Talor Battle envisions a future that you probably can't imagine.

He has watched the Penn State men's basketball team lose six-straight games, but from his television in Albany, N.Y., the senior guard at Bishop Maginn High School relishes thoughts of wearing the blue and white with his high school coach, Richard Hurley, by his side.

At 5-foot-10, Battle has plenty of confidence per inch of height. That's a product of 30 points per game, the ability to dish or throw down alley-oops, and a unique quickness off the dribble that attracted the likes of Michigan, Massachusetts, Virginia, Georgia Tech, No. 21 Clemson and No. 20 Alabama.

But no, he doesn't want to be a savior, and he doesn't want to take shots at current Penn State players, but Battle thinks he can bring this program to another level. When he arrives, he says, turnovers will be down, cuts to the basket will be up, and open looks for Geary Claxton, Jamelle Cornley and Danny Morrissey will be plentiful.

Like Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, who said the Nittany Lions are "one recruiting class away from being a great team, " Hurley and Battle echo that.

But on the Internet, there are few believers.

Hurley read message board postings ripping Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis' zone defense. Hurley said he knows DeChellis would love to play man-to-man, with an up-tempo offensive style, but just doesn't have the athletes.

A year from now, Battle believes he will vindicate DeChellis.

"It's hard to win when you don't have the players," Battle said. "This guy [DeChellis] stood by me from the jump. Not to be cocky or anything, but I'm a top-100 player in the country. He got me to go there, so he has to be doing something right."

Names don't matter to Battle -- only loyalty. When a player stepped on Battle's foot, pushing him down and snapping his ankle at the Nike Hoop Jamboree the summer before his junior year, schools in attendance digressed in interest.

Only DeChellis remained, with UMass as the only other bidder. DeChellis told Battle that he thought he could do for Penn State what Dee Brown did for Illinois.

Battle healed, sat out the summer and lost valuable exposure to top programs. But Battle believes that after a second, less significant injury to his other ankle that same year, he is a better one-foot leaper.

"As a sophomore, he could barely dunk," Hurley said. "There were days where he could walk and just do a lay-up. That's when he was fresh. Now it's in the fourth quarter and he is walking down, throwing it down two-handed."

Before signing his letter of intent to play at Penn State on Nov. 8, 2006, according to Hurley, there were inquiries from Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt, wanting to slide Battle into the point guard spot next year if his current freshman, Javaris Crittendon, decided to go pro.

The overtures didn't matter. The Lions weren't an elite team, and it doesn't matter, Battle said, that they are now at the bottom of the Big Ten. He knows where his loyalties stand.

"I'm not the type of person to go somewhere just because they are at the top of college basketball," Battle said. "I'm going to spend the next four years of my life there, make friends. I want to be able to trust that person. The one that is closest to you in loyalty, they are going to be a best friend."

Penn State assistant coach Kurt Kanaskie also points out that some student-athletes actually go to school for an education.

Battle is a 90 percent student at Bishop Maginn.

"They aren't just basketball players, even though their No. 1 love is basketball," Kanaskie said. "Don't get me wrong, they aren't coming to Penn State for our business school. That's part of it."

Hurley knows that Battle has supreme faith in his capabilities, but he is not pig-headed, and rather than scoring 10 points at the end of a game, he will try to dish it to someone who has scored 10 points all season.

"We certainly feel, we know Talor feels, that when he is there, 'We are going to be top 25 every year,' " Hurley said. "That is how he talks, 'I'm going to make sure.' He also feels that other guys are going to come here."

Battle feels that his commitment to Penn State will only attract other high-caliber players. He knows he is a recognizable name to some of the high school players he's competed against on the AAU circuit.

It's now about making that dream a reality, packing on more weight to a slim frame -- Hurley said that his listed 160 pounds is generous, at best -- and getting through a long offseason training program starting in June.

Maybe then if Battle gets Penn State winning some games, there will be more top-100 players coming in the future.

"You bring in one or two players and then it turns into three," Battle said. "Then maybe the next year it's four or five, depending on how many scholarships you have to offer. I'm just a human being. I'm just coming out of high school.

"But I want to play, that is a reason I came to Penn State, because I can play immediately. Hopefully I can make it happen."