BlueWhiteIllustrated.com - Catching up with Jamelle Cornley

August 6, 2009

Nate Bauer
BlueWhiteIllustrated.com Editor

Resuming our interview series with former Penn State power forward Jamelle Cornley, today, he talks about the season ahead for Ed DeChellis and the Nittany Lions. Plus, he reflects on last year's run to an NIT Championship.

BWI: Will the camaraderie that existed on last year's team still be there without you around?

Cornley: I hope so. I hope so. That's one thing I can't force.

I tell Drew all the time... Drew's the anchor. I tell him all the time he's the anchor. You make sure that everybody is in line. Then you bring Talor's part into it as well, but I think you can't just like everybody on the team, you gotta love everybody. You gotta be able to do anything for any of them.

All of them knew that I would do absolutely anything, 3 o'clock in the morning, 5 p.m. in the afternoon, whatever you need. If I don't have it I'm going to find it. But, I think that it can happen. I think that as long as they open up to one another and understand that they can talk to each other about everything, absolutely everything, the team will be fine.

BWI: Will there be a guy on the team next year that can get the technical when the team needs it?

Cornley: Yeah. I got enough faith in Talor, but at the same time, he's not going to talk to the officials like that... the only other person who would probably do it would be Drew, because he plays with a lot of emotion.

The thing is, when you get technicals, sometimes you're playing emotionally but not with emotion. Sometimes you can't do that, unless you're able to make up for it, which I was able to do a couple of times. I think Drew might be able to as long as he continues to get better and polishes up his game.

BWI: Without you on the team next year and the personnel changing a little bit, will the product on the court be able to just plug in for you or will things have to change?

Cornley: It's going to be different because... I've never seen Sasa play so I can't really say too much but outside of that, there's nobody down there that's just a pure bruiser like I was. It has nothing to do with being cocky or anything like that, but it's just a style of play.

I think Drew's key is being effective on the offensive end early, especially in the non-conference. If he can get some confidence and continue to polish up his game, which he's been doing, I think they'll be able to still be effective to go down inside.

The power forward position is a position that I'm really curious about because I don't know how they're going to play it. I don't know if it's going to be four out, one in. I don't know how that's going to be so I think if anything, I'm curious to see what the power forward position is going to hold for next year.

BWI: What's the best accolade or recognition anyone gave you in your career?

Cornley: I've had some good moments. It was when my mother came up to me in New York City and said that she ran into some fans downtown by Times Square, and a lady came up to her and said, 'Yeah! You're a Penn State fan!'

She said, 'Yes, we're Penn State fans,' and all this other stuff.

The lady said, 'We came all the way from somewhere far to see Cornley and my mom, she said she had tears in her eyes because she said, 'That's my son.'

Anytime you're able to have that impact on anybody... for somebody to say that they came for me, that was just great. That's what I've tried to do. I've tried to make sure that these players understand that too. There's also a time too when a lady came up to me at one of the socials my junior year and just said you're an overall great person. That's the biggest accomplishment for me is knowing that I'm a great person instead of just a basketball player.

BWI: Best moment or best game?

Cornley: Of course the Illinois game, freshman year... great game. Along with my freshman year was the Ohio State game in the Big Ten Tournament, second round, was a great game. We lost but it was a great game. They were tough. They had a bye. I think they won the conference that year. We had beaten Northwestern the first round and they came... it was in Indianapolis and they had some shooting problems because they hadn't been in an arena yet. We were already warmed up. We played there the night before and so it wasn't that bad but that was a great game. We just hit a dry spell where we couldn't score.

Michigan State game, this year, both... The Michigan State games were good. The one here last year, we got blown out there, that was crazy, and the two games this year were great. Even the Iowa game, the one we lost out there, a lot of people don't understand how draining that was. Play Indiana and then play in less than 48 hours, play a double-overtime game. I know a lot of people were disappointed and we were disappointed too but the team fought, which was all right.

BWI: Looking back, do you think that game kept you out of the Tournament?

