The knock on Larry Johnson's hotel-room door came at a late hour.

The Penn State tailback was hours away from debuting in the traditional navy-blue uniform and plain white helmet, hours away from playing football in front of almost 100,000 people and hours away from fulfilling a life-long dream.

Johnson grew up on Penn State football like most kids grow up on milk, cookies and Saturday morning cartoons.

Johnson dominated the high-school scene on Memorial Field as a State College Area High School standout, and was transitioning from Little Lion to Nittany Lion.

Curtis Enis left Penn State a year before his eligibility expired after he accepted a suit from a sports agent.

Penn State, a running school first and foremost, was in dire need of a tailback to carry the offense.

Aaron Harris was recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Chris Eberly failed a summer conditioning drill. Cordell Mitchell was unproven.

Johnson figured the sun would rise and he would begin his legacy as the tailback that would perpetuate Penn State's tradition when the Lions faced Southern Mississippi that fall football Saturday -- Sept. 5, 1998.

The knocking interrupted Johnson's vision.

The man on the other side of the Toftrees Hotel Resort & Conference Center door would provide perspective.

It was coach Joe Paterno.

Coach and player discussed the situation.

They discussed depth charts, playing time and graduation requirements.

It was a conversation Paterno would rather not have, yet it's a dialogue the coach re-iterates every year.

Eric McCoo wanted to play. Paterno wanted Johnson to redshirt.

"I took it as a learning experience," Johnson said. "It ended up being a great thing for me."

Theirs was a discussion that has been carried out for years throughout college campuses across the nation.

It pertains to an issue that has been debated in meetings, press conferences and in front of Congressional committees -- freshman eligibility.

Paterno will discuss eligibility with the 22 incoming freshmen, he will mention it with reporters during his weekly press conference nearly every Tuesday and he will state his case with anyone who will listen.

Paterno is one of freshman ineligibility's strongest proponents.

"I wouldn't play a freshman unless I felt that he was a backup kid who was going to play on special teams and was going to play with a sizable amount of time," Paterno said.

"You don't want to use up a year if you can help it. You are always weary about using up a year. That is the toughest part of this. That is why I wish they would make freshmen ineligible."

Paterno would rather the NCAA pass legislation that would require all true freshmen to sit out to acclimate to their first year on campus rather than pass judgment on which players will redshirt.

Paterno mandates true freshmen attend study hall for at least 10 hours per week.

He doesn't hold signing-day press conferences.

Paterno forbids reporters from interviewing true freshmen.

"Every time I have played a freshman," Paterno said, "I live to regret it."

The coach figures acclimating to college life -- living away from home, learning in a college academic environment and playing in Beaver Stadium -- is a rigorous adjustment for 18-year-old players he calls "kids."

Paterno's conversation with Johnson came two weeks into Johnson's first semester, and the tailback and integrative arts major was mulling how the outcome would affect his playing time and graduation date.

"It would take the pressure off the kids and families of student-athletes," Penn State Athletics Director Tim Curley said. "A lot of our student-athletes have a very short window to make that decision."

Paterno played four true freshmen last year -- about 70 percent of Division-I true freshmen redshirt -- last year.

Curley said freshman ineligibility would "level the playing field" and create a "more competitive" atmosphere.

While freshman ineligibility might allow players such as Johnson an extra year to concentrate on their studies, it won't come without a price -- the NCAA would raise its scholarship limitations for football and basketball programs. Football receives 85 scholarships. Men's basketball has 13, and its female counterpart hass 15. Title IX and other equity considerations could impact non-revenue sports.

Freshman ineligibility might also prompt high-school basketball players to bypass college and enter the professional ranks.

Then again, the Washington Wizards selected high-schooler Kwame Brown as the first overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, and freshman ineligibility hasn't been enforced since it was repealed in 1972.

"Freshmen ineligibility would send a clear and unambiguous message that school comes before athletics," Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said.

"It would ease the transition for student-athletes and discourage those who are only coming to school for athletics. It would substantially improve the environment of college athletics. We should have a degree of commitment to the educational experience."

Rene Portland values that commitment, yet the women's basketball coach evaluates freshmen "based on an individual circumstances."

Portland mandates all incoming freshmen enroll during the summer before their first semesters to ease the transition for a sport that competes in the Fall and Spring Semesters. Portland started two true freshmen this season.

Portland "encourages" players to consider the five-year plan, but also said, "If I wasn't able to play our freshmen, we wouldn't have gone to the Sweet 16. What would you do with a kid?"

The NCAA men's basketball coaches association proposed this month to give players five years of eligibility -- with or without a redshirt season.

While some players might benefit from an extra season, others, like Kelly Mazzante, transition without sitting out in the first year.

"It is an individual thing," Portland said. "I do have that choice to protect someone. I think they have to look at it sport by sport and gender to gender. There are a lot of sports with a lot of specific things."

Paterno and Portland will discuss eligibility and redshirting with each of their incoming freshmen.

They will evaluate each player's academic and athletic preparation.

Each player has his or her own story; each player has his or own circumstances.

They will debate an issue that causes many people, including Penn State President and former NCAA Division I Board of Directors Chairperson Graham Spanier, to sit on the proverbial fence.

"Freshman ineligibility would help with many of the issues now facing athletics, including the academic transition," Spanier said in an e-mail. "On the other hand, the discipline that comes with being a part of a team can help certainly athletes stay focused as freshmen."

Johnson might have been dismayed with the initial decision to redshirt, but, four years later, he appreciates its impact.

Three Penn State running backs -- McCoo, Omar Easy and Eddie Drummond -- have expired their eligibilities.

Johnson will be Paterno's most experienced returning tailback who will carry the offensive load.

He learned the offense on the scout team while preparing the like of LaVar Arrington and Courtney Brown.

He felt "confident" when he made his debut against Arizona in the 1999 Pigskin Classic.

"The other guys were getting run down," Johnson said. "I was just getting started."

The fresh-ineligibility debate, though, it seems will never end.