Going all the way back to high school, Lamar Stevens has never lost a game at the Palestra.

The Penn State men’s basketball star was a standout during his senior season at Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia — a program that has become a bit of a recruiting pipeline for Pat Chambers’ squad — and is no stranger to playing in the city’s “Cathedral of College Basketball.”

As the Nittany Lions prepare for No. 23 Iowa and try to earn their second win over a ranked opponent of the season on Saturday afternoon, it’s hard for Stevens to not just look back and smile at how far he and the program have come.

“It all comes full circle for me, just remembering talking to Coach [Chambers] when I was in high school,” Stevens said. “It’s just another thing that I feel coach has always kept his word on, just for us getting to this point and play in [Philadelphia] with a bunch of [Philadelphia] guys who have really bought in to this program. So I think it’s a testament to him being a man of his word and just always standing by things we’ve talked about even from four years ago.”

Saturday will mark Penn State’s fifth game at the Palestra under the direction of Chambers. The Nittany Lion’s last game in west Philadelphia was during Stevens’ freshman season and was a 72-63 victory over Michigan State. In thinking back to that game, the senior referred to it as “the best environment that I had every played in.”

“I’ve played in it in high school when it was sold out, but it’s just a different energy and feeling being there in college. Just seeing the white everywhere, it’s just special, it’s a special gym,” Stevens said.

When the forward was asked if he thought he’d ever get a chance to play at the Palestra again, he made it clear that his hopes weren’t very high.

“No, I never thought anybody would agree to play us there again,” Stevens said. “I’m grateful that Coach McCaffery did, but like I said, no I never thought I would play at the Palestra again.”

While Stevens clearly has a strong connection to Philadelphia — as he mentioned that he’ll have roughly 60 family members and friends at the game — he’s not the only Nittany Lion who will have a home court advantage on Saturday afternoon.

Freshman Seth Lundy is from New Jersey but is also an alumnus of Roman Catholic and has some experience at the Palestra, while Izaiah Brockington and Mike Watkins are both natives of Philadelphia.

As if another challenging game against a ranked conference opponent and a chance to start off the new year with a win wasn’t enough reason to be excited, a homecoming for several Nittany Lions in one of college basketball’s most unique settings will offer another layer of importance to Saturday’s clash.

On top of all of that, Chambers and his coaching staff are allowed to invite recruits to the match up, as it is technically a home game for Penn State. The head coach confirmed that plenty of possible future Nittany Lions will be in attendance for the game Saturday.

The importance of playing at the Palestra is appreciated plenty by Penn State’s coach, as well.

“It’s really a cathedral to me, I grew up going there since I was in the single-digits,” Chambers said. “It’s an old school gym, the lighting is not the best, it smells like a gym — if you know what that means. It’s pretty special to be able to coach there. That’s old school, that’s what it’s all about.”

If nothing else, the atmosphere for Saturday’s clash will likely offer a gritty brand of basketball in a place that has played host to plenty of special moments over the years. The Nittany Lions can hope that this setting will help them kick off the new year with a win and an impressive 12-2 record to boot.