He's a Dean's List student, already has a pair of job offers on the table when he graduates and, most of all, is a varsity basketball player at a major university.

On the surface, it appears he has it all: the thousands of fans who adore his team's efforts every game, the luxury to travel all over the country representing his school, and -- the kicker around these parts -- the nameless blue and white jersey, stitched with No. 13.

His lucky number.

But don't read into that.

That would mean overlooking the day-to-day grind of the undersized guard, as he endures hours upon hours in the Bryce Jordan Center's weight room and its South practice gym despite full awareness that no matter what he does, his role will not likely see an upgrade.

Will Leiner takes the whole "Success with Honor" adage to another level.

***

There's less than five minutes left, and the Nittany Lions are putting the finishing touches on a 74-47 victory over NJIT on Nov. 17.

Penn State coach Ed DeChellis loves these games. Why wouldn't he? His team is capping off a dominating performance and, more importantly, it gives the walk-ons a chance to see their hard work come to fruition.

So Leiner checks in. Including the team's exhibition win over Bloomsburg, it's the second time he's seen action on the court this season.

"He's just a tough, competitive kid who loves to win and does whatever it takes to win," DeChellis said. "He understands the game, understands what we're trying to do. He's a great guy to have in the program."

But the journey to that point was one filled with doubts, uncertainty and, at times, frustration.

His perseverance through it all has made many proud.

"What he's done out there in four years between basketball and academics, he has been hoppin'," his father, Bill Jr., said.

Upon his arrival to Penn State, Leiner knew he wanted to continue playing basketball.

His father had been bringing him to Penn State football games his whole life, and Leiner had attended Whitehall High School, the alma mater of Lions' career 3-point record-holder Pete Lisicky.

But with only Division II and Division III interest, he wasn't sure he'd have a shot at the varsity team.

Still, Penn State was the place he wanted to be. Since a couple of people from his hometown of Coplay attended the school as well, he figured they'd form their own intramural team.

Shortly thereafter, he called his father.

"He said, 'Dad, I'm not really done playing organized basketball. It's strange being on what's not considered an organized team,' " Bill Jr. said. "So I said tryout. What's there to lose?"

However, not too many Division I coaches are looking for a 6-foot-1, 175-pound point guard.

Leiner was aware of that, but he wouldn't compromise himself.

"To be honest, I really didn't have any [doubts]," he said. "The tryout process is a tough thing to go through. It's very difficult for the coaches to make a decision as to whether or not they're gonna keep anyone."

So Leiner went into tryouts in October of his freshman year, open-minded as he was. But after the process, he had yet to hear word of the coaches' decision.

That's when he decided to take initiative.

"I'll e-mail [the coaches] until security says to knock it off," his father said Will told him.

In one of those e-mails, Leiner thanked the staff for the opportunity to tryout with the team and offered them his services.

He was then offered a position as team manager, far from the dream he initially imagined of taking the hardwood with his teammates in those crisp Nike jerseys.

"I haven't really spoken to [the coaches] too detailed about it," he said. "I guess initially I wasn't on the team."

***

Leiner said he spent about two weeks as a manager, learning the structure of a college practice and paying close attention to all the little details of the program. He figured, if nothing else, he'd get his foot in the door and perhaps have a leg up in the next year's tryouts.

"Being at it as a manager was very humbling. It's not the most glorious job," Leiner said. "Obviously, being a pretty good player in high school, it was something I definitely had a hard time getting accustomed to."

He didn't need to much longer.

Just a few days before the team's season opener against Cornell, he received a phone call saying he'd been promoted to the scout team.

Leiner dropped everything he was doing and immediately called his parents outside of his East Halls dorm.

But his goal still seemed far-fetched.

After all, the Lions just simply needed another body to beat up on in scrimmages after Maxwell DuBois and Joonas Suotamo suffered foot injuries and Danny Morrissey blew out his knee.

But that didn't discourage Leiner. In fact, it gave him more motivation.

"Once I started practicing with the team, I had a final goal in mind in terms of, 'I wanna make this team at some point,' " he said.

For about a month, he fit in well. He worked hard and, in his words, he held value.

Then came the call.

On Dec. 17, 2005, the day before the team was set to host St. Francis (Pa.), Leiner was told to grab a uniform. He was officially a Nittany Lion.

But this time, his parents were the last to know.

Rather than immediately giving them the news, he called and said he needed to see them. His father was worried

Will had become homesick and figured he'd come up, watch his well-dressed son hand out cups of Gatorade and take notes in a shirt and tie on the bench.

But he was in for a surprise.

"We get to the court and look around," he said, "and the little bugger's running around on the court. We're all proud of him."

***

Since first making the roster, Leiner said he's done all he can to keep up the same work ethic that landed him the spot, something everyone around him can appreciate.

"He's not playing for the glory," his father said. "He's never gonna be a 1,000-point scorer -- he's got six points in his career. But once he's there, he's just so thrilled to be part of that experience."

The players certainly appreciate Leiner. Jamelle Cornley has gone as far as to call him a "blessing."

The senior captain feels his only remaining teammate from the 2005-06 freshman class rubs off on him.

"He comes here and he practices on the scout team every day, doesn't have a sub, and if he does have a sub he's only out for a brief minute," Cornley said. "But his hard work and his work ethic is second to none and when you see a guy come in and give all that effort every day, it makes you wanna continue to get better."

Leiner hopes that effect trickles down the rest of the roster.

With walk-ons Adam Highberger and Steve Kirkpatrick on the squad, Leiner finds the time to impart his knowledge of the system to the players who will eventually be filling his shoes.

"I think in the end the bigger picture is we really are a part of something special -- Penn State as a university, the basketball program.

"We get to be one out of 14 guys from the whole school that get to travel around and represent Penn State, so I think if you look at it from a bigger picture perspective, it really does add value to your life."

Leiner said he likes to look at himself as the "older brother" to the younger players because of this. Such leadership has his father thinking he could even run for mayor should he ever return home.

DeChellis believes the elder's wisdom will be beneficial if and when he's called upon to fill a void this year.

"If we need another point guard, Will can go in a game and we think he can do fine," he said before the season. "It's just hard playing three point guards, but he's given us some quality minutes and I wouldn't be shocked to see him in there playing this year."

And there he was Nov. 17, controlling the tempo and hustling for loose balls.

DeChellis said he was impressed with the way he ran the offense. Leiner even drew the bench to its feet on a pretty drive to the basket, although he was unable to finish.

Just one more first for the little-guy-who-could.