Ed DeChellis has spent the past three years trying to convince Penn State fans that a sport played with a round, orange ball can be as appealing as one that uses a pointed, brown one.

Any progress the Penn State men's basketball head coach has made is due, in part, to the success he has found with freshmen. The current roster includes Geary Claxton, a 2004-05 Big Ten All-Freshman, and Jamelle Cornley, last season's Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

While a kid by the name of Greg Oden from Ohio State is the preseason favorite of many for that award this year, Penn State's freshmen recruits -- David Jackson and Andrew Jones III -- are, by all accounts, no slouches.

Jackson (not to be confused with senior guard David "Mooch" Jackson) was expecting an offer from Syracuse, but committed early to Penn State in June 2005. The 6-foot-6 forward chose Penn State over West Virginia.

Jones was looking at Iowa, LaSalle and Florida Atlantic. His reason for choosing Penn State would have been rare to the ears a few years ago, but it is what DeChellis had in mind when he took over as coach.

"It was something about Penn State basketball," said Jones, a 6-foot-8 forward. "It was kind of like a new confidence, a winning attitude, and I wanted to be a part of that."

The Nittany Lions return four starters from the team that made last year's NIT, Penn State's first postseason since 2001. Claxton, Cornley, senior guard Ben Luber and the elder Jackson accounted for nearly 80 percent of scoring and more than 80 percent of rebounds and assists last season.

The amount of playing time for this year's freshmen is yet to be determined, but Jackson and Jones should see minutes when Penn State opens its preseason against Edinboro tomorrow night at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Jones is one of four players competing for the starting center job. He is also practicing at power forward, the spot occupied by Cornley. Jones, from Philadelphia, was an All-City selection his senior year at Abington Friends.

Jackson is also practicing at power forward. He said the Penn State coaches want him to get that position down first, but eventually hope to move him to small forward, the position currently held by Claxton. Jackson is a two-time first-team All-State player from Kennedy Catholic, north of Pittsburgh, and led his team to the PIAA Class A title game in 2005.

Both say they are willing to do whatever the coaches tell them at this point in an effort to get on the court, and are getting used to practicing daily against larger, college players.

DeChellis has liked what he's seen so far. During the first weeks of fall practices, he said the freshmen have been especially responsive to instruction and determined in drills.

"They mix it up with everybody ... and aren't afraid. That's something you really can't teach," DeChellis said. "You hope you get a player like that, but until you start banging around and going, you just never really know."

Jackson and Jones are Pennsylvanians and that certainly helped during the recruiting process, DeChellis said, but so also did the recent improvement of the program. Both freshmen had opportunities to go to other notable basketball schools.

"They felt like they could come in and help and be part of something," DeChellis said. "That's what we tried to sell the kids, 'Come in and try to do something special, and be part of a building program.' They're both guys that wanted to do that."