TEANECK, N.J. -- As hundreds of Division I men's basketball coaches gathered to scout America's top high school basketball talent, Penn State assistant coach Kurt Kanaskie was scouring the courts for wins.

Wins will only come from attracting talent to the Bryce Jordan Center, and the Nittany Lion coaching staff can only hope that some of the talent displayed by those participating in this week's Reebok ABCD camp in northern New Jersey will decide in the 18 months to don the Penn State blue and white.

Since making a run to the Sweet 16 in 2001, the Lions are 30-84, with just nine wins in Big Ten play. Under current head coach Ed DeChellis the team has gone 16-42 in two years, with eight players transferring since DeChellis' predecessor, Jerry Dunn, resigned in March 2003. Among those leaving the program after last season were forward Aaron Johnson and guard Marlon Smith, the team's only proven players entering last season.

But there is a sense of guarded optimism coming from Kanaskie -- the lone Penn State coach who made the trip to ABCD at Fairleigh Dickinson University -- when speaking about the players that have left the team for various reasons in his two years at Penn State.

"Our talent base has really improved over a year ago, there's no question about that," Kanaskie said. "Sometimes it's not disappointing when a guy decides to leave -- especially when they're not buying into what we're trying to accomplish."

What the Lions are trying to accomplish is a base climb from the depths of the Big Ten basement, where the program has finished four seasons in a row.

Ohio State assistant coach John Groce agreed with Kanaskie that, in some cases, having players transfer out of the program can be a good thing. The experience possessed by those student athletes is difficult to replace, however, and some transfers take a toll on the coaching staff.

"Nothing replaces experience," Groce said. "Sometimes you have a good kid, a good player, and you just hate to lose him. In certain situations there's no question a coach would take it personally and be bothered by it."

While Groce emphasized experience and the proper mentality as keys to rebuilding, former Notre Dame and North Carolina coach Matt Doherty, now in his first year trying to build Florida Atlantic's program, said there is no substitute for good players.

"The key is that you've gotta have players," Doherty said.

In search of those players this week is Kanaskie, who sat with other Big Ten assistants yesterday -- some of whom were scouting the same prep players.

The Lions return just one senior in Travis Parker and will, yet again, be a youthful squad. Nevertheless, Kanaskie and the coaching staff are hard at work trying to find more youth to fill vacancies for the recruiting classes of 2006 and beyond.

"We have two scholarships upcoming [for 2006], and we've already gotten one guy from the western part of the state," Kanaskie said. "We only have one more guy to get, and we feel good about that. Right now we're recruiting some underclassmen and trying to secure that last scholarship."

Penn State, however, with its current cellar-dweller status, is a tough sell for top hoops recruits.

"If you're playing at a camp like this with all these coaches watching, why are you going to choose Penn State over a school like Pittsburgh," Sports Illustrated analyst Seth Davis said.

Doherty believes the Lions have their work cut out for them and that, in some cases, programs cannot turn things around, no matter how hard they try.

"Not every program can win," Doherty said. "In the Big Ten, Michigan State and Illinois will generally be at the top of the heap each and every year.

"Right now [Penn State] isn't a desirable place for a recruit to go play. That's something that has to be created by the administration -- or maybe it can't be created."

Doherty knows a thing or two about improving programs in a hurry. In 2000, his only year with Notre Dame, he immediately turned around a program that was without a 20-win season since 1989. The Fighting Irish finished with a 22-15 record. His 26-7 North Carolina team in 2001 was upset by none other than Dunn's Lions in the Sweet 16.

"At Notre Dame ... I was blessed to inherit some good players. We built on that, then took it to the next level," Doherty said.

"They have a good coach there in Ed DeChellis, they've won before. Jerry Dunn beat my Carolina team in the Sweet 16; but can it be done on a consistent basis? That's the challenge every school faces."

For a Penn State program that has won just nine conference games in four years, almost everything at this point -- including keeping players on the team -- is a challenge.