No more than four people lingered in Rec Hall's main gym Monday afternoon, and three of them would soon be forced out when the men's basketball team took the court for practice.

The fourth, a freshman with a remarkable jumper, would stick around for a while. He had work to do.

Pete Lisicky was early for practice, trying to rediscover the range on a shot that had dazzled Penn State fans early in the season, but had since deserted him.

"It began right about the Big Ten (season), even a couple games before that," Lisicky said candidly of the slump in which he currently finds himself. "I think the shots I've been getting are just the same kind of shots I was getting in the beginning of the year."

But the results are not the same kind of results. In the Lions' first nine games, the shooting guard hit a blistering 55 percent of his shots from the field, including an almost unbelievable 51 percent from three-point range.

Since Penn State began conference play in January, however, Lisicky has shot only 23 percent from the floor and 18 percent from behind the arc. But the good news for the Lions is that Lisicky's spirits have not floundered with his shot.

"You can't let it get to you," he said. "It's something I have to work on and just keep on concentrating. It'll come along."

The Whitehall native came to State College with a blue-chip reputation earned through some impressive exploits, including a victory at a national three-point shootout after his junior year.

But Lisicky is well-aware his time on the floor must be filled with more than just jumpers, accurate or otherwise, and his coach has no complaint about his commitment.

"I think Pete has given a really good effort in the other parts of his game," Lion Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "Pete's effort is rather exceptional for a freshman. A lot of freshmen have to learn to work as hard as you have to at this level, and Pete seems to have come in and really played at that level of intensity right away, which is really impressive to us."

While he may still be acclimating himself on the court, Lisicky seems to have the rest of college life under control. He's learned the art of balancing classes, sleep and a social life with his hoops responsibilities and even the folks back home say he has settled in.

"I think he's adjusting real well, from talking to him," said Ron Hassler, Lisicky's high school coach. "I think it was an easy adjustment for him."

So the rest of Pete Lisicky's life is in order, leaving nothing but that jumper to worry about. And if the worries should get to him, a teammate only a year removed from similar shoes has some advice.

"I didn't feel that much pressure," sophomore point guard Dan Earl said, "and I don't think Pete should feel pressure."

Last season, Earl was also a highly-touted freshman expected to provide the Lions with immediate offensive help. Earl survived his time in the crucible, proving himself an able floor leader, and his experience and support have stuck in Lisicky's head.

"Everyone's just been behind me, saying, 'Don't worry about it, work on everything else, and that'll come,' " Lisicky said.

He expects it to come, just as it did in the first half of the season, and just as it has ever since he perfected it on the neighborhood playground back in Whitehall.

"I'd never miss," he said, "because it's my court."

Until Rec Hall takes on that familiarity, Lisicky will keep working. Or he could heed a friend's advice and head home for a weekend session at the playground, where the shots are still automatic.

It might seem a drastic measure, but Lisicky, good humor still evident, had to admit with a smile, "I was thinking about it."