During the Penn State men's basketball team's preseason media day in mid-October, sophomore power forward/center Aaron Johnson sat up in his chair and boldly promised team success.

For a 7-21 team lacking its two leading scorers, the guarantee seemed improbable, especially after "HoJo" was forced to undergo retina surgery on Oct. 29. He missed the first month of the season, and the team finished the calendar year 5-5.

Recently, however, Penn State has jumped to a 2-1 Big Ten record, with a now-goggled Johnson serving as a spark plug from the bench.

Johnson's strongest game came against Michigan State last Wednesday. In the contest, Penn State fell behind 20-8, with Spartan center Paul Davis controlling the paint and dominating Penn State's Robert Summers. Johnson came into the game and made an immediate impact, putting in two quick lay-ups and combining with freshman Marlon Smith to cut Michigan State's lead to five, 30-25, with 1:41 remaining in the first half.

The Lions would eventually lose, 76-58, but Johnson finished with a team-high 17 points in a spirited 29-minute effort.

In Penn State's last three games, Johnson averaged 13 points and more than 25 minutes per game. He accumulated 12 points against Ohio State and 11 versus Minnesota, and has found success in establishing an inside presence.

According to Penn State men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis, Johnson has been a productive sixth man and will remain a bench player as a result.

"Should he be starting when you look at minutes and points? Yeah, probably," DeChellis said. "But we're a team and guys need to do certain things for us."

During his freshman year, Johnson played a similar role for the Lions ranking near the conference lead in rebounds and averaging more than eight points per game last season.

While Johnson has thrived, Summers, the team's starting center, has been inconsistent, fluctuating between his seven-point, eight-rebound performance against Ohio State and his lackluster showing at Michigan State, in which he fouled out and finished the game with just two points. However, DeChellis said Summers has a spot as a starter.

"I think sometimes we look at starting as really important, but I look at minutes as really important," DeChellis said. "As of right now, we're going to leave things kind of the way they are because I love Aaron's production off the bench."