Ten feet.
It's what separates two particular doors opposite the South Gym in the Bryce Jordan Center.
It separates a bottom-of-the-conference team from an Elite Eight contender.
Ten feet is the distance between the locker rooms of the struggling, not-so-popular Nittany Lion basketball team and the nationally ranked, fan-favorite Lady Lions.
Freshman guard Mike Walker is among the players on the Penn State men's basketball team who passes through the less appealing doorway of the side-by-side locker rooms, day-in and day-out. Tired or rejuvenated. Bombarded with school work or not. Whether he feels like it or doesn't. After a win or loss.
"There's so much that goes into it," Walker said. "I mean, every day, just like the girls, who are doing good, we're doing the same stuff. We're losing, but it's not like we aren't preparing as much."
His day doesn't start and end in the locker room, though. It's much more complicated than that.
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Walker begins his Wednesday morning with three eggs cooked over-easy, two lightly toasted pieces of rye, a banana and glasses of orange juice and Gatorade, compliments of McElwain Dining Hall. Usually junior forward Travis Parker, freshman guard Danny Morrissey and, if he gets up early enough to make the 9:30 a.m. breakfast, freshman forward Geary Claxton will accompany Walker.
Before heading to class, the worst part of the day is already over.
"Probably waking up in the morning [is my least favorite part of the day]," he said. "It feels so good sleeping. Every day I just want to sleep in. We wake up and we have so much to do during the day."
Traveling up Shortlidge Road, Walker makes small talk with freshman forward Brandon Hassell before attending American Studies 100 at 10:10 a.m. An announcement at the beginning of class excites Walker -- class will be canceled that Friday, meaning he can sleep in until his next class at 11:15 a.m.
On the way out of the classroom, Penn State women's volleyball player and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Kate Price is the first of three fans to inquire about the quality of the Northwestern team the Lions would face that Saturday.
"No, they aren't ranked, but they are going to be good," Walker says.
On the way to Math 110 in the Sparks building, Walker talks about how Penn State is a great fit for him. It's about an hour away from his Lewisberry home. It's a drastic change from Trinity High School, where the student body consisted of about 500.
He reflects back to early childhood when he attended Penn State basketball games with his father and three older brothers. He particularly remembers the Crispin brothers and, since then, it's always been Penn State. After many offers by the end of his high school career, it could've been University of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, or Pittsburgh, among others.
"This place is perfect for me," he said. "I love it here."
He doesn't feel the same kind of love for Math 110 and figuring out that "as 'x' gets close to 'a,' to what value does the function f(X) get close to?" He has a study buddy, though, in classmate Morrissey, as well as a tutor offered by the MBNA Center.
After a noontime lunch at the HUB, during which Walker was surprised to find pickles on his chicken sandwich in his first-ever Chick-fil-A experience, the guards report to the MBNA Center. Walker meets with the academic support center's assistant director Sandy Meyer every Wednesday in hopes of maintaining or improving his 3.4 GPA from the fall semester.
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