SOMETHING BUILDING IN STATE COLLEGE

It's easy to take winning for granted when you're a fan of one of the most accomplished football programs in the country. Maybe that's why it's been so hard to understand the near-permanent struggles of Penn State's basketball program. Fans want to just point across the street from basketball coach Ed DeChellis' office towards Beaver Stadium and say, "Just do what they do."

What "they" do is a tried and true formula in college athletics - recruit, build good facilities and give the program its own identity with a strong coaching staff. Look at almost any consistently successful outfit in the college ranks and you'll find those three requirements in varying doses. As far as Penn State hoops goes, "two out of three ain't bad." The problem for the Lions has been getting good recruits to come and use those updated facilities and learn from that committed staff. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane examines why getting those blue-chippers might become easier for DeChellis and his coaches after the season that the Lions are putting together this year.

If you win, the recruits come. If they come, you win. If you lose, well. . . .

"It's hard. There's no excitement. There's no energy," DeChellis said. "You're not winning any games, but you're trying to recruit players. And they don't want to come because they say, 'You're not winning any games.' "

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