Blue White Illustrated

as in, 'This is what I have to do on court. I have to develop my body, work on my handle…' And he has done all that." Noticing the changes, Chambers sat down with Marshall on two occasions in the off-season for the type of heart- to-heart that can shape the rest of a player's career. Immediately after the season, Cham- bers let Marshall know he was happy with the progress the young guard had made through the course of the year, especially in the homestretch. He also said that by no means should Marshall interpret his satisfaction as a sign that it was OK to relax. Instead, Chambers challenged him to get even better. As the summer months passed and Marshall's internal and external trans- formation began to take shape, Cham- bers took another step toward building his confidence for the season ahead. Again, Marshall was receptive. "I really talked to him, and he said he was starting to see a change and told me I was doing a great job being a leader on the floor," Marshall said. "That's huge." Though Marshall admitted the tran- sition was gradual, he said he now fully understands the message Cham- bers has been trying to instill since Nittany Lions finish sixth at Puerto Rico tournament A season-opening trip to Puerto Rico brought plenty of sun to the Penn State men's basketball team but few smiles. The Nittany Lions concluded the ESPN Puerto Rico Tip-Off with an 85- 60 loss to Akron on Nov. 18. They fin- ished in sixth place in the tournament, and the loss to the Zips did more than just ding their record. It also put their best player on the bench, as senior point guard Tim Frazier suffered an ankle injury in the first half and didn't return to the game. The extent of Frazier's injury was unknown as of this writing. His left ankle was heavily wrapped in ice as he watched the second half from the bench. Without Frazier, the Lions weren't able to do much against the Zips. They led 36-32 at the break but were outscored 53-24 to close out the game. And the loss was not the Lions' only blowout defeat in the three-game tour- nament. In a 72-55 loss to No. 6 North Carolina State, the Nittany Lions, and Frazier in particular, struggled shooting the ball, hitting just 15.8 percent of their attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. For the tournament, Penn State con- nected on just 35.1 percent of its shots from the floor (59 of 168) Penn State coach Patrick Chambers was disappointed with the team's shoot- ing woes throughout the tournament, but he urged his players not to lose confidence. "Sometimes the ball doesn't go in, but keep shooting it and you'll make it," he said following a 55-52 overtime victory against Providence in the second round. "Once you [say] that in every huddle, to let it fly, and then the rou- tine, rhythm and habits, they all start to come out. And that's what we tried to do." Sporting a 2-2 record heading into a Black Friday home game against Buck- nell, the Nittany Lions will play seven of their next eight games at the Bryce Jordan Center before opening the Big Ten slate in January. "I think we're going to be all right by January, I really do," Chambers said. "I know that sounds funny to say, but that's the goal in the nonconference [schedule]: play teams like this, prepare yourself to play in the Big Ten. "I like my team. I really do." –NATE BAUER the start, and he has found his equi- librium in the process. "It took me a while to get what he was saying, to understand what he meant by working hard, playing hard, the right approach," Marshall said. "Now I think I got it. "I want to be me. I try to be myself as much as possible. Whatever my role is, I try to do it. Scoring, defending, whatever I've gotta do to help the team be better and help us get as many wins as possible. If that's me going out and getting seven or eight rebounds one game with five points, I'm fine with that. "As long as we win." PSU inks four in November Penn State signed a quartet of players during the NCAA Early Signing Period, which started Nov. 14. The players are 6-foot- 3 guard Geno Thorpe (Pitts- burgh/Shaler High), 6-0 guard Graham Woodward (Edina, Minn./Edina), 6-6 forward Pay- ton Banks (Orange, Calif./Lutheran) and 6-10 for- ward Julian Moore (Fort Wash- ington, Pa./Germantown Acade- my). All were rated three-star recruits by national recruiting services. Coach Patrick Cham- bers has now signed four play- ers from Pennsylvania since ar- riving at Penn State last June, as Thorpe and Moore join D.J. Newbill (Philadelphia) and Donovon Jack (Reading) "I love this class," Chambers said. "I think we've hit on a lot of different positions, and they offer a lot to Penn Staters out there. They are serious about getting their degrees. They are also winners and they love to play and will represent Penn State the way it needs to be represented."

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