Most Penn State basketball fans can recite the names Freddie Barnes, Monroe Brown, DeRon Hayes and Dave Degitz in their sleep.

Why? Because guards Barnes and Brown have kept their backcourt tandem intact since 1988, it's Hayes's third year starting at small forward and Degitz's second at center.

Those four names are a given, barring injury, when it comes to naming a starting lineup for Coach Bruce Parkhill's squad this season. And they are the least of his concerns as his ninth pre/exhibition season inches closer and closer to the season-opening clash Nov. 25 at Illinois.

So far, this preseason has been loaded with questions seeking answers since practice officially began Oct. 15.

For starters, take the mass infiltration of new players into the program. There have been pleasant surprises (forward Brian Anderson and guards Donovan Williams and Steve Wydman). But with seven new players, the team's progression has slowed in practice.

And that has affected Parkhill's ability to establish a top eight-man rotation before the second exhibition game against the Cuban National Team Monday.

While the number of new players will challenge Parkhill and his staff during the 1991-92 season, how quickly the new players familiarize themselves with their positions remains to be seen.

"What we tell them (the freshmen) is do whatever you do hard. If you're going to goof up, goof up hard. We want them to stay aggressive and that was encouraging. I think we're a bit behind in how well we're doing things. We have so many faces, there's no getting around that affecting our team."

"The sooner you establish a top eight, the more it helps the cohesiveness. If you have a couple of guys that are struggling they may slide. It's never etched in stone."

This year's team, however, definitely will take on a new complexion from last year's 21-11 squad.

Who will replace space-eater, power forward James Barnes?

With only 18 days left until the Lions' opener , junior Eric Carr (3 points and 6 boards against Marathon), and freshman Matt Gaudio (8 points in 13 minutes) seem to be the front runners for that important position.

But Barnes's 12.8 points-per-game and 7.5 rebounds-per-game will be big shoes to fill.

After Sunday's 90-76 victory over Marathon Oil, Parkhill, while pleased with his team's offensive execu tion, expressed concern about defensive rebounding.

"I thought we played real well together on offense," Parkhill said. "We're not close yet on the defensive boards."

Degitz, who scored 12 points last weekend, agreed.

"We played good defense here and there. Rebounding is going to be very important because replacing James is going to be tough."

-- Parkhill is also concerned about sophomore Elton Carter who was supposed to be in the running to start at power forward. His right ankle still hasn't healed properly and Parkhill doesn't know when he'll resume practice. Carter turned the ankle during last Wednesday's Blue-White game and has been out of action since.

Speaking of the bruised and battered, guard Michael Jennings, who did not play Sunday because of brusied ribs (a non-basketball related injury) is back and practicing.

-- Parkhill said he is pleased with Degitz and Brown.

Degitz, bulked up from last year, demonstrated that he will be a force in the pivot this season.

"Dave is stronger this year and playing well. We just hope he can stay healthy. He's having a good preseason."

"It seems like every year it(strength) kind of wears down a bit -- I'm trying to keep that strength this year."

Brown lit up Marathon Oil for 17 points, bombing 3 three-pointers. Brown, the team's defensive specialist is looking for his shot this year.

"When he's open he's a good three-point shooter," Parkhill said. "His shot looks much better this year. It's got a higher arch. He's making good decisions. He knows we have to get other people the ball, but Monnie's a team player."

Brown said, "Yeah I'm trying to look for my shot more. Whenever I had a shot I was ready to take it. I'm putting more arch on it,but when I first started doing it it was very difficult."

-- On the alley-oop that failed in Sunday's game:

"We're 0-for-50 on the alley oop. But we have a couple of kids who can pull that off," Parkhill said.