UNIVERSITY PARK — The critics will criticize, Ed DeChellis reasoned, and so the Penn State men's basketball coach did not lose more sleep than usual this past offseason.
"[If] they're gonna criticize me, I completely understand that," DeChellis said at media day Monday. "But we've got a football coach who will go down as the greatest football coach of all time, and we got people that criticize. So who in the heck am I?"
He's at the head of the Nittany Lions' program, which starts its eighth season under his reign Nov. 12 against Patriot League champion Lehigh. His tenure has yet to produce an NCAA Tournament berth, though it is not without its high points.
But Penn State followed its 2009 National Invitation Tournament title by going just 3-15 in the Big Ten last season, 11-20 overall. The disappointing campaign featured a 12-game losing streak to start conference play and the departures of two underclassmen following the season.
DeChellis had no seniors on that roster, but he now has five. Two-time All-Big Ten point guard Talor Battle led Penn State in points, rebounds, assists and steals last season and is just 613 points away from breaking Penn State's career scoring mark of 2,138 points, set by Jesse Arnelle in 1955.
Battle, a senior who will be playing with his half-brother Taran Buie, a freshman, submitted his name for the NBA Draft after last season but removed it on the last possible day for underclassmen to do so.
During the summer, DeChellis brought in "The Program," a leadership and athletic development program aimed to instill certain traits and inspire confidence. Eric Kapitulik, "The Program's" CEO and founder and a former Marine, joined a former Marine sniper who served in Iraq and a former NHL player in leading the Nittany Lions through three days of rigorous challenges.
DeChellis said he first noticed "The Program" working with Penn State's field hockey team last spring, and it visited the NHL's Boston Bruins before its trip here. It was through "The Program" that DeChellis saw a light go on for his team's leader.
"[Kapitulik] said being a leader's not always doing everything for everyone; it's sometimes letting people do it and just being there to help them when they need help," Battle said. "And I think that's the biggest thing I got out of it. Instead of me trying to run and do everything all the time, just kind of sit back, and when people really need help, be there to pick them up."
