Iowa game center of Dunn's attention

With all the trials and tribulations his team has endured this year it would be forgivable if Penn State basketball coach Jerry Dunn admitted he was looking forward to the end of his team's season. But he is having none of that.

"I am just looking forward to preparing for Iowa and playing the game," he said at his weekly news conference yesterday.

And while Dunn won't look past his team's next, and final game, he does admit this season has not sped by. With all his team has gone through and experienced, he said the season has been quite long.

Coupled with all the struggles the Nittany Lions have endured this year, attendance has been noticeably down, and there have been more than a few empty seats. However, one part of the Bryce Jordan Center that has been filled for almost every game is the student section. But this year's seating plan for the students has made many of them unhappy.

Students expressed their feelings at halftime of the Illinois game as Athletic Director Tim Curley and University President Graham Spanier walked off the court after an awards ceremony. At that point the students began to chant, "We want our seats."

Dunn said he has been involved in all of the administration's talks about student seating and that it has not been easy.

"There never is an easy solution," he said. "But we will keep working until we can hopefully satisfy both parties."

One thing Dunn has not been satisfied with this year is his team's schedule. Namely, he did not like having three straight road games and ending the season on the road.

"They say it all works out, and it all evens out and it changes from year to year," he said. "But I'm not real happy about it."

And with all that has happened, one thing Dunn has not had to remember is his knee. He conducted much of his preseason practice on crutches after dislocating his knee at a basketball clinic in October. But as the long Big Ten season began, his knee got lost in the shuffle.

"My knee is a forgotten amigo," he said. "I've negligently put it on the back burner, because I just did not have the time to rehab it like I should. I have a lot of work to do in that area."