Seniors Who Must Step Up

Now that spring practice has come to a conclusion I would like to take a look at a few seniors who will make a big impact on the 2009 season. We all now the importance of Darryl Clark and Jared Odrick, but they are stars. What about the role players that could make or break the season.

1. Andrew Quarless - We have season flashes each of the past few seasons, but now we need to see the whole package for the entire season. For himself because he has NFL potential, but Clark will need a reliable pass catcher. Quarless didn't have the pressure of being a playmaker with Williams, Butler, and Norwood, but with a young receiving corp he needs to be the big play guy. If we are in a 4th and 15 like we were in Northwestern in 2005 will Quarless get open and make the play?
2. Dennis Landolt - Again this is a guy who was just a solid lineman last year. The best thing you could say was we didn't hear much about him. That could mean he wasn't giving up sack after sack or being pushed 5 yards back on a running play. However this year will be different. He is the only starter returning to the position he played last year and with 3 new starters he will have to play well. Penn State can not afford to have Clark get hurt, so Landolt needs to play like an All Big Ten performer and help get the new starts acclimated and ready to go by the Big Ten schedule.
3. Knowledge Timmons and AJ Wallace - Both have the athletic ability to cover anyone in our conference and as two of four new starters in the secondary will be a huge key to the defense. We saw how bad our secondary played agaisnt USC and we can not afford play like that if we want to make another run to a BCS game. We have heard for years speed, speed, speed, now we need to see big time football players.
4. Sean Lee - He has nothing to prove as a player. We know what he brings there. If he wasn't hurt last year we probably beat Iowa, even with a knocked out Clark. Luckily while he was watching he was learning to be a teacher and a mentor and with Bowman possibly missing the first couple games, Lee will have to get the other young linebackers ready. There is no question the amount of talent Michael Mauti, Nate Stupar, and Mike Yancich have. Lee just needs to make sure there are where they need to be and hold their own while we wait to see what happens with Bowman. Plus with Lee graduating and Bowman probably going pro the torch will need to be passed just has Puz and Connor did before him.

Next week I will take a look at a couple of the Juniors that Penn State needs to step up as well as check in on where the recruiting stands heading into the summer.

The Greatest Night in the History of the Men's Basketball Team?

Was last night the greatest night in the history of the Penn State Men's Basketball Program? After all, Penn State one their first ever NIT Championship beating Baylor 69-63, and they picked up a verbal commitment from top-40 shooting guard Taran Buie, Talor Battle's younger half-brother. My knee-jerk reaction is yes, but I think that conclusion needs to be unpacked to fully understand why it is true.

But, the initial question is begs the question: what other "nights" would last night be contending with? I think there are only two others:

1. Penn State's only Final Four birth in 1954; and
2. Penn State's 2001 Sweet Sixteen run.

Before I talk about why last night eclipses both of those events, here is some of the background information. While any Final Four appearance is obviously impressive, in 1954 the NCAA Tournament consisted of less than 25 teams. Furthermore, although the Sweet Sixteen run in 2001 was impressive, that team was coached by Jerry Dunn who, history now tells us, did not capitalize on the run in any tangible way (except that he was able to save his own job for two more years).

Conversely, Penn State's NIT Championship victory was impressive for two reasons. Even though the Nits did not make the Big Dance, they made the most of the NIT and beat five top-70 teams, including one each from the Big East, Big 12, SEC, and A-10. Penn State will be one of two (legitimate) teams to finish the year with a win in April.

In addition, just after Penn State won the NIT title, they received more good news. Taran Buie, the younger half-brother of current Penn State point guard Talor Battle, verbally committed to Ed DeChellis and the Nittany Lions. Buie is a consensus top-50 combo guard, and easily the most highly ranked/recruited player to commit to Penn State in the last 10 years--maybe ever.

Thus, although the Sweet Sixteen run was exciting and unexpected in 2001, and beating North Carolina to make the Sweet Sixteen was amazing, NOTHING CAME OF THE VICTORY. Following the 2000-01 year, Penn State was no more regarded a "basketball school" than before the run. No one looked at Penn State any differently. It was a mere fluke to the rest of the basketball world.

Moreover, Jerry Dunn was unable to recruit any better players following that year. While Penn State was hard after future All Big East point guard Gerry McNamara, who ended up at Syracuse (and winning a National Championship), Dunn was unable to close the deal and snag a "program changing player" like McNamara who would have replaced 1st Team All Big Ten point guard (and my all-time favorite Penn State player) Joe Crispin.

Regarding the 1954 Final Four team, with all due respect, it was a different game, different time, and--to be honest--different money was on the line. Today, the game is faster, more athletic, the tournament is bigger and more prestigious, and there is so much more money to be made for the University by a winning and thriving basketball program.

Thus, between the NIT victory (which will hopefully begin to change the image of the program), and Buie (who is a "program changing player" in my opinion), Penn State's NIT victory is probably the greatest night in the program's history--and may prove to be the "turning point" for a program that has struggled to get out of the Big Ten basement and get national respect.

Maybe, now, things will be different.