Attitude biggest challenge for DeChellis at PSU:
“An aggregation of hundreds — players and coaches; dignified and determined men — came here hoping to halt history’s avalanching momentum.
“The force of losing has sent careers hurtling off track. ‘The job just wore me out,’ said Bruce Parkhill, who coached Penn State from 1983-1995 before stepping down. ‘It’s kind of consuming, really.’
“The force of losing has deterred those who could potentially stop it. Rarely, in the previous generation, have the top in-state basketball recruits attended Penn State. Matt Carroll, who is searching for permanent work in the NBA, visited Penn State almost 10 times while in high school near Philadelphia. He then decided on Notre Dame. Scranton’s Gerry McNamara thought about signing with Penn State, but he preferred a program that could sustain success, not manufacture it from nothing.
” ‘I wanted to go to more of a basketball factory,’ said McNamara, who later chose Syracuse and helped it to a 2003 national championship. …”