For those students who weren't lucky enough to make it onto one of the Penn State basketball teams, the opportunities to play the popular sport with referees, a scoreboard and that occasional pressure-packed foul shot don't happen too often.

But every Friday night during the fall and spring semesters, teams of players head to the White Building to compete in the 5-on-5 Late Night Basketball League.

The league offers students a chance to form teams and compete against other students in a fast paced, exciting environment, giving them a chance to work on their 2-3 zone defense, their fast-break setup and that trap off of the inbound.

There are three different divisions to the program. Competitive, the highest division, features teams that generally are very talented, and some have even played together as a team in other leagues. The middle division is the Recreational Division. This division has teams that maybe aren't too comfortable with running with the big boys, but still have a good collection of talent to showcase and can hold their own as a team.

The third division is the Fun Division. This division is for students who are either just learning the game of basketball, or just don't want to play at a real competitive level, and are more focused on just having a good time.

The program is in its fifth year now, and is enjoying a reputation for being one of the hot activities to do on Friday nights. But putting together 10 games on a single night takes work, and having everything run smoothly takes a pretty high level of dedication.

Joseph Donald, who is in charge of running the program, works hard keeping track of the standings in the three divisions, putting together the weekly schedules and overseeing the growing involvement in the sport.

"People love basketball," Donald said. "We always have more and more people requesting opportunities to play basketball, and the Late Night League gives students a chance to do something that they love."

The recent spring semester league began on Feb. 3, and will run through March and April, culminating in the league's playoffs.

Fortunately for the students in the program, all teams make the playoffs, so it gives the top teams a chance to finish out a great season, or lets those teams that may have struggled a bit a chance to have that "Cinderella Run" in the playoffs.

But the main reason students joined the league is simple -- they love basketball. Junior Jared Mazzant loves to play the game, and can't wait until the weekend rolls around to face another team.

"I love basketball, and whenever I get the chance to play with my friends, I never miss it," Mazzant said.

Mazzant is a member of a team called The 1855, appropriately named after the university's inaugural year, which plays in the Recreational division.

"My friends and I always used to go play ball during the week, and now the league gives us a chance to work on our game and try and run some new plays and get better as a team," Mazzant said.