DeChellis fighting uphill battle to build Penn State : The Morning Call Online:
“He inherited a Mini-Me of a men’s basketball program, and if he has succeeded in fitting it with elevator shoes — a debatable point, seeing as it seemingly takes one step back for every step forward — Ed DeChellis has found he needs something more.
“Like stilts.
“Penn State still doesn’t measure up. DeChellis, the Nittany Lions’ third-year coach, freely admits that. And even if he didn’t, the facts loom large: Four straight last-place finishes in the Big Ten, with another expected this year. Nine conference victories in the last four years. One NCAA appearance in the last nine seasons, and two in the last 14. Challenges in recruiting and retention.
“In a conference call with reporters last Friday — the day before PSU fell to 4-3 in nonconference play with a lopsided 91-54 loss at Pitt — he said he is not dissatisfied with the program’s direction, just the fact that the Lions are taking baby steps where giant leaps are required.
” ‘Has [progress] happened as quickly as I would like?’ he asked. ‘Probably not. I think we’re always, as coaches, impatient, but it is a process. It didn’t become this way overnight, and I’m surely not going to go in and try to put the roof on before I build the foundation.’ …”