Penn State's Ed DeChellis escapes to Annapolis

Dick Vitale was on teh Twitters campaigning for Bob Knight. Is he determined to shred what little credibility he has left?

 

dixie, that's closer than you would ever believe.

 

At least at Providence and DePaul, basketball is the unquestioned number one sport. Hoops may be down to fourth at Happy Valley. And you're in the middle of nowhere.

 

From the Big 10 to the Patriot League. I'm guessing that doesn't happen too often.

 

Does kind of blow your mind, does it not?

Give it two years. Wrestling ... ice hockey ... women's hoops ... men's hoops.

 

Like the ACC to the CAA.

 

As a casual basketball fan, I always wondered why the basketball program wasn't more successful. I would walk by the Bryce Jordan Center on a football Saturday and think, new building, major conference, why can't they achieve some level of success.

I guess the other winter sports, wrestling and now hockey take over in January.

 

Type State College into Google Earth and see what you can pull up.

If you are a basketball player who likes being in the middle of nowhere, then State College is just for you.

And if you are African American, what is appealing about the middle of Pennsylvania? At least Syracuse is a city of decent size.

 

That's a pretty potent third rail you just stepped on, but there is some truth to that. (Also the school is still overwhelmingly white.)

Penn State never has successfully gotten kids from Philly, D.C. or Baltimore, all basketball hotbeds, which is the real issue.

 

Jones has a pretty good take on the situation, I think.

http://blog.pennlive.com/davidjones/2011/05/dechellis_left_for_navy_becaus.html

The comments are hilarious. Some people think Jones drove DeChellis away. Others think anyone should be able to recruit African-American players into State College, Pa.

 

I was thinking about the great African American football players who have played at PSU, and there are many, but if you play football, you are part of a much bigger group of people to be around.

And if you are good, you know the NFL will be looking at you. Hoops? Not so much.

 

That, right there, is what a lot of people miss.

I've gone to a few PSU tailgates over the past two decades. Not many, but a few. And every time, the Penn State basketball "truck" is at its usual tailgate spot, with a group of about 10 players and family there. It's about as much of a fraternity as the French Club.