In Iowa, Penn State finds perfect partner for Palestra return

PHILADELPHIA - Upon the conclusion of a 72-63 loss to Penn State at the Palestra Jan. 7, 2017, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo lamented his decision-making in which he agreed to bring his Spartans to the famed Philadelphia field house.

“We knew that we were going to come into a hornet's nest here,” Izzo said. “I'm so stupid, that's what I do every year. I pick somewhere to go to get my brains beat in and this year it was this.”

Three years have passed since Penn State’s last game at the venue on Penn’s campus, but the program will again tip-off there at 2 p.m. Saturday when it hosts head coach Fran McCaffery and Iowa to resume Big Ten play.

Given Izzo’s response and the perception generated the last time around - that a Penn State home game played at the Palestra during winter break, instead of the Bryce Jordan Center, gives the Nittany Lions a massive home court advantage that wouldn’t exist 191 miles to the west in State College - that Saturday’s game is happening is in some respects remarkable.

Certainly, senior forward Lamar Stevens didn’t see it happening.

“I never thought that anybody would agree to play again,” Stevens said, grinning. “But I'm grateful that Coach McCaffery did. But, no, I never thought that I would play in the Palestra again.”

Penn State head coach Patrick Chambers wasn't as pessimistic as his star senior forward, though.

Tapping into an idea first shared with him by veteran Harrisburg Patriot-News reporter David Jones, Chambers said he understood that Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery and his Hawkeyes might find the opportunity to be an agreeable one. Having spent three seasons playing at Penn from 1979-1982 as the Quakers’ point guard, McCaffery considered Chambers’ pitch this past summer.

“I thought Franny, being a Penn guy for those two years, getting his kids back to the Palestra, you know, his sons are on the team. I thought he might be a great option for that game. That's why we took a year or two off from it,” Chambers said. “So I was really appreciative of Franny for saying yes, and allowing us to have this game at the Palestra, which is fantastic.”

The pitch demanded more than a simple yes, however.

Originally approaching McCaffery with the proposal at a recruiting event, Chambers said he followed up during a Nike coaches retreat in June. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Chambers had already been working with the Big Ten offices and Penn State athletic administrators Sandy Barbour and Lynn Holleran to help turn the idea into a reality.

Establishing that the game would represent a final opportunity for native Philadelphians Stevens and Mike Watkins to play a final time at the Palestra, the game was green-lit, leaving the decision to McCaffery.

“We spent a lot of time together and talked about it more. I was basically gauging his interest and pros and cons and things of that nature,” Chambers said. “And I think Franny, give him credit, he was like, ‘Yeah, it's something I'd like to do. I'd like to bring my team there and have to play in the Palestra,’ which is really cool. He's already been there. Sienna, one of those teams, he's already taken to the Palestra before. So he has a lot of connections to us, to my family, personally, and obviously, Penn. So we appreciate Franny and Iowa.”

So too does Stevens.

The keystone leader of an 11-2 Nittany Lions team currently ranked No. 21, facing the No. 23 team in the country at a venue for which he is intimately familiar, the last opportunity to play at the Palestra is one he had hoped for and is now thrilled to see happen.

“Maybe at the beginning of the school year, or maybe in the summer, Coach mentioned trying to get somebody to play there. But that's really it,” Stevens said. “And I was just excited because I thought he's really going to push to get somebody to agree. It's a great environment for both teams. It's one of the coolest places to play in a country, so I was just hoping that somebody would agree to play the game.”

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