Matt Gaudio was finally back in a familiar situation. He had made a successful return to the basketball floor, playing 14 minutes in Penn State's 97-44 trouncing of the Samara Club of Russia.

He was in the media room afterwards, rehashing the events which led to his prolonged injury status. He was answering questions about how hard it has been rehabilitating, and how rewarding it feels to be back.

And he was describing how the injury happened.

"(John) Amaechi did it really," Gaudio joked within earshot of the Nittany Lion center.

He's definitely back.

He found out earlier this week from Coach Bruce Parkhill that he would definitely see some playing time against the Russians, maybe 10 minutes or so.

"Oh, big deal," Gaudio said of his initial feelings.

It's easy for him to joke about it now, considering there was a time he felt like giving up basketball completely.

He was in so much pain. At one point the back pain was causing his legs to hurt, keeping him bedridden for days, Gaudio said. It took a lot of convincing from his parents, his relatives, his friends, his girlfriend and even the football team's resident back specialist for him to stick with it.

"I talked a lot to Craig Fayak," Gaudio said, adding that even though he knows he'll have to keep on a strength and conditioning program for the rest of his life, it'll be well worth it.

"I'm not just here to play basketball," he said. "I have to be healthy to live a normal college life."

Granted he'll eventually get more minutes. Right now he's just feeling his way back into the lineup. Last night's exhibition game was a step in the right direction.

"For not having played for a long time I thought he looked good," Parkhill said. "It would have been easy for him to look rusty and out of sync, but I thought he looked good."

He may or may not play significant minutes against Vanderbilt in the team's opener on Friday. But Parkhill knows that if Gaudio doesn't play, it won't be through a lack of effort.

"He's really a tough kid and a hard worker," Parkhill said. "Going into Vanderbilt he will have done as much as he can to get himself ready."