Kines 90B, or team basketball, has always been one of the most popular classes among students.

Part of that reason is because former Penn State men's basketball assistant coach Mike Morse teaches it.

"The biggest difference between teaching a class and coaching a team is there are no fans and no parents calling you to put their kid in," Morse joked.

The coach has been teaching this class for about 20 years and still has the same passion for it as when he started.

Morse runs his class much the same way that he might run a practice.

Before class begins, the players shoot around until Morse tells them to take two warm-up laps. After that, Morse teaches the theme of the day, whether it might be picks and screens, zone defenses or inbound passing drills.

The students get about 15 minutes to practice the drills that were taught, and then head into about an hour of round-robin games.

The players also get an opportunity to work on parts of their game that are not necessarily strengths.

"I was always horrendous at dribbling, but I improved on it after playing twice a week for the semester," said Ryan MacLean, who is in the 8 a.m. section.

Morse has a certain way of making the players in his class, both the talented and those less talented, feel very comfortable.

He tries to develop a relationship with each individual in his class, whether it's by just talking to students for a few minutes after class or by giving them nicknames like Mongo, Granola or The Mailman.

"I consider myself a teacher and an educator first. I want kids to understand that I value excellence, learning and fun, but not necessarily in that order," Morse said.

Morse runs the class so it has two main tournaments: one halfway through the year, and one at the end of the year. The tournament in the middle is called the NIT, and the one at the end of the year, fittingly, is referred to as the NCAA tournament.

Students receive points based on how successful their teams do in the games, how frequently they attend classes and how their teammates evaluate them.

But most of the guys don't come for the grade; they just come to play basketball.

"I tried to fit the class into my schedule since freshman year, but this is the first semester where I've had enough room," class member Payman Tayebi said.