ATLANTA — The future of Penn State basketball belongs to Brandon Watkins.

After playing behind Joe Crispin for the past two seasons, Watkins proved on Friday night that, despite losing Crispin to graduation, the guard position would remain strong at Penn State.

"Joe is a great guard and has done a lot for the team," Watkins said following Friday's loss to Temple. "But now I know that I have to step in build to the team's success that we had this year."

Watkins has played a lot despite backing up Crispin throughout his past two seasons at Penn State. At times, Lions head coach Jerry Dunn had both Crispin and Watkins in the backcourt, but with the departure of Crispin, Watkins realizes it is his team now.

"There have been a lot of great guards that have come through Penn State," Watkins said. "Like Pete Lisicky, Danny Earl and Joe Crispin, I just hope I can be the next."

When Crispin fouled out of the game with a little more than four minutes remaining, it was Watkins that continued to cut into the Owls' lead by scoring all of his 12 points in the second half.

"Brandon did a good job for us tonight," Titus Ivory said. "He's a smart player and knows how to play the game real well. I'm glad I had the opportunity to play with some these younger guys."

With Watkins running the point next season, some would expect freshman Jamaal Tate to pickup Ivory's starting spot and Marcus Banta to take over Gyasi Cline-Heard's starting role.

All three have played a lot this season and all three are well aware of the shoes they will have to fill. With the departures of Crispin, Ivory and Cline-Heard, it takes away more than 65 percent of Penn State's scoring. The trio averaged in double digits throughout much of the season and Cline-Heard gave Penn State the inside presence it desperately needed.

"Those three guys will definitely be missed," Banta said. "But I think me and Brandon and the rest of the guys will be ready. We know we will have to work hard in the off-season but I think we will okay."

The youth and determination will fuel this team next season. The questions, however, will soon asked about how Penn State can repeat a Sweet 16 performance without its best players.

Who will step up? These similar questions were asked when Lisicky sent the Lions into the NCAA Tournament in 1996 and then took them five years to get back. Will the same thing happen to next year's team?

We'll soon find out.