STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - June 3, 2003 - Penn State men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Wednesday's Portland Sea Dogs at Altoona Curve baseball game.

The contest is slated for a 10:35 a.m. start as part of the Curve's School Kids' Day promotion. Wednesday's game also is Cartoon Day at the Blair County Ballpark.

DeChellis is entering his first season as head coach of the Nittany Lions. A former Penn State assistant, he was named the 11th head coach in the 107-year history of the Nittany Lion program on April 2.

DeChellis has built a reputation as one of the nation's hardest-working and successful coaches and recruiters during his 21 years in collegiate coaching.

A 1982 Penn State graduate, DeChellis returned to his alma mater after rebuilding the East Tennessee State University program from the bottom of the standings to champions of the Southern Conference.

During his seven years at ETSU, DeChellis turned around the Buccaneers' fortunes, culminated by a 20-11 record and the Southern Conference Championship this past season. The Bucs returned to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 1992 and threw a major scare into No. 2 seed and Atlantic Coast Conference Champion Wake Forest, losing 76-73 in a first round thriller that was tied in the final minute.

A native of Monaca, Pa., DeChellis guided ETSU from a 3-11 record in the Southern Conference in 1996-97 to three consecutive SoCon North Division titles the last three years. DeChellis was recognized for his efforts with his selection as Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 2000-01 and 2001-02. He is the only coach in ETSU history to be named conference coach of the year more than once.

In his seven seasons at the Johnson City, Tenn. school, DeChellis posted a 105-93 record, with a 56-31 mark the past three years. Over the past three seasons, ETSU's 35-13 conference record is the best of any SoCon school.

Prior to taking the reins of the ETSU program, DeChellis spent 10 years as an assistant coach for the Nittany Lions, serving nine seasons with Bruce Parkhill (1987-95) and one with Jerry Dunn (1995-96). DeChellis was instrumental in helping build Penn State into one of the top programs in the Atlantic 10 Conference and assisting the Lions' transition into the Big Ten Conference.

DeChellis was primarily responsible for identifying and recruiting many of the players that helped Penn State's transition into the Big Ten and rank among the greatest players in program history. Among the standouts he recruited, all of whom earned All-Big Ten accolades, were: John Amaechi, Matt Gaudio, Dan Earl, Pete Lisicky, Calvin Booth and Jarrett Stephens. Amaechi (1995), Gaudio (1996) and Stephens (2000) were first-team All-Big Ten selections, Booth was the 1998 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Lisicky was an honorable-mention All-American in '96.

DeChellis began his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at Penn State from 1982-84.

Tickets for Wednesday's game are available by calling 1-877-99-CURVE or logging onto www.altoonacurve.com.