Penn State men’s basketball head coach Pat Chambers opened his Big Ten Media Day press conference by discussing the importance of Lamar Stevens’ decision to forgo the NBA Draft and return to Penn State for his senior season.

“What a powerful statement [Lamar] made this summer by returning for his senior season,” Chambers said. “[He] has a belief in our staff and the guys in that locker room.”

Stevens was without a doubt the leader of Penn State’s offense throughout the 2018-19 season. He led the Nittany Lions with 19.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, along with 2.1 steals.

Despite Stevens’ statistical success, Penn State struggled to win consistently throughout much of the season. The Nittany Lions finished with a 14-18 record on the year and were bounced in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. They failed to qualify for any other post-season play.

Despite a disappointing campaign last year, there is plenty of preseason hype for this Nittany Lion squad entering 2019. NCAA.com writer Andy Katz projected Chambers’ team to qualify for the NCAA tournament last week, and Stevens was on the preseason All-Big Team released Wednesday morning.

While many were questioning Katz’s decision to put the Nittany Lions in his NCAA tournament prediction, Stevens was quick to mention why he feels this team can make a run at Media Day on Wednesday.

“We have a lot of guys ready to step up that a lot of people may not have seen,” Stevens said. “We have a bunch of guys that can help win us games this year. I think the sky’s the limit for this team.”

Stevens will obviously need to be a leader for Penn State if he and his team want to live up to these expectations. But what exactly will he need to do? Chambers has an idea.

“I’ve been talking to [Lamar] about having a Mamba Mentality,” Chambers said. “I think the next level is having that Kobe Bryant mentality. Every day you’re going to win every drill, whatever it is.”

Chambers continued to say that Stevens has accepted his challenge so far through preseason drills. He said that the senior has dominated at practice and is leading the Nittany Lions in every statistic during drills.

The talent is clearly there for Stevens, but having the ability to lead this team on and off the court is in many ways just as valuable as putting up 20 points per game. He’s confident that his leadership and the rest of the team’s ability will lead Penn State to success this season.

“We’ll be ready. We work hard every day to prepare for this,” Stevens said. “We try to block out everything and stay within our family, and I think we have everything that we need.”