When Penn State men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis accepted an offer to coach the Nittany Lions nearly a year ago, he understood that he wouldn't be taking over one of college basketball's finest programs.

The fact that the Lions went 7-21 in each of the previous two seasons wasn't hidden from DeChellis, nor was the possibility that a key player would request a transfer within a year.

Nonetheless, the hard-nosed coach came in with high expectations and crossed fingers. With a little bit of luck, DeChellis saw some signs of promise in his new players.

Then they started falling like bottles of beer off the wall.

Sharif Chambliss left before the season began. Aaron Johnson re-injured his eye and was forced to sit out for several weeks. Then, Brandon Cameron entered DeChellis' office to request a release from his scholarship. DeForrest Riley-Smith followed and packed his bags for Xavier. And now, Ndu Egekeze is running gingerly on what might be a stress fracture in his foot.

And somehow, after all he has seen, DeChellis' glass remains half-full.

"We've had some injuries and a couple guys leave, but I'm more concerned about the guys that are here and what they're doing." DeChellis said. "We have really molded and blended and stuck together. That has been the most important thing, that the guys believe in themselves and what we're trying to do."

For the first time in four years, the team finished its non-conference schedule at 6-5. For the first time since the 1995-96 season, the Lions won their first two Big Ten games. For the first time in years, the Penn State men's basketball team has given its fans something to talk about.

With everything seemingly gone wrong, the Lions are 8-6. That means they could lose from here on out and still finish better than they have in the past two seasons.

But it doesn't look as if DeChellis is about to let that happen, either. Though he sees that his plate is beyond full, the coach is not yet ready to give up on this season.

"We've had a little bit of success, winning a couple conference games," DeChellis said. "I think that gave us some confidence. But, we're a very, very young team. We're very inexperienced. We're not very deep. We're not a lot of things. What we are, though, is that I think we try to compete, and we're trying to get each guy to play to their strengths."

DeChellis added that he has had to change his initial plan, though. Coming in, his intention was to condition the Lions until they could become a fast-paced transitioning offense. However, with injured players and a shallow bench, fundamentals seem to be the key for this team.

The one constant obstacle that DeChellis knew he needed to overcome from the beginning was confidence, both for the team and for the individual players. Only one player on the team, fifth-year senior Egekeze, has experienced what it's like to be part of a winning team at Penn State.

"What has been tough for us to get through, at times, is expectations," DeChellis said. "I don't think our guys expected a whole lot. You can sit back and say we lost this guy and then we lose another guy. And all of a sudden, I think players want to lower their expectations. And all we've talked about is raising our expectations. It's been a constant battle every day in practice to get them to think the way we want them to think."

With the embarrassing loss at Michigan State and what's sure to be another tough road test tonight against Illinois, DeChellis is going to have even more work to do to keep the team confidence level high.