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Centre Daily Times | 02/23/2005 | Nittany Lions hope to follow Duke’s formula for success:

“Duke went through this, too.

“Penn State’s freshmen are too young to remember — OK, they weren’t even born yet — but the Blue Devils, a powerhouse among men’s college basketball powerhouses, were 10-17 (4-10 in the ACC) in 1982 and 11-17 (3-11) in 1983, the second and third seasons of coach Mike Krzyzewski’s storied career.

“The freshmen of that ’83 squad — Johnny Dawkins, Jay Bilas, Mark Alarie and David Henderson — went on to produce 20-win seasons the next two years, then went 37-3, won the ACC championship and advanced to the title game of the NCAA Tournament their senior year.

“This week’s message from Penn State coach Ed DeChellis to his struggling rookies: Why not you?

“‘Here’s a team that is on top of the world the last 10 years, but it didn’t start out that way,’ DeChellis said of the Blue Devils. ‘It’s all about growing up and maturing and developing.’ …”

Penn State and Michigan have both struggled to compete at various points this season.

Turmoil familiar to both teams:

“The guys are just hanging out at a typical Monday afternoon practice — smiling, telling jokes, even taking a half-court shot or two for fun.

“None of this is what you would usually expect from a team that has lost seven games in a row and 16 of its last 18. But for members of the struggling Penn State men’s basketball team, they know one thing for sure: Things can’t get much worse.

“‘I don’t know how to feel, it’s the same feeling,’ guard Danny Morrissey said. ‘You can’t really dwell on it anymore, if you keep dwelling on it … with all the losses I don’t know how much worse it can get. But you can only plan that hopefully it gets better.’

“When the Nittany Lions (7-18, 1-11 Big Ten) look across the court at 8 tonight in Ann Arbor, Mich., they will see a Michigan squad that has also seen better days. The Wolverines (12-15, 3-10) have lost 10 in a row, with their last win coming Jan. 15 — in the Bryce Jordan Center against Penn State. …”

Parker takes unorthodox route to Penn State:

“When you first see Travis Parker, you’re probably thinking what a lot of other people are thinking: ‘I want to stay on this guy’s good side.’

“At 6-foot-5, 245 pounds, Parker is an imposing figure. But it takes only a few minutes with Parker to find out that the image couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Not only is Parker one of the more outgoing members of the Penn State men’s basketball team, he’s one of the loudest.

“‘He’s just really outgoing, he’s loud. He’s real loud,’ teammate Danny Morrissey said. ‘He has a real good personality, more joking around. He’ll get on people in practice as everyone else does, he’s just real loud. In the locker room, joking around, he’s always loud.’

“And you can’t blame Parker for talking up a storm and enjoying every minute of his life at Penn State. After all, it wasn’t easy getting here. …”

FightOnState.com: The Bottom Line: “Michigan’s Tommy Amaker (left) has lost 10 straight games. Penn State’s Ed DeChellis (right) has dropped seven in a row. Something has to give when their teams meet in Ann Arbor.”

Centre Daily Times: Changes backfire on PSU:

“In an effort to jump-start his sluggish offense, Penn State men’s basketball coach Ed DeChellis made wholesale changes to his starting lineup for Saturday’s game at Northwestern.

“The result was the Nittany Lions’ worst offensive performance of the season.

“Penn State (7-18, 1-11 Big Ten) reached season lows in points and field goals made and a season-high in turnovers in a 54-39 loss to the Wildcats (13-12, 5-7) at Welsh-Ryan Arena. …”

PennLive.com: Search:

“Ryan Hockensmith awoke from a medically induced coma in Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center on Nov. 6, 1999, three days after his 22nd birthday. Immediately, he wished he hadn’t.

“The pain was by far the most excruciating and enduring he had ever felt. This was going to put a crimp in his dream of becoming a staff writer for Sports Illustrated — if it didn’t kill him.

“Hockensmith looked at his mother, Christie, and his then-girlfriend and now wife, Lori Kubacki.

“‘It was a surreal moment. I remember thinking, ‘There’s no way I’m going to survive. This must be how it feels to die. These are the two most important women in my life. Should I tell them how I feel about them before I die?’… ”

PSU hoops hits rock bottom – PittsburghLIVE.com:

“UNIVERSITY PARK — Ex-Penn State basketball star Bob Weiss initially declined to be interviewed for this story, saying he’d lost touch with the Nittany Lions’ program.

“Well, who hasn’t?

“‘They’re not really on the radar here,’ said Penn State sophomore Bobby Mannino, who sat in the student section Wednesday and watched top-ranked Illinois humiliate his team. ‘We just don’t get the recruits in basketball.’

“The Nittany Lions fell to 1-10 in the Big Ten that night, dropping their conference record to 9-50 since the beginning of the 2001-02 season.

“Average margin of their conference losses this season: 16.9 points.

“Second-year coach Ed DeChellis, a Monaca native and former Penn State assistant, can only hope this is rock bottom. …”

Collier: PSU basketball stuck in winters of despair:

“UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Winter has enforced its typically brutal lockdown at Penn State, where the biting cold, the slush-gray sky and the hardened faces of overworked students headed to the day’s first classes all reflect the grim presumption that spring’s just about an eon away.

“It is not yet 9 a.m., but Ed DeChellis already has been in his office for hours. He was there well after 1 a.m. the night before as well, going over tape of the Penn State-Illinois game, in which the No. 1 team so overmatched DeChellis’ Nittany Lions that the crowd at the Bryce Jordan Center seemed as interested in a courtside wing-eating contest as in the fact that Penn State’s players couldn’t get close enough to Illinois’ ultra-quick athletes to even apply any defensive principles.

“In one startling sequence, Dee Brown, the spectacular Illinois point guard, took a long defensive rebound near the top of the circle and started up court into a den of Lions. Brown was 1 on 3 and he beat all three to the hoop.

“DeChellis grew up in Monaca, never figuring he would end up as one of those guys who was always trying to answer The Question.

“The Question seems ageless now, not that it predates the chicken-egg conundrum, but long enough to make the if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest thing look almost fresh. The Question — why isn’t Penn State any good at basketball? — has walked this campus like a specter for generations. …”

FightOnState.com: Lions Hit Another Low Point:

“Penn State’s difficult season hit another low point in Evanston Saturday, literally and figuratively.

“In falling to Northwestern 54-39, the Nittany Lions posted their lowest point total in more than a year. It marked the first time in the 2004-05 campaign a Big Ten team managed fewer than 40 points.

“‘The frustration continues for us,’ PSU coach Ed DeChellis said on his post-game radio show.

“Does it ever. Now 7-18 overall and 1-11 in the Big Ten, Penn State has slipped solidly into playing-out-the-string mode. …”

AP Wire | 02/19/2005 | Northwestern 54, Penn State 39:

“EVANSTON, Ill. – Mohamed Hachad scored 13 points and Vedran Vukusic added 12 points Saturday to lead Northwestern to a 54-39 victory over Penn State.

“Leading 25-18, Northwestern opened the second half by outscoring Penn State 21-4. Vukusic started it with a 3, later he had a steal and hit a jumper making it 36-20 Northwestern. He scored eight points in the span. Michael Jenkins capped it off with a 3, giving Northwestern a 46-22 lead with 12:06 left in the game.

“Vince Scott shot 3-of-5 from 3-point range and scored 13 points for Northwestern (12-12, 5-7 Big 10).

“Geary Claxton scored 12 points for Penn State and Travis Parker added 10 for the Nittany Lions, who have lost seven straight games and 16 of their last 18. …”