Earl makes it official: he'll be back

If it was up to Penn State point guard Dan Earl, he wouldn't have told anyone except his teammates and coaches that he was pursuing a sixth year of eligibility.

But the powers that be told Earl he must let everyone else know. So on Friday Earl sat down in The Bryce Jordan Center media room and confirmed what The Daily Collegian reported on Jan. 22.

"This is not really a big deal to me," Earl said. "But I just wanted to let you guys know, I've come to my decision about coming back next year and I'm planning on playing next year, hopefully."

Earl was quick to add "hopefully" because the sixth year is not guaranteed. He is considered a prime candidate for the extra year because he sat out the 1996-97 with a degenerative disc in his back, and this season ended for the Medford Lakes, N.J., native a few minutes into the fifth game when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

The decision was not a tough one for Earl, who is now taking graduate courses before entering a graduate program in business logistics. He said when he sat down and weighed his options there wasn't much of an argument for not returning next season.

"I've been leaning toward it the whole time," Earl said. "I think the first and biggest reason is that I still love the game and I love competing."

Earl was a Nittany Lion starter for three seasons before redshirting last year. His 463 assists rank third all-time at Penn State. He also holds the Penn State record for assists as a freshman with 113.

The 6-foot-4 senior returned this season to lead the Lions to a 4-0 start before tearing his ACL against Lehigh. Since that time, Penn State has gone 6-8.

Earl said another reason he decided to go after the sixth year was he didn't want to look back at his career and say, "What if?"

"Ten years from now I don't think I'm going to say, 'What if I got a job?' or 'What if I went into coaching this first year?' " Earl said. "However, in reverse if I did go into coaching this year or get a job in the business world I think it's highly likely 10 years from now I'd look back and say, 'I could have played or I should have played or what if I would have played what could I have done?' I don't want to have any regrets down the line."

Penn State has already filed with the Big Ten for a medical hardship waiver, said John Coyle, Penn State's faculty representative to the NCAA and Big Ten. This has to be done because Earl competed this year. Under NCAA rules, a sixth year cannot be granted unless an athlete was unable to compete for medical reasons for two years.

Since Earl competed in less than 20 percent of Penn State's games he is eligible to get the medical hardship waiver which essentially gives him this year back. If he is granted the medical hardship, then Penn State will file with the NCAA to get the sixth year, Coyle said.

The NCAA sometimes waits until after the season is over to determine these cases, but Coyle said he is hopeful, since it is known Earl will not return this year, the NCAA will act on the appeal immediately.