A week ago he was training in England as part of the British National team. Now, he will be competing with the Nittany Lions as a member of the Penn State men's gymnastics team.

"His name is Lee Ricketts. He's from England, and he's here," Lion gymnast Dave Riordan said. "He's a good gymnast, so he's going to be on our team now."

After traveling to Buffalo over the summer to participate in the World University Games, Ricketts contacted Lions' Coach Randy Jepson to inquire about joining Penn State's program.

"I've got a friend who lives in Penn State and so we came down to see him after the Games, and I organized a meeting with Randy and he offered me the scholarship," the Nottingham native said.

Ricketts intends to follow in the footsteps of former Penn State gymnasts Terry Bartlett and Ian Shelly, who represented Great Britain in the 1992 Summer Olympics.

"About four or five English gymnasts have come to Penn State and gone back as gymnasts after, so I thought I'd give it a try," he said.

Currently, Ricketts is the British champion on the pommel horse and he took the bronze medal on the rings at the last British Championship. With the recent ineligibility of pommel horse specialist Joel Neuwirth, Ricketts is a timely addition to the team.

"I watched him swing horse," Lion gymnast Tony Pansy said. "He's real good on horse. The only thing, we didn't tumble or vault so I haven't seen him on floor or vaulting, but the other four events looked real strong."

Even though Ricketts arrived in State College a few days after Neuwirth became ineligible, the two incidents are completly separate.

"He wanted to come here anyway, and my leaving is just me," Neuwirth said. Ricketts has known since July that he would be coming to Penn State, but he said that last week was the earliest he could arrive. He was "trying to organize a scholarship," he said.

Ricketts' versatility will be a welcome contribution to the team. He hopes to be a "six-piece" by competing in the all-around. Jepson intends to use him as just that.

"I would envision him probably in as many as six events," Jepson said.

At 22 years old, Ricketts has a lot of international experience to draw upon if he's needed in the all-around. But first, he will have to adjust to new teammates, and they will have to adjust to him.

"It's probably going to be weird for some people for a little while just because we've been working out as a team for so long together," Neuwirth said. "Then, all of a sudden, there's going to be a new person here."

But with a little time, Neuwirth expects Ricketts to fit right in.

"He's very funny -- very funny guy," he said. "He's very personable. He's a fun person to hang out with."

With less than a week to work out with the team, Ricketts hopes to get his first chance to compete as a Nittany Lion when the team travels to Syracuse this weekend.