Penn State’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously (!) today to accept a settlement restoring Joe Paterno’s 111 wins, which seems like a big win for Paterno supporters.

But according to Trustee Anthony Lubrano, who spoke with the media about the trustees’ decision to accept the settlement today, the former coach still deserves the plaudits Penn State promised him after his death and the restoration of his statue on Porter Road. And those things could happen sooner than we think.

Here’s the transcription of his take:

“As far as I’m concerned, that needs to happen very quickly. And that’s a relative phrase, ‘very quickly,’ because you have a party to whatever gets done on McKee Street who has to be involved. So I think that’s going to take some time and development, but I’m getting a sense that that’s something that folks very much want to do, maybe sooner than some of you might imagine. But I don’t know anything, it’s just the feeling that I get in talking to people around here. And it’s something I support wholeheartedly.”

Lubrano was then asked if that means brining back the statue:

“Yes. Yes. Certainly from my vantage point. I’ve made very clear that, as far as I’m concerned, that statue needs to be returned to its rightful place with the plaques behind it because those young men who played football at Penn State need to be honored as they were before.”

When?

“It could be Homecoming! That would be logical. I’m not telling you that’s what going to happen, but if you guys report it, it’s amazing how it happens. You were reporting a settlement and look what happens!”

To be clear, Lubrano wasn’t against the settlement, like the cadre of alumni who elected him somehow are. But knowing that his eight fellow alumni trustees generally share his thoughts, it’s safe to say we’ll hear more about honoring Paterno in the coming months. Given how Penn State fired Paterno, it might seem absurd that it’d bring the statue back — but certainly no more absurd than thinking his wins would get restored in July 2012.