AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" sets the beat with frantic guitar strings, as starters emerge, one-by-one, from the circle of teammates.
Ben Luber, David "Mooch" Jackson, Danny Morrissey and then Brandon Hassell each hear their names and break the shell of interlocked players around them. The spotlight shines on each in the Bryce Jordan Center as they jog to center-court and shake hands with their opponents.
Everything is rather nonchalant, a wave to the crowd here and a chest bump there, until the grand finale. It's no longer swingman Geary Claxton, who was the fifth intro until an injury forced him out.
Bursting out of the pit is raw emotion -- sophomore forward Jamelle Cornley. He stomps his feet to the ground, emphatically pumping his fists toward the air, biceps bulging and his face tensed, mouth open in a vicious roar.
Eventually, his deliberate footsteps lead him to shake hands with the Morehead State player awaiting his presence. Something has taken over Cornley.
"I might slap the floor, I might do all types of stuff," Cornley said. "I don't know. When it hits me, it just happens. I don't really go in really plannin' anything, or whatever. I just go off of pure emotion, and that's what gets me going sometimes."
As the lights turn on before Penn State's home opener versus Morehead State, Cornley heads for "Mel's Mob" with hard and quick slaps for each member.
"Sometimes it tires me out and for the first four or five minutes, I'm waiting on that media timeout," he said.
Actually, it wasn't until after the third media timeout, with 5:43 remaining in the first half, that
Cornley hit his first bucket of the season. Cornley finished with 17 points and collected 12 rebounds in Penn State's victory versus the Eagles last Friday.
On Monday, he notched his third-career double-double with his second of the season, a 23-point, 11-rebound effort against UNC Greensboro, and most importantly, the Lions' second win of the season.
"He brings a lot of energy," Luber said. "You can see that from the pregame introductions."
***
Travis Parker was the one barking orders last season, the one that could shake teammates out of lulls that could spell defeat at the hands of Division II Shippensburg.
The Lions lost, 67-61, to the Red Raiders and head coach Ed DeChellis was searching for a voice. Not from his coaching staff, because it was already the loudest in practice, but from a player.
"Travis [Parker] was kind of the spiritual leader last year. He talked. He got in guys' faces a little bit. We don't have any of that right now," DeChellis said after the loss. "We better find it pretty quickly or we're goin' to have some disappointed guys."
Luckily for DeChellis, Cornley reads the paper. Once he saw this quote in full, Cornley read into the statement even more. Cornley took those words and felt as if his coach was talking to him right then and there.
He said he felt as if there were "subliminal messages" coming through the page. Their two minds were intertwined, and he knew that DeChellis wanted him to be a leader.
"I said, 'OK, Coach Ed.' I call him Ed sometimes, he doesn't know it," Cornley said. "Alright Ed, I'm going to go ahead and take this up upon myself. I am going to take this and run with it. So that's what I have been doing, and that's what I'm going to continue to do."
After all, Cornley had talked to DeChellis about taking a more vocal role last year. As a freshman, and with Parker being the leader of the pack, Cornley felt that he should lead by example rather than his words.
He didn't want to "step on anybody's toes," as one of the youngest players on the team. After his Big Ten Freshman of the Year season, Cornley felt it was time.
Cornley being a year older makes DeChellis expect more, but the energy was always prevalent. So emotional leader was a given.
"The guys look up to him, He plays hard. He can do that," DeChellis said. "You got to play this game with energy. You can not play this game flat-footed or whatever you want to call it. You got to get excited to play."
It's an attitude that DeChellis hopes is infectious. He has already seen Cornley go at it with his running mate, Claxton, during practices. Right now Claxton is sporting street clothes during games, so DeChellis said Cornley has had to do it alone on the court.
Not that it has mattered. Cornley had eight offensive rebounds versus UNCG on Monday night. As a team, Penn State had 39 total rebounds to the Spartans 26, including a 14-to-7 advantage on the offensive glass.
Only one of Cornley's offensive rebounds came in the first half.
"I don't think anybody can keep him off the glass if he wants the ball," DeChellis said.
Cornley jawed back-and-forth with Spartan leading scorer Kyle Hines on Monday night, shaking his head at the 6-foot-6 junior forward and taunting him after shot attempts.
Not because he is a trash-talker, but because it could get other teammates going.
Before the first two regular season games, Cornley said that Luber and junior guard Mike Walker came to him with the request for him to "play big." That doesn't mean puff his chest and run on his tippy-toes.
He can only play inside his own body, but he can play outside of his own mind.
"That's all you need to tell me," Cornley said. "As long as you let me know, I'm going to go ahead and give what I can give you."
Coming into the game, Hines was touted as a "beast," something that irritated Cornley. In fact, DeChellis thought he took it personally.
UNCG head coach Mike Dement watched the two players go at it and was almost in awe of their intensity. Built more like football players than inside post players, Cornley and Hines bumped hips, grabbed arms and were constantly jockeying for position inside.
Hines did put up 20 points, something that obviously bothered Cornley after the game, but Dement's opinion of the opposing player was not tainted.
"It shows you that guys who have a big heart, and strength and want-to doesn't have to be 6-foot-11 to be good. These two guys are examples of that," Dement said. "They can play anywhere and for anybody."
Just ask it of Cornley and you shall receive - packed with 1000 megawatts of thunderous emotion.
