Penn State's Brooks ready for tournament debut

UNIVERSITY PARK - Ask Jeff Brooks about his senior season turnaround, and he'll roll his eyes. The question has been shot at him many times.

"To me, it just showed that people actually cared and they actually see some potential in me," the Penn State forward said. "It gets annoying a little bit when everybody's telling you, but once people like your coaches, your family and your teammates keep telling you, it's gonna finally get there and the message will set in and you're going to learn to do something different. I think that's what I did this year, played with more confidence and played with more energy."

Penn State isn't the type of program where players leave early to enter the NBA draft. And because of that, its players benefit from 4 years of coaching. Such is the case with Brooks, who has morphed into a legitimate wingman for guard Talor Battle. He has become coach Ed DeChellis' much-needed No. 2 scoring option.

"The biggest part for him was moving on," DeChellis said. "You make a mistake, just move on. Make 100 mistakes a day, and I'm not afraid to make the next one, though. It doesn't matter to me, I'll just make the next one, and that's what I told him.

"He plays so much freer, and it's been fun to see the maturation of him over the year."

DeChellis sat Brooks down before the season and mapped out exactly where he needed to elevate his game in order to plant the seeds for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Brooks jumped from 7.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in 2009-2010 to 13.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season and Penn State got to the Big Dance, securing a bid as a No. 10 seed against seventh-seeded Temple in a West Regional game tomorrow in Tucson, Ariz.

Brooks is averaging 1.4 blocks per game and his shot-altering plays have found their way onto YouTube and SportsCenter's Top 10.

Mike DeCourcy, a college basketball writer for the Sporting News and a commentator for Big Ten Network, said Brooks has become a defensive force.

"What he's done through years of experience, he's learned how to be that 'help' defender," DeCourcy said. "That loud block against Michigan State Saturday was a classic example. He saw a guy committed, came across and knocked it into the stands, literally."

Brooks' importance has been obvious in the last month. He dislocated his right shoulder at Illinois on Feb. 1. causing him to miss most of that game and all of the next game against Michigan. He scored in double figures in seven of the next 11 games, including 20-point efforts on the road against Minnesota and Northwestern.

In his 10 starts since the injury, Penn State went 7-3, with two losses to No. 1 Ohio State, including Sunday's Big Ten final, and a loss to Wisconsin.

Brooks' counterpart tomorrow is Temple's Lavoy Allen, a physical body who has been dominant on the glass, averaging better than 13 rebounds in his last seven games.

DeCourcy's criticism of Allen is that his energy level dips at times, and after watching Brooks over 4 straight days at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, DeCourcy thinks Brooks might be able to take advantage of that Temple disadvantage.

Physical play has been one of the major topics in State College this week when Penn State players were asked about the scrimmage against Temple in November. No score was kept, but the Owls were able to beat up Penn State inside at the outset.

"We're a completely different team," Brooks said.

Brooks, a former Mr. Kentucky Basketball finalist and USA Today's 57th-ranked overall recruit coming out of Doss High School in Louisville, Ky., has blossomed into a player who has helped spur Penn State's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001.

Now, as a senior, Brooks makes his NCAA debut.

"The only thing I can really go off of is seeing it on TV," he said. "I'm just gonna take it for what it is. It doesn't matter if we play here or Spain, it's still another game for us. We're just gonna enjoy it for the moment and try to get out there and get a big W."