Blue White Illustrated

Ten, that was probably the most difficult time, in a basketball sense. Everybody is healthy, my kids are healthy, my wife's great, but in the basketball world, it was hard. But staying positive, keeping a great attitude, continuing to work hard, continuing to get the kids better – I think it showed through. " Toward the end of the season, Chambers' positivity began to pay dividends. The Lions earned a stunning 84-78 victory against eventual NCAA tournament runner-up Michigan at the Bryce Jordan Center, then pulled off their first road win of the season against tournament hopeful Northwestern. Those victories brought them the tangible success they had been craving all along. Sophomore guard D.J. Newbill, whose team-leading 16.3 points per game weren't enough to lift Penn State from the bottom of the league standings, acknowledged Chambers' considerable influence in keeping everyone's spirits up. "He's the leader of the program. When we see how invested he is in attitude and staying positive, it automatically just feeds us," Newbill said. "He's really passionate about it. He takes it to heart. He comes in every day, win, lose or draw, with a positive attitude, ready to work, just ready to get better. "He's always looking ahead, moving on to the next step and learning from the past and just moving on, trying to make the future better, so we just fed off of that and just kept playing hard. " Even Frazier, devastated by his injury early in the season, was able to take his cues from Chambers while going through his rehab regimen, and he continued to lead his teammates from the bench. Fully recovered and participating completely in the team's foreign exhibition tour, Frazier acknowledged the guidance needed to put the injury in perspective in its immediate aftermath. "Some things you can't control, and I think that's one of the main things he's tried to focus on, Frazier said. "My injury, " we couldn't control it, but you become positive about the incidents, and you try to learn from it. "All you try to do is steam forward with 2013-14 ROSTER . NO NAME POS ELIG HT 0 Payton Banks F Fr. 1 John Johnson G 2 D.J. Newbill WT HOMETOWN HIGH SCHOOL 6-6 220 Orange, Calif. Lutheran Jr. 6-1 175 Philadelphia Life Center Academy (N.J.) G Jr. 6-4 205 Philadelphia Strawberry Mansion HS 3 Graham Woodward G Fr. 6-0 170 Edina, Minn. Edina 5 Donovon Jack F So. 6-9 210 Reading, Pa. Berks Catholic 10 Brandon Taylor F So. 6-7 235 Tabernacle, N.J. Trenton Catholic 11 Allen Roberts G GS 6-3 214 Middletown, Ohio Middletown 13 Geno Thorpe G Fr. 6-3 180 Pittsburgh Shaler 14 Kevin Montminy G Jr. 6-3 185 Centre Hall, Pa. Penns Valley Area 23 Tim Frazier G GS 6-1 170 Houston Strake Jesuit 24 Zach Cooper G Sr. 6-1 175 Ijamsville, Md. Urbana 25 Jordan Dickerson C So. 7-0 240 Brooklyn, N.Y. IMG Academy/Abraham Lincoln 34 Alan Wisniewski F Sr. 6-9 230 Sterling Heights, Mich. Bishop Foley Catholic 43 Ross Travis F Jr. 6-6 225 Chaska, Minn. 44 Julian Moore F Fr. 6-10 215 Fort Washington, Pa. Germantown Academy all the good things that you have and keep trying to get better, and I think our team did that toward the end. That's why we were able to win those two games on the road and play tough. Through all of our games, we were tough in all of them, and all we needed was that extra push. I'm hoping and pretty sure we're going to have that extra push this year." Emboldened by his players' effectiveness in the face of extreme duress a year ago, Chambers is setting his expectations high for the season ahead. Although the Big Ten remains a competitive gauntlet, the emphasis on positivity will never change. "It's real easy to focus on the negatives. We see them every day, so we know [players'] weaknesses," Chambers said. "Instead, I tried to focus on everybody's strengths. "Those kids gave me everything they had. So, you look back and think, 'You Chaska HS know what? We did everything we could with that team.' I felt like they responded very well." With three of the team's top five scorers and rebounders returning and a contingent of talented newcomers getting set to make their debuts, Chambers is looking forward to the coming season. He hopes that the Lions' hard work will get results in 201314. "I think they're tired of losing. I think they want to play in the postseason," he said. "When the time comes, I think they're going to be confident enough to say we've been here before. They trust in me and the staff. They trust in our sets and our offenses. They trust in our defenses. "I absolutely love the possibilities. I didn't have a full deck [last season]. Now this year, I don't have to do all the gimmicky stuff that I did last year just to I hang in games. Let's go. "

• Cover