On Baron's plaque: The program was transformed during her tenure-Penn was 2-26 the year before she arrived but tied a program record with 22 wins and won the Ivy League title her senior year. She was Ivy League and Big 5 Player of the Year that season and swept both Rookie of the Year honors as a freshman when she made history as the first newcomer to lead the Ancient Eight in scoring. She graduated second at Penn and eighth in Ivy history with 1,806 points, set the program mark by starting and playing in 116 games, and finished her career third in 3FG, fourth in assists, and fifth in steals. She was first-team All-Big 5 four times, the second Penn player and sixth in city series history to be so honored.
 
by Joe Juliano
 
There appeared to be little doubt that Alyssa Baron would be a star on the basketball court for Penn. The Miami native was a two-time Player of the Year at Gulliver Prep School, scored more than 2,000 points in her high school career and excelled in track.
 
The biggest obstacle, however, was bringing more positive attention to Penn basketball while eliminating the bad taste of a 2-26 record the year before Baron and her fellow freshmen arrived at 33rd and South. At first, it was a bit of a shock.
 
"I said, 'Oh my God, what am I getting myself into?'" Baron recalled. "Maybe this wasn't the best choice.
 
"But when I got there, fortunately my class, we made a big impact as freshmen. I always wanted to come in and make a big impact. I didn't think it would be that big, but I wanted to help get Penn to the highest level. Coming from that 2-26 season and then finishing my senior year winning the Ivy League and competing in the NCAA Tournament, I think that the goals I set out for myself came to fruition."
 
The Quakers won 11, 13 and 18 games in Baron's first three seasons before capturing their first Ivy championship in 10 years. Her senior season ended with 22 wins, tying a program record; a 12-2 league mark and a berth in the NCAAs. She won 2014 Ivy League and Big 5 Player of the Year honors.
 
Baron played outstanding basketball at Penn. She started all 116 games in her four years. She finished second on the career scoring list (ninth in Ivy history) with 1,806 points. She was the first freshman to lead the Ivy League in scoring (16.6 points per game). She was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection in her last two seasons.
 
Reaching the pinnacle of her storied career with the Quakers, Baron, 32, is being inducted into the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the University's Class XIII.
 
"It's a tremendous honor," she said. "It's definitely not something I take lightly considering all those before me who have been inducted, the legacies of those performing. A plaque with my name hanging in the Palestra, that's the biggest achievement of all, being able to walk into the Palestra and see Alyssa Baron in the University of Pennsylvania Hall of Fame. I think nothing beats that. It's humbling, a huge honor. I'm very proud of it."
 
Baron's older brother and older sister sparked her interest in athletics at a young age. She traveled to her sister's tennis matches and her brother's travel soccer and basketball. She would add tennis and soccer to her lineup, but she eventually chose basketball over soccer because they were played in the same season where she grew up. Her second sport in high school was track & field, where she won district championships in the 400 meters and the 4x800-meter relay.
 
As she continued through high school, letters from colleges interested in her basketball skills poured in. Her parents favored an Ivy League education, but the scholarship offers from larger schools were difficult to ignore.
 
"The biggest thing for me when I visited schools was that I wanted to play right away," she said. "I knew if I went to a big-time school, I probably would be coming off the bench and not really get a chance, and who knows what would have happened? So I wanted to go somewhere where I knew I could come in and make an impact right away."
 
Baron's search ended when she finally settled on Penn.
 
"I just really connected with the coaching staff and the girls on the team, and I loved the campus," she said. "You're walking around the Penn campus, it doesn't get much better than that. I wanted to get away from home a little bit because I'd been in Miami growing up my whole life, so a chance to get to Philly was nice."
 
Baron was part of the first class recruited by Mike McLaughlin, who is now entering his 16th season as the head coach of the Penn women. McLaughlin knew she wanted to make an immediate impact.
 
"That was a big appeal, she wanted to be part of the building of something," he said. "She's a pretty gifted athlete with great size, so she was able to play physically right away. She had an incredible chip to her, like the chip on her shoulder. She was very determined to be the best."
 
And because she was the best player, the coach had to push her a little bit more. Baron understood—eventually.
 
"Coach McLaughlin was the first coach that really pushed me," she said. "In high school, at times I would say I got lazy and just relied on my skill and breezed by, but he did not let me do that. He made it kind of clear from Day 1 that that's not how it works in college. You played both ends of the floor and you worked hard every practice just like everyone else. He held me accountable, and it really pushed me to be better."
 
Meghan McCullough, the point guard for Baron's four seasons, called the revitalization of the Penn program "an amazing experience for our class, for the program and for the four (freshmen) of us."
 
"We all had an amazing experience from bad losses to great wins," she said. "I remember one game Alyssa made a shot and she got on SportsCenter. I still remember that night celebrating with her and all those little moments, the goods and the bads. It's just fun to be able to say, in addition with the coaches, we got the program kind of going back in the right direction."
 
The path from a two-win team to an unlikely Ivy League championship was filled with memories. One that Baron remembers fondly came when she was a junior, the final possession of the Women's Basketball Invitational quarterfinals at the Palestra where Penn trailed by two with seven seconds left.
 
"Coach told me to take the ball but whatever I do, do not settle for an outside shot," she recalled. "Take the ball to the basket or get fouled. What did I do? I took a contested, step-back three and I made it and we won the game."
 
McLaughlin's take: "We inbound the ball, it was full court. I'm saying, 'Attack the basket, Alyssa, do not settle for a jump shot.' Well, she did everything but that. She came down, she took the stepback three and hit it at the buzzer. When I see her, she has that smirk to her. That's her."
 
The greatest memory, however, came on the final day of the 2013-14 season with the showdown, Penn at Princeton, a pair of 11-2 teams, winner becomes Ivy League champion. After getting clobbered by 31 points two months earlier at home, the Quakers, sparked by Baron's 23 points, defeated the Tigers, 80-64.
 
"Finally I got my sweet revenge beating them on their home court to win the Ivy League title," Baron said. "We played so nice as a team in that game. Everyone stepped up. To celebrate and bring that trophy back to the Palestra was definitely a top memory, but also competing in the NCAA Tournament."
 
The first NCAA game, however, was to be Baron's last as a Quaker. Despite her 25 points, Penn, the No. 12 seed, lost to No. 5 Texas, 79-61. After the game, she and her parents met with an agent and began plotting her move to the professional ranks.
 
"They helped me with the whole process of finding a team and it turned out to be in Israel because I'm Jewish," she said. "Israel was the best place for me to start because I could get an Israeli passport and it would kind of open up more doors for me and give me good chances to find a team."
 
Baron has enjoyed a rewarding career in the top Division I professional league in Israel, having recently signed for a tenth season. She has been a part of two championships and two Israeli Cups. Her team, Hapoel Lev of Jerusalem, lost in the Israeli Cup finals last season. She also has participated in the Euro Cup, a European team competition.
 
In addition to having played for five teams, she competed last summer with the Israeli National Team for the European Championships, and will return there next fall for qualifying.
 
Baron is more than pleased with her contribution to Penn basketball over her four years.
 
"I wouldn't say it was a dynasty at Penn," she said. "But I think things only went up and they were able to recruit better players and have so much success. The Penn women's basketball team really got on the map after my senior year. They continued with their success even after I graduated, and I like to think that part of it was because of me."