During the waning moments of the men's basketball team's victories against Minnesota and Purdue, unknowledgeable students in attendance directed the chant "overrated" toward the visitors. By doing so, they have diminished our team's magnificent accomplishments.

After a humbling inaugural season in the Big Ten last year, Coach Bruce Parkhill and the squad have finally given the student body reason to be proud. In return the fans decided that the team's feats have been less than spectacular.

The lowly Lions defeated the then-ranked No. 18 Golden Gophers and the No. 7 Boilermakers. These two teams have proven themselves against some of the best programs in the nation and were deserving of their high rankings.

How can a bunch of court-side morons say they were never actually good? The fact is that our guys hustled their butts off and outplayed two very talented teams.

Penn State is certainly gaining the respect of other Big Ten basketball programs. Minnesota Coach Clem Haskins and Purdue Coach Gene Keady had nothing but praise for Coach Parkhill and the Lions. And I'll bet Indiana Coach Bobby Knight is not thrilled about bringing his Hoosiers to Rec Hall on Saturday.

Our fans have displayed their excitement (and immaturity) by mobbing the court after the recent triumphs. It would be nice if they also demonstrated some respect with their words.