Jeff Roberson, Associated Press Penn State's Aaron Johnson is defended by Ohio State's Je'Kel Foster, left, and Terence Dials in the first half of their Big Ten tournament game March 10. Johnson, the Nittany Lions' second-leading scorer this season, has decided to leave the school. Click photo for larger image.

For three years, Aaron Johnson weathered the losing, but in reality, the losing weathered Johnson. "It was devastating, psychologically," his father, Howard, said.

As Johnson developed into perhaps the most consistent contributor on the Penn State men's basketball team, he was quietly fighting another development -- his spreading belief that Penn State would never give him the feeling of a winning season.

Three years of mostly disappointing basketball convinced Johnson that his fourth, were it to happen with the Nittany Lions, wouldn't be any better. Yesterday, Penn State announced that Johnson -- a 6-foot-9 junior power forward who averaged 11.8 points and 9.9 rebounds in the 2004-05 season -- will leave the program.

With the departure, the Lions are deprived of their most experienced player and their second-leading scorer. But Johnson felt the change was necessary. During his career at Penn State, the Lions changed coaches and reinvented their roster, but the end result didn't change. The past three years have produced seven-, nine-, and seven-win seasons, and the losing, as if it possessed its own kinetic power, finally pushed Johnson away.

"I love this university," Johnson, a native of Exton, Pa., said yesterday. "It breaks my heart that I have to leave."

Thursday, Johnson discussed his future at Penn State in a meeting with coach Ed DeChellis. Johnson's father said that his son "needed to be told something that could have turned him around into staying." At times during the recently-completed season, the DeChellis and Johnson disagreed about the role Johnson should have on the team.

Johnson wished not to relay the details of his discussion with DeChellis, who could not be reached for comment yesterday evening. For roughly one year, Johnson had thought on and off about transferring.

"We wanted to settle our disagreements and leave on good terms," Johnson said, "so there wouldn't be this little kiddie fight back and forth."

Said Howard Johnson: "Aaron just wants to be with a coaching staff that recognizes his strengths and can utilize them fully. With Aaron, you've got to understand, he's been through a lot to get to this level. But it got to the point, with all the transition, where he didn't see any light at the end of the tunnel.

"If you're coming in as a coach, you need the savvy to bring in players who can turn a program around. You can't bring in players with skills where it's questionable whether they can function on a Division I level."

Under NCAA rules, Aaron Johnson must sit out one season before he can participate in games at another Division I school. He has one year of remaining eligibility. As of now, Johnson remains uncertain of his next step, but he's already "looked into" possibilities at several schools. His biggest hope: to catch on with a winning program.

Since DeChellis accepted the Penn State coaching job in April 2003, several key players, including DeForrest Riley-Smith, Jan Jagla and Robert Summers, have left Penn State with eligibility remaining.

In part because of those departures, the Lions, in 2004-05, depended largely on a lineup loaded with freshmen and sophomores. As the Nittany Lions ended the season on a 12-game losing streak, a generational gap grew between Johnson and the younger players.

"That's why, honestly, I think they will be better off without me next year," Johnson said. "I just think, just because I was one of the last guys from the coach [Jerry] Dunn era, a lot of the younger guys looked at me as this old guy who was just hanging around."

Johnson said his upcoming year on the sideline will prove beneficial. He wants to fine-tune his game and boost his chances of finding a professional career. After three years, Johnson decided Penn State wasn't the place to do it.

"One thing Aaron feared more than anything else is having one more losing season," Howard Johnson said. "He loves Penn State, loves it. The only reason he's leaving is because of the state the basketball program is in."