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dan Dickerson all answered the call. Taylor was particularly effective. Rather than simply meeting expectations, he put together a season that resulted in third-team All-Big Ten honors. As for the team, it finished the regular season with a 16-15 record. On the heels of an 18-16 finish the previous year, the Nittany Lions produced their first back- to-back winning regular-season records since 1994-96. And their 7-11 mark in the Big Ten resulted in a 10th-place fin- ish – the team's best showing since Chambers took over the program. Regarded as the link connecting the Tim Frazier/D.J. Newbill years to the era that is about to begin in June when Penn State welcomes the best recruiting class in the program's history, Taylor did more than just make the most of his situation. He and his teammates demonstrated that the Lions' young players – specifi- cally Garner, Isaiah Washington, Payton Banks and true freshman Josh Reaves, who will be the only returning players with game experience next season – have the necessary ingredients to con- tinue winning. In fact, the question that nearly brought Garner to tears pertained to his influences at Penn State. "They taught me so much. In the two years I have been here, I've learned so much – from Devin all the way up to B.T. I appreciate them. They came into prac- tice and set the tone every day," Garner said. "They worked so hard. They work so hard for us. Everything that they put into this program, I just wanted to come out here and give it my best fight. Just came up short." Chambers echoed the sentiment. "The seniors were great all year," he said. "They battled. They helped the younger guys stay positive, especially when we started [the Big Ten season] 2- 8." The seniors' role, he added, was to help the younger players "keep getting better, trust the process, trust the coaches. And that's what they did. And I'm forever indebted, especially to B.T. and Donovon, for staying committed and loyal these last four years." The long-term impact of that com- mitment remains to be seen, but at min- imum, Garner proved himself to be a cornerstone around which Penn State can build. Fighting through a midseason slump, the sophomore guard finished off his sec- ond year by playing a key role in a late- season surge that saw Penn State win five of its final eight Big Ten regular-season games. Showing himself to be emotional- ly and physically invested in the pro- gram's success, he displayed strong lead- ership potential. Penn State will need him to continue developing that facet of his game next season, as the team will feature as many as seven new players. Garner finished the season ranked among the conference leaders in scoring (14th at 14.8 points per game), assists (13th, 3.4 apg), steals (tie-seventh, 1.3 spg), 3-point field goals made (ninth, 2.3 pg), and minutes played (fourth, 35.2 mpg). Given those numbers, it wasn't hard to understand why Chambers was so enthused about his potential devel- opment over the next two years. "This kid deserves a lot of the credit. He is top-15 in a lot of categories in the Big Ten, and nobody talks about him," Chambers said. "He just came up so courageous and spoke in front of all of you. Just shows you what kind of leader we have for our future in Shep Garner. Not only did he do that, but look at the game he had. Played terrific." In the end, Penn State wasn't big or strong enough to overcome Ohio State's athleticism, particularly when the Buck- eyes deployed their full-court press. The Lions' finale illustrated that this was still a season of transition. But transitions entail movement, and in PSU's case, that movement appears to be in a positive di- rection. For that, Chambers is excited. ■

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