(Sports Network) - Senior forward Jamelle Cornley is a recreation, park and tourism major at Penn State, but he showed a nice understanding for history when he prepared for two games at Madison Square Garden in the National Invitation Tournament this week.

"To be here and think about everyone who has played in this arena was fun in itself," Cornley said on Tuesday, two nights before he led Penn State to a 69-63 win over Baylor for the NIT crown on Thursday night..

Cornley might not ever be remembered in the same sentence as Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Patrick Ewing or the other names who have had their numbers retired at Madison Square Garden. But Cornley added his name to the history of this storied building this week with an MVP performance in the NIT.

Playing with a right shoulder that was heavily taped and padded, Cornley sparked his Nittany Lion team early and finished with 18 points and seven rebounds in the win over Baylor.

"The last time I cut down nets was the state championship my freshman year of high school," said Cornley, a native of Columbus, Ohio. "Now eight years later, I'm cutting down some more nets. That's a good feeling."

Even as most basketball fans were rightfully turning their attention to the NCAA Final Four on Saturday, it was refreshing to see players like Cornley and coaches like Penn State's Ed DeChellis show a historical respect for the college basketball grandfather that is the NIT.

"This is a great tournament," said DeChellis. "We are so proud to be a part of this tournament. We are so proud to be able to win this tournament."

Like many of the teams that found themselves in the strongest NIT field in recent memory, Penn State players and coaches were devastated to find themselves without an invitation to the NCAA tournament after a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten Conference.

"We were disappointed a few weeks ago by not being selected to the other tournament, but our kids put that behind us right away and our goal was to come in and win this thing," said DeChellis, the soft-spoken, patient coach, who has endured six years of adversity and frustration in building the Nittany Lion program to its first national basketball title. "This team has been as committed, more committed, that they wanted to win a championship and do something special."

DeChellis had previously rebuilt East Tennessee State's program into a frequent NCAA participant, taking a similar slow and steady pace over seven years. But when his first five teams at Penn State compiled a 57-92 record and failed to post a winning season, you had to wonder if the Nittany Lion fans and administration would be as patient as DeChellis was.

But a little success has gone a long way for a Penn State program that plays in the shadow of Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lion football team.

Paterno received one of the biggest ovations on Tuesday night when the Madison Square Garden projection screen showed him sitting a few rows behind the Penn State bench. Joe Pa received almost as many hand shakes as DeChellis as he wandered around the bowels of the arena near the locker room after the game.

Like many other supporters, Paterno has fallen in love with the winningest men's basketball team (27-11) in school history.

Penn State fans turned Manhattan into a suburb of State College, PA, on Thursday evening. There were reportedly 33 busses that made the trip to New York City for the championship game.

"We could not get three busses to go across campus [for home contests], let alone the 33 busses coming to see us at Madison Square Garden," said Cornley of the unprecedented attention.

DeChellis didn't underestimate the effect the pro-Lion crowd had on the outcome against Baylor.

"It was like a home game out there," DeChellis said. "It was just a great, great atmosphere for us and I'm really thankful for them for all coming and supporting our team."

And it all helped Cornley and company find their place in history.

"You can beat numbers," Cornley said. "Records can be broken, but legacies, they live forever and that's what I wanted to leave with."



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