Excitement is building in Happy Valley as the calendar has turned from October to November, but this time it is not only because the football team has positioned itself for a chance at another great season. The men’s basketball program is also generating some of the excitement in the air.

Coming off a season where Penn State won a school record 27 games and took their first ever NIT title, fans are hoping the team can build on that and make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001.

PG Talor Battle is the clear leader on the team. Last year, as a sophomore, he scored 16.7 points per game, which was good for third in the Big Ten, and set a school record with 189 assists. He also led the nation in minutes played.

He has been garnering a lot of preseason awards, including being one of 50 players named to the Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List. That award is given to the men’s College Player of the Year. He was also named a preseason candidate for the Wooden Award and a member of the preseason All-Big Ten team for the second straight year.

Battle is coming off a summer where he represented Penn State on the U.S. World University Games team and was on the Big Ten first team last year.

Reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year, Ed DeChellis, will need other players to step up to be the supporting cast around Battle in the 2009-2010 campaign, especially with the loss of Jamelle Cornley, Danny Morrissey and Stanley Pringle to graduation.

Center/Power Forward, Andrew Jones, was coming into his own at the end of last season. He controlled Luke Harangody of Notre Dame in the NIT semifinal, scoring 16 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in that game. He will need to improve on his 6.2 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game from last year and continue his improvement.

Forward, David Jackson will also need to step up his stats this season. He averaged 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds last season, but will see more playing time this year. He started 25 of the 38 games last year but will likely be in the starting lineup at the beginning of this year. Jackson was coming on at the end of last year, averaging 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in Penn State’s last seven games.

Forward, Jeff Brooks might be the most important player for the Nittany Lions this year. He only played an average of 16 minutes last year and had 3.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, but his length and athletic ability will be important on this year’s team. Some of Brook’s best games in his career have come when Cornley was out of the lineup, so now with Cornley gone it is time for Brooks to step up in a big way.

Shooting guard, Chris Babb will need to fill the minutes vacated by Pringle and Morrissey. He only averaged 10 minutes a game as a freshman but will now see more looks at the basket. His three-point shooting ability will be a key to the season.

Four freshmen will be important bench players this year for Penn State. Tim Frazier will need to spell Battle and maybe play with him at times. Jermaine Marshall will see action at the shooting guard position and will need to provide a spark with his athletic ability. Forward, Sasa Borovnjak stands at 6-9 and will need to spell Jones with effective minutes.

Bill Edwards is a 6-6 freshman that looked like he would add size off the bench for Penn State, but has a partial tear in his right MCL that is going to keep him out until mid-December according to team doctors. Edwards looked like he was fitting in well with the team and looked good in the Blue-White Scrimmage. It will be interesting to see if he can play well after missing the tune up part to the schedule.

Guard, Cameron Woodyard and forward, Andrew Ott will also provide key minutes off the bench for the Nittany Lions this season.

The Big Ten will be a tough conference to sled this year, as there are six teams ranked in the preseason top 25 polls. Penn State though, will fly under the radar like they did last season and by the beginning of March hope to be in contention for a Big Ten title and a NCAA Tournament appearance.

The action begins on Friday, November 6 with an exhibition contest against Slippery Rock. The regular season gets underway November 13 against Penn in the Bryce Jordan Center.