Freddie Barnes dribbles down the Rec Hall floor and passes to DeRon Hayes. Hayes passes across the court to James Barnes, who passes back to Freddie Barnes. The point guard feeds it inside to Ed Fogell, who turns around, shoots and scores.
As the Lions run back up court the student section chants, "EDDIE, EDDIE, EDDIE." It seems like the popular center doesn't hear it as he plays defense at the other end. But he does.
"That just gave me a great feeling," Fogell said, smiling. "They used to do that at my high school and obviously there weren't as many people in our gym. I think it was the friends that I knew that started the chant, and when they did it here it just completely surprised me. To be honest, that was one of the best feelings I had. To hear the whole place chanting, 'EDDIE, EDDIE,'. . . it was incredible."
Fogell finished this season leading the team in points per game (15.3) and total points (520), blocked shots (43) and free throw percentage (81.2). He was second in rebounds (204).
"I thought Eddie had a fabulous year," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "A lot of times a senior who knows he's going to be counted on tries to force the issue and put too much on his shoulders. And Eddie really used great judgement.
"He really improved his passing skills, which enabled him, because people would key on him, to get the ball to other guys," Parkhill continued. "I don't know if he could have played much better. I think he was the cornerstone of our team this year."
He may have been the cornerstone of the team this year, but last year it was Tom Hovasse. Fogell was supposed to be in Hovasse's shadow, but moved out of the shadows to make his own mark.
"He was a great player and he deserved everything he got," Fogell said. "We really focused on him last year, but I felt we really complemented each other. I think this year without him I had to take more of a leadership role."
"I was happy to see that happen for him because he was kind of in the shadows like Jimmy Barnes has been this year," Parkhill said. "Eddie's gotten most of the attention, but I'm happy for Eddie to go out the way he did."
And with the attention came the pressure to perform from his coaches, teammates and fans.
"I think there was a lot of pressure, especially being the oldest one on the team," Fogell said. "I had a lot more of a relaxed attitude this year -- still working hard but taking things as they came. I'm happy with the way I dealt with it."
But it wasn't always peaches and cream. Fogell said he grew up a tall, skinny kid with glasses and never got serious about basketball until his high school coach egged him on.
Fogell served as the captain of the team at Hatboro-Horsham (Pa.) High School. His senior year he averaged 24 points and 14 rebounds a game, earning honorable-mention all-state and honorable-mention All-America status from USA Today. In addition, he became the school's first player to reach the 1,000 point plateau.
He had back pains while at Hatboro-Horsham, but when he arrived at Penn State the pain gripped him even harder. He said the pain got so unbearable he was admitted to Ritenour Health Center and stayed for three weeks as a freshman.
He was fitted with a plastic back brace and he tried to return to the court, but it didn't help and he had to redshirt his freshman year.
"Coming back my sophomore year was really difficult," Fogell said. "I wasn't sure if I was going to play again or not because I was in a lot of pain. And I didn't expect that to happen at all my first year and then it goes haywire. Mentally, I just tried to stay tough and stick with the rehab and everything that I was doing."
He bounced back to start in eight games in his sophomore year, averaging 6.3 points per game and 52.3 percent from the floor. Over the next three years he would play in every game and miss only one start. He was the Ironhorse in the National Invitation Tournament as he played in every minute of the first three games.
In his career Fogell carved his name in the record book. He owns records in career shooting percentage (53.9) and season shooting percentage (60.8, this season) and most games played in a career (120). He is third on the career scoring list with 1,322 points.
The fifth-year senior sees himself as one of the pioneers of Penn State basketball. In Fogell's first year the Lions were 12-17 and 5-13 in the Atlantic 10 --a long way from the 25-9 record the Lions ended with this year.
"Tommy (Hovasse), Bruce (Blake), Brian (Allen), Christian (Appleman) and myself felt we could get the program going," Fogell said. "We said, 'If we do, maybe we won't get in the top 20, but maybe five years down the road they will be.' We kind of felt like the big players who started everything. I think we did a pretty good job of it."
For a lot of seniors just going to school for four years, let alone five, seems to take a million years. For Fogell, however, it depended on the time of the year.
"It does and it doesn't," he said. "It goes so quick, but while you're in the season it just seems like it's drawing out -- especially a losing season. It's long and drawn out, but it's done before you know it."
Fogell, a business logistics major, will graduate in May and is looking for a summer internship with Johnson & Johnson. He is free to talk to agents now, and after he finishes his internship he wants to take a shot at playing in Europe.
Right now, however, he can still revel in his successful career. But for all of his accomplishments, he still wants to be known as the common man.
"I like to be the quiet type of player who does a lot but kind of goes unnoticed," Fogell said. "The reputation that I wanted to have was the blue-collar type of guy who does the job."
