen said. On AAU road trips, they regularly roomed together. Now, they are roommates at Penn.

“It’s funny, we would actually talk about teaming up in college in the back of our minds, assuming it would never happen,” McMullen said.

When Roberts arrived at Army, he was introduced to the West Point standard.

“The daily ritual of just me waking up super early, making my bed, cleaning my mirrors, just having everything in what they called ‘standard.’ There were like a thousand things you had to do to be in standard,” Roberts said. “… What you were wearing, ironing your clothes, ironing your bed. Even how you had to fold your pillow and blankets, the length and width of that. Just everything you did, they held you to a standard, and [this] instilled in me discipline.”

Roberts has stepped right into being the No. 1 option for the Quakers after the graduate transfer of Clark Slajchert, who averaged 18 points last season.

“For a transfer to come in and be the guy, like the best player, I really respect how Ethan has gone about it,” McMullen said. “He’s been very humble and very open and receptive to listening.”

Heading into Saturday’s game, the Quakers have room for improvement against Big 5 opponents. They have been routed by St. Joseph’s, 86-69, and Villanova, 93-49.

“I heard a quote in the army,” Roberts said. “Rock bottom is a great place to grow.”