Anyone who knows anything about Penn State basketball knows that the problem is talent.

Even the 2001 team that went to the Sweet 16 was made up of all heart and guts and pure luck. Not a single player from that team, coached by the departed Jerry Dunn, plays in the NBA.

Dunn probably didn't get enough credit for motivating his squad.

But after consecutive seven-win seasons as an encore, it was clearly the time for him to go. And for the Penn State fans out there longing for something to cheer about in the cold months between the bowl and Blue-White games, this seemed to be athletic director Tim Curley's perfect opportunity to turn this thing around.

But Curley once played quarterback for Joe Paterno and, true to form, he turned around and handed the ball off to the tailback for the old up-the-middle run.

No big risk here. Penn State doesn't often try for the big play.

Ed DeChellis seems like a nice guy. He's a good family man, a guy who cares about grades and about the lives of his players.

A former Penn State undergraduate and assistant coach under Bruce Parkhill, DeChellis says this is his dream job. He's a perfect student of the Penn State way. Too bad the Penn State way has proven time after time to be completely ineffective in the world of college basketball. It's not because there's anything wrong with the Penn State way.

It was a pleasure to watch guys like Joe Crispin and Titus Ivory carry that 2001 team in their senior seasons.

And it's comforting to know that they graduated and hopefully learned something about life while roaming this campus.

All that happy stuff doesn't help win games, though. Kansas' Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich were both seniors. Syracuse's Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara, both freshmen, beat them for the national championship.

It's all about talent. So the question remains: what exactly will DeChellis be able to tell top recruits that Dunn couldn't? That remains to be seen. He'll have the same qualities to tout: good academics, a nice facility, a chance to play in the Big Ten, etc.

Those things have never worked before. What makes DeChellis the man to change that?

The answer given to this question thus far has been: well, he recruited really well for East Tennessee State University. He sure did. He stole away all the best recruits from Southern Conference rivals Appalachian State, Furman and some place called Wofford.

Tom Izzo at Michigan State is shaking in his boots.

DeChellis's job will be made doubly hard because of the unstable mental condition of the team he inherits. At least three players revealed at the end of the season that they were considering leaving if they didn't get what they wanted. You have to wonder what all the whining from inside the program meant. Was Dunn that bad, or is there more to it?

Whatever happens with those current players, DeChellis would be best served by cutting ties with any player that doesn't immediately buy into his system. At the very least, his first step will be to make his presence known, to put his mark on this program.

What's clear is that he cannot continue down the current path, even if that's what Curley brought him here to do.