It may be too early to say for sure, but that is not stopping them from talking about it.

With only a handful of games remaining in conference play, virtually every women's basketball coach in the Big Ten is mentioning one name consistently for the conference's most valuable player.

One hint: she wears Penn State blue on the court.

"Kelly Mazzante is the top player," Michigan State women's basketball coach Joanne McCallie said. "I don't care about her stats or whatever, but I see that she's made her team so much better by people taking responsibility to step up. We held her to eight points but it doesn't make a difference. It's not like you can let her go. You always have to know where she is."

Mazzante's off game on Sunday against the Spartans, in which she scored just eight points, did little to deter the praise. It is not merely the points she scores but leadership and ability she exhibits to improve the team around her that has impressed coaches across the conference. Like other Div. I coaches, they recognize that it is not always the statistical measures that make a complete player, but the little things that are not recorded in the box score.

And that is what the talk is all about.

"I think she's gotten better and I thought she was a great player last year," Wisconsin women's basketball coach Jane Albright said. "It's the same answer and some things don't change. Is she a senior yet?"

The standout junior, who will take her 25 points per-game average into tomorrow's game against Purdue, still has another year of eligibility left, and stated before the season began that she will remain at Penn State for her senior year. So, the WNBA will have to wait a while, probably against the hopes of opposing teams and coaches.

"I think [Mazzante] looks physically stronger, and in the best shape of her life," Purdue women's basketball coach Kristy Curry said. "Physically she seems stronger. I like the ways she's defending this year. I guess as coaches, we can always say there's room for improvement."

Like many of the coaches made mention, other players on Penn State's roster have improved with the evolution of Mazzante's play this year. Jess Brungo, Tanisha Wright and Jess Strom have all improved their games from a season ago, complementing the balance of the Lady Lions' lineup. McCallie attributed Brungo's improvement in particular to Mazzante's presence, even going as far to call her "the X-factor."

"I think she's really done a terrific job," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "In a way, it's the same old same old."

Mazzante is not alone in the accolade department. Other players mentioned by coaches as being in contention for the Big Ten MVP award include Purdue's Shereka Wright and Minnesota's Lindsay Whalen, among a small group of others.