He was overlooked eight years ago, but now he is back to coach his alma mater.

Ed DeChellis will formally be introduced as Jerry Dunn's successor at a press conference today at 11 a.m. by Penn State President Graham Spanier and Athletic Director Tim Curley.

DeChellis served one season under Dunn as an assistant, before spending the last seven seasons as the coach at East Tennessee State.

He will be the 11th Penn State men's basketball coach and has posted a record of 38-21 over the last two seasons, including an NCAA Tournament appearance this season. Dunn suffered through back-to-back 7-21 seasons, prompting his resignation on March 17.

Both DeChellis and Dunn were assistant coaches under Bruce Parkhill, but when Parkhill suddenly resigned in September 1995, Dunn was chosen over DeChellis.

Parkhill said the decision to hire DeChellis was a good one for Penn State, and that he knew DeChellis would end up with a good job.

"Some will say that it was a hire from within," Parkhill said. "But Ed is a rising star, and the fact that he knows Penn State is a plus. He has been out on his own for seven years and done an incredible job."

DeChellis' career record at East Tennessee stands at 105-93. DeChellis' squad lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to second-seeded Wake Forest, 76-73.

DeChellis

DeChellis spent a total of 12 years as an assistant at Penn State, including two years as a graduate assistant.

"I'm a very excited about this opportunity to return to Penn State," DeChellis said in a released statement. "Penn State is an exceptional institution. It has a rich and proud athletic tradition, and is a member of one of the nation's premier conferences in the Big Ten."

However, he said it was not easy walking away from East Tennessee, where he was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year for the past two seasons.

"This was a very hard decision to leave East Tennessee State," DeChellis said. "The hardest part of this is leaving the current players. I owe a great deal to this team and previous teams."

DeChellis has been tabbed as a good recruiter -- he has been credited with recruiting former Penn State players John Amaechi, Matt Gaudio, Dan Earl, Pete Lisicky, Calvin Booth and Jarrett Stephens. Six of his former players, including Earl, Lisicky, and Gaudio, sent a letter to Spanier endorsing DeChellis to be the next coach, the Harrisburg Patriot-News reported Tuesday.

"Coach DeChellis had a great relationship with all the players," Earl said in a released statement. "He knows the game of basketball, was a great teacher and can recruit."

East Tennessee State President Paul Stanton said DeChellis nurtured the school's basketball program well. In his seven years, DeChellis went from a 7-20 team in his first season to a perennial contender in the Southern Conference, including three consecutive first-place finishes.

"He has built a fine basketball program at ETSU, and he has done so in the right way," Stanton said. "Ed understands that character and classroom ability create winning programs, just as much as athletic skill."