Cornley: Yeah. I think we would have finished second in the league if we win that game. That was tough. I remember talking to Travis Walton, because they had to beat Purdue and they would have finished first, we would have finished second and I remember telling him, Yo, you take care of business and we'll take care of business. He wrote me back and was like, We'll take care of business, make sure ya'll do... I thought we had it but, two bank shots away...

BWI: What were the lowest moments or games?

Cornley: The lowest moments, I think from a personal standpoint was probably the Ohio State game this past year. I really wanted to win that. Just, in the city, I can be selfish and say that now. I can't remember any other games off the top of my head but just sitting in the lounge in the locker room and not seeing our school, our name get called for Selection Sunday. But, my other best moment was holding up the MVP trophy at Madison Square Garden, that was just unbelievable.

BWI: Looking back on Selection Sunday, do the emotions still hold true today or has it lessened?

Cornley: I can remember sitting there and before it started, Talor was sitting on one of the couches because we had all the chairs set up, two or three rows of chairs, but Talor was sitting on the couch. We were all watching the TV and there was a picture, it was Selection Sunday, just about to pop up and everything, they were showing all these highlights and they showed a picture of DeChellis.

So Talor immediately yelled, 'OH, We're in there! We're in there!' and everyone was like, Oh man, this is good. This is good.

The first region goes by, nothing. The second region goes by... and I remember telling coach because I was sitting right next to coach I said, Coach, my heart is beating out of my chest, I can't take this. We watched and some of the 'bubble' teams at the time were starting to come out with Arizona and Maryland and then slowly but surely, I think a lot of us were like, Wow, it's not going to happen, it's not going to happen.

When it finally went off, I'm thinking, well maybe it's going to cut to a commercial and come back and it didn't happen. Everybody walked out and I was just sitting downstairs, I was the last one out and I remember just sitting there for about 15 minutes with my head down. I couldn't cry at the time. I couldn't do anything. I was just numb. I went out in the South Gym and did some interviews and then I came upstairs, because there were still some players still around, and I just bawled my eyes out. I couldn't let the team see me cry but that was a pretty bad moment.

BWI: Before you even sat down in the room, what were your thoughts?

Cornley: If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. I remember getting on my hands and knees before even walking into the gym saying, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. I never pray for wins or anything like that, I just pray to make sure that everything goes well, nobody gets hurt and all that. But I can remember just saying, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

That entire day, I didn't eat. I was on the NCAA diet because I was done. I remember pacing back and forth between my apartment and Danny Morrissey's apartment saying, Well we have to be in! Watching ESPN, trying to avoid that. It was a crazy day.

BWI: Coming away with winning the NIT, can you compare the two now and say you're glad it worked out that way or it still hurts?

Cornley: I guess I put it in terms of, if you ask somebody, the average Joe, who lost in the first or second round of the NCAA Tournament, people may be able to say a couple of teams. If you say who won the NIT Championship in 2009, you know who won the championship. So, I guess when you look at it as far as, Should we have been in the NCAA, would I take it back? or which one would I want, at the end of the day, yes, we should have been there. We should have been there hands down, in my eyes. I mean, all those teams that were on the bubble, I think we could have matched up against them and beat them. So, that's just my personal opinion.

But, we backed it up by winning the championship, and that's what you have to do. You have to prove your case and for now, it'll be left a mystery as far as what would have happened in the NCAA Tournament but we won the NIT and that's fine.

BWI: Are there ever moments you look back and say, that Temple game or Rhode Island tripped us up or kept us out?

Cornley: Yeah, I don't even think when you think about the Temple or Rhode Island... ours wasn't the Temple or Rhode Island games that the team was disappointed in. It was that Iowa game. We look at the Iowa game as... How do you hit two banked three pointers? I don't know how that happens. I mean, they played exceptionally well. That was a great team coached by a great coach. They did a great job. They played extremely hard but ours, we didn't look at the Temple or Rhode Island games as anything.

It was more of the Iowa game and teams like USC winning their conference, Mississippi State beating Tennessee. It was just like, Wow. I was sitting right here watching the Mississippi State-Tennessee game. After that game, it was just like, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

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