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On Saturday February 28, I had the opportunity to take part in a bus trip to Penn State University. The bus trip was to the Penn State versus Indiana basketball game at the Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State.

Penn State is in the middle of the pack this season in the big ten conference, but does not really have the talent nor program history to really put them over the hump and establish themselves as a national power. Indiana on the other hand is having their worst season in possibly the history of the basketball program. The Hoosiers acquired new coach Tommy Crean from Marquette University after Kelvin Sampson was fired from Indiana at the outset of last season. Sampson left Indiana in quite a predicament with recruiting violations that really put a damper on building their program. Crean has come in and done the best he can with the talent at Indiana, but has a very strong recruiting class coming in for next season according to ESPN.
Penn State has been building for a few years now and is lead by guard Talor Battle who has made a name for himself amongst big ten coaches and players. He leads the Nittnany Lions in scoring and plays the point and two guard positions. Other than Battle, Penn State has had speratic scoring outputs from the rest of the team and watching them play can sometimes lull even the avid sports fan like myself to sleep. Penn State beat nationally ranked Illinois on the road last week by a final score of 38-33, which is very low scoring to the sports fans out there who don’t know the game very well. 38-33 is more or less the final of a junior high school contest.

With that said, this was my first time at the Bryce Jordan Center to see a game and I was actually more than impressed. The facility itself was very well structured and the seating was phenominal. Not a bad seat in the house. The multimedia presentations that were broadcast on the jumbo traun and the scoreboard all reminded me of my trip to an NBA game. The student section was screaming and yelling the whole night for their Lions and the band was right in front of me playing an array of fight songs and school spirit jams. The overall feeling I had while sitting there was awesome.

It’s a wonder how come the recruiting classes don’t really add up for the Nittany Lions though. I mean on campus visits, athletes get the chance to see the facilities, the campus and the classrooms. Based on the Bryce Jordan Center, any player in the nation could be pleased with it’s offerings. The only thing I could come up with is that it’s in the middle of Pennsylvania basically placed right next to what looks like corn fields. The ride to Penn State is flat and very farm orientated. I guess the talent that lies within the inner cities, downtown places and suburbs don’t really see Penn State as a basketball school. This can also be based on the rich football tradition built by Joe Paterno himself. I think with the Bryce Jordan Center being used as the base for recruiting, Penn State can build a program that can be in the NCAA Tournament year in and year out.

After the game the group proceeded to board the bus for the ride home. I left very satisfied as a sports fan and future sports writer to see such a beautiful facility. Hopefully the coaching staff and university see the side of the Bryce Jordan Center I had. If that comes true, Penn State can establish itself as a prominant program in the future, bleeding white and blue.