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bus. He's doing everything else." Newbill 6nished with 31 points against the Gophers, and his winning shot illus- trated quite clearly why the team continued to look to him whenever it needed points late in games. Said Chambers, "I think you just keep putting him in that situation, keep putting him in the moment and let him make plays. "There's a lot to be learned from failure. And you keep learning and you keep getting better and that's what makes you ulti- mately the best coach you can be, the best player you can be, the best team you can be. But without D.J. Newbill, wow, it would be scary." For the past three seasons, the Lions have not had to worry about what life would be like without Newbill. He's played nearly every minute of every game in which he's appeared, topping out at 37 minutes per game this season. His scoring numbers have increased every season, from 16.3 points per game as a sophomore to 17.8 as a junior to 21.1 this season. He's knocked down 46.5 percent of his shots while adding 4.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. With the team struggling, Newbill's im- pressive statistical pro6le has not earned him much national acclaim. He was le8 o7 of the Naismith Award's watch list, and heading into the Big Ten tournament, it was looking as though he was not going to be named to the 6rst-team All-Con- ference squad. Newbill was nominated for the Senior CLASS Award, which goes to a Division I senior with "notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition." But he is not in the picture for national awards or recognition. That does not sit well with his coach. "D.J. Newbill should be in every con- versation," Chambers said. "It's nice that he's a 6nalist [for the Senior CLASS Award], which is great and he deserves that. But he's not in many conversations and he needs to be and he should be. He's carrying a team and he's scoring in a variety of ways. He's a tremendous leader. He's play- ing multiple positions. He's defending now the best player on the other team. And he's rebounding the basketball." Whether fans, media members and vot- ing panelists for postseason awards take notice is, at this point, mostly irrelevant. NBA teams care little about fanfare when evaluating prospects. Chambers acknowledged that Newbill's path to the next level isn't as certain as that of a blue-chip lottery pick, but there have been indications that he will receive every opportunity to show what he can do. "We 6eld a lot of phone calls from the NBA asking questions about him, but I'm not sure if it's going to be [similar to] Tim Frazier's route" through the NBA Devel- opment League, Chambers said. "But I know he's going to have a great opportunity and there are going to be a lot of doors open for a kid who is going to be one of the leading scorers in the Big Ten for two straight years, which is really impressive with all of the Hall of Fame coaches that you have in this league as well as all the talent in this league. For him to score over 600 points again and to be a 2,000-point scorer, you'd be foolish not to bring this kid in." Game a8er game, opposing coaches have said as much, usually with some level of awe at their teams' inability to slow Newbill down. Still, without the tangible results to show for his e7orts, the subtext has o8en been lost. By the time Newbill put on Penn State's gray home uniforms for his 6nal game in front of a Bryce Jordan Center crowd – another dispiriting defeat, this one a 77- 67 loss to No. 23 Ohio State on March 4 – he was able to point it out himself. The brutal winter weather had once again im- pacted turnout, but Newbill took the time to note just how much the support had meant to him the past three seasons. "It was a great feeling just to know that we were appreciated by the fans and the sta7. A lot of families were in the stands today," he said. "It was a good feeling just to feel appreciated. They understand how hard we've worked these last four years." For a variety of reasons, that hard work did not translate into victories this season. The ball simply did not bounce Penn State's way. And yet, the frustration never impacted Newbill's e7ort. He kept his head up, his shoulders back and continued to exhibit leadership even as the losses were piling up. In so doing, he added to an already substantial legacy. "That's what men do," Chambers said as the regular season was winding down. "You go through crises, you get up the next day, you go back to work. That's what D.J.'s doing, and that's hopefully what we're teaching them to do, because we all have our life crises, we all have our mo- ments. How do you respond to that? How do you respond? "Hard work, great attitude, get back to work." For D.J. Newbill, no other option ex- ists. ■ cused on what's best for our stu- dent-athletes and demanding the best of others who support the ef- forts of our student-athletes, and we're moving forward." Barbour also discussed the overall direction of the program. A8er going 12-1 in the nonconference season, the Nittany Lions 6nished the Big Ten campaign with a 3-15 record, a signi6cant step backward from last year's 6-12 mark. Although Barbour acknowledged that the on-court re- sults have been frustrating this sea- son, she said she has con6dence in Chambers' leadership. "I believe that we are headed in the right direction," she said. "It's not manifesting itself in the win col- umn the way maybe we thought it would, but I [like] where we're going with these kids, and the recruiting obviously has really pointed up. "I'll tell you this: Patrick Chambers is my guy. He's going to be with us, and I believe he's going to build us a long-term, sustain- able winner at Penn State, and I support every ounce of that." – N.B.

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