Ed DeChellis told his players after Sunday afternoon's practice that he wasn't sure whether this was the end of the line. He walked off the court, not knowing if he'd step on it again this season.

Senior forward Travis Parker was in a similar position -- his basketball career, at least on a collegiate scale, was hanging in the balance. About 9 p.m., Parker and the Nittany Lions would discover whether they had earned a spot in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).

It would be the first postseason bid in five years, but Parker acknowledged his confidence wasn't exactly soaring.

"I'm gonna be honest. I didn't think we'd get in because a lot of the teams I thought were gonna get in the NCAAs didn't make it, and I thought they'd take the place of us," he said.

Parker was referring to Michigan, who many people believed would earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the Wolverines earned a No. 1 seed in the NIT.

Junior guard Ben Luber also said he wasn't thinking Penn State would garner a postseason berth -- but was happily surprised when he was informed about tonight's game.

"I don't think anybody who came in with my class ever thought we'd ever make a postseason tournament, regardless, NIT or NCAA," Luber said.

According to Parker, the message was supposed to be passed from DeChellis to certain players who would, in turn, tell their teammates, but most players were too anxious, and found out the news through other channels.

"Coach said they were gonna call around and let certain people know," Parker said. "The word just spread from there."

Word spread quickly through the grapevine. Luber instant messaged sophomore guard Mike Walker, who was at Sunday night mass. Walker knew the seedings would be announced during the church service, but he couldn't take the suspense.

He lasted 30 minutes before checking his cell phone.

"I felt bad about checking it in church -- I was going to try to wait -- but I couldn't focus on church so I had to check on it really quickly," he said, smiling.

Walker may not have yelled "Hallelujah," but he did say he and teammate Danny Morrissey let out a collective sigh of relief, as did much of the team.

Freshman Jamelle Cornley found out with two other teammates who were keeping watch on the internet.

"I was in my room, and Nikola [Obradovic] and Milos [Bogetic] were on the Internet looking at the Web site around 9:30, 9:45 and they found out we were playing Rutgers," Cornley said. "It was like a sigh of relief for the most part."

The postseason berth, and the qualifying 15-14 record, was a huge step for a program that hadn't won 10 games since 2001. DeChellis said making the postseason gives players the incentive to work harder during the offseason.

"It puts us back into one of the top 100 teams in the country," DeChellis said. "When we started, we weren't very good here -- but in two short years, we've made some drastic improvements."

Luber said there's no telling how far the team will go next year. And the added playoff experience can't hurt either -- no current Penn State player has ever experienced a collegiate postseason game.

That will all change tonight and should carry over to next season. But, for now, Penn State's not quite sure what to expect.

"I have no clue," said Cornley, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. "None of us know how it's gonna be.

"We're just gonna have to believe in each other and play as hard as we can."