Hype is not a word often associated with the Penn State men's basketball team.
Senior guard David Jackson, or "Mooch" as he is now known, feels a certain celebrity on campus now, something rare when the program went a combined 16-42 in head coach Ed DeChellis' first two seasons.
Following a 15-15 season in 2005-2006 and an NIT berth, the Nittany Lions return almost 80 percent of the team's scoring, and yes, a whole lot of expectations.
"Yeah, people notice you more," Jackson said. "Like, 'Hey are you David Jackson?' ... 'Yeah, I'm David Jackson.' It's a lot of, you know, hype."
When asked about his team's goals for the year, DeChellis said with a straight face, almost befuddled by the fact that someone would question his logic, that he wanted to win the Big Ten championship and make the NCAA tournament.
"Those are the goals the players have really developed for themselves and we echo those goals," DeChellis said, mentioning that those goals are framed and posted on a wall in the locker room, signed by each member of the team.
"Our players have a different level of confidence now that I saw in the summer and heading into the fall. I don't think it's an overconfident group by any stretch of the imagination, because we haven't achieved those goals that we have talked about."
But last year Penn State at least showed it can contend within the Big Ten, pulling out a last second 66-65 win on the road against then-No. 6 Illinois on the heels of a Travis Parker jump shot. The game versus the Fighting Illini holds a lot of weight, considering that prior to a victory at Northwestern earlier that season, the Lions hadn't won a conference road game since 2001.
Parker may be gone, but the Lions return the rest of the starting five, including sophomore Jamelle Cornley, the Big Ten freshman of the year, and Geary Claxton, the team leader in scoring and rebounds.
Absent from last year's team was sophomore guard Danny Morrissey, who blew out his knee prior to the start of the season. His return this season from a medical redshirt will add to the lineup the 7.7 points per game Morrissey averaged as a freshman.
On the recruiting trail, DeChellis has run into teenagers who are finally holding up preseason preview magazines that have Penn State finishing in the middle of its conference. DeChellis said he has been "working like crazy" for two years to set the bar higher.
After creating an NCAA tournament team out of mid-major East Tennessee State in the Southern conference, DeChellis' job here has been to wipe away some of the negativity surrounding the Penn State program since he took over in 2003.
"I can't control what other people say or do," DeChellis said. "If people want to focus on negativity that's their deal. What I can control is we work hard in recruiting, working hard at coaching the kids and in terms of doing the right things for the program and let anything else fall where it may. I don't know if I'm missing the boat."
Signs have been hung up around campus, student season-ticket sales have gone up 52 percent, even if that number (1,339) is based upon a modest turnout last season (883). After an NIT showing at the Bryce Jordan Center, a 76-71 loss to Rutgers, just being in the thick of things isn't going to cut it, DeChellis said.
At 6-foot-5, Cornley has been shooting about 1,000 jumpers per week, hoping to improve his mid-range game. Jackson, coming into this second year with the Lions after transferring from Gulf Coast Community College, said he's "welcoming everything."
"Whatever it may be, I'm welcome," he said.
Asked if he was "going dancing," slang for receiving an NCAA Tournament bid, Jackson replied in a manner just short of a guarantee.
"Yeah, I'm going dancin'."
