Tom Hovasse was struggling at the beginning of his sophomore season. A head injury he suffered in a summer softball game was causing vision problems. In fact, the injury was serious enough for Hovasse to undergo a CAT-scan. He was almost forced to redshirt.

His teammates were concerned. Truly.

"Me and Bruce (Blake) thought it was funny," teammate Brian Allen said. "When he finally got on the plane to go to Rhode Island trip (Dec. 4, 1986), I said, 'Bruce, Tommy's stupid. He got hit in the head. Let's start calling him Lenny (from Of Mice and Men).'

"With us, there's no sympathy."

Such is the life of Tom Hovasse.

Although Hovasse recovered from that injury, he remains a prime candidate for his teammates' hijinks.

Roommate Blake seems particularly adept at pulling off pranks - from super-gluing Hovasse's shoes to the wall, putting pinholes in his toothpaste tube, and poking his eyes and mouth out of his I.D. card.

"We just play practical jokes on each other," Blake said innocently.

Time was when Penn State basketball was a joke. Hovasse arrived after the team completed a 5-22 season under then first-year Coach Bruce Parkhill. But Penn State basketball has come a long way, not coincidentally, since the redhead from Widefield, Colo., packed his bags and headed East.

"I came here because I really liked it on my recruiting visit, and it's a great school and everything," explained Hovasse, Colorado's Player of the Year during his senior season. "The swaying factor was the fact that coach said I had a chance to play my freshman year. And I wanted to go to a team where I could play a lot. I didn't want to go somewhere and sit."

After his success in high school, Hovasse came to a program lacking the same high expectations.

"Not to put the players down, the older players who were ahead of us, but there was kind of an attitude that Penn State basketball is not expected to win," Hovasse said, "so we'll just go out and give it our best shot."

If this season is an indication of future ones, that attitude has changed.

"People are starting to respect Penn State a little more," Hovasse said. "When you go into play Penn State, you're going to be playing a tough team. I think we've laid that groundwork. We've changed the attitude about Penn State basketball."

The 'we' Hovasse refers to are his fellow seniors - Allen, Christian Appleman and Blake - a tightknit group which has undergone, along with Parkhill, a growth process. (Junior Ed Fogell was also part of that recruiting class, but is a year behind after redshirting.)

"I think five years from now when Penn State's going to be looked at as a tough, tough team, I'm going to say, 'Hey, I helped that program out,' " Hovasse said.

Because he will leave as the school's second all-time leading scorer, it's probably safe to say Hovasse has "helped out." His 1,320 career points place him behind only Jesse Arnelle (1952-55) with 2,138.

"Other people are concentrating on him a lot more than they used to," Parkhill said. "He doesn't get any easy points now. I think he's having a great year."

Allen, in a serious moment, agrees.

"When he's in the flow, he gets everybody else in the flow," Allen said. "He makes everybody else better because he's a great player."

Hovasse has made tremendous gains since arriving as a self-described "cocky" freshman. He played in 16 games that year and since then his scoring and rebounding averages have seen consistent improvement. Now an 18-point-per-game scorer who pulls down eight rebounds a contest, Hovasse is one of the top players in the conference, facing every junk defense imaginable as opponents attempt to stop him.

"I look at it this way," Hovasse said. "They must really think I can play if they're doing that to me."

Make no mistake, Hovasse can play.

After watching Hovasse burn his team for 28 points earlier this season, St. Joe's Coach Jim Boyle called the forward a future NBA player.

"That was kind of shocking," Hovasse said. "But then you've got to realize he's not a scout or an NBA coach."

Marty Blake is an NBA scout, and he thinks Hovasse will have the chance to make a pro team. Blake said Hovasse's options, if the NBA doesn't pan out, include the CBA and European leagues. In the midst of the NBA regular season, however, it's too soon to predict draft selections.

"People aren't talking about Tom Hovasse," Blake said. "But they're not talking about (Arizona's All-American) Sean Elliot either. That's not a reflection on Tom. People just aren't talking about the draft yet.

"But I will say this," Blake continued. "He's a very good college basketball player and he will get the opportunity to play."

On Sunday, the day after the Lions' 95-58 demolition of St. Bonaventure, Hovasse was sore. He left the game with back spasms, playing a season-low 15 minutes, but still matching his 18-point average.

Hovasse has endured a number of injuries in college - three broken noses (all the courtesy of teammates), a broken finger, the aforementioned vision problems, a deep thigh bruise and now his back.

And without those interruptions, Parkhill thinks his star forward could have had a better career. "He had some real problems with injuries," Parkhill said, "and still had a great career."

Except for the bumps, breaks and bruises, Hovasse hasn't had much to complain about. A dedicated player, Hovasse has little time during the season for activities other than his studies and his sport. But this season, that's fine by him.

"I don't mind it," he said. "Last year when we were losing, that was a tough season for me and for the team. This year it's different."

Another difference from last season is the finality which will accompany his final game, be it in the A-10 tourney or a postseason tournament.

"I put in my four years here. I can't keep playing here forever," he said. "But I'll definitely miss this place, and when I'm away I'll keep looking to see how Penn State's doing in everything. But I think I've done what I can here, and I've got to move on."

That doesn't mean Hovasse will be forgotten. For some time to come, coaches, players and fans alike will recall the carrot-topped shooter stroking 3-pointers and crashing the boards.

"I don't think a player should be judged by his NBA potential, whether he makes it or not in the NBA," Parkhill said. "If he does, that's great. But Tom Hovasse should be judged on what he did here, and then take it to the next level. If, for some reason, Tom doesn't make it in the NBA, it doesn't mean he wasn't a great college player."