Two good tidings of great joy for Penn State basketball fans in one post?! Crazy and unprecedented, but it is the case today.
First, it was announced that the Lions have added recruit Johnathan Graham, a 6'8 power forward out of Baltimore. The Nittany Lions needed someone to fill the paint, and while Graham might not the cream of the recruiting crop, he's certainly no slouch. Rated a 3-star recruit by Rivals.com and given a grade of 86 by ESPN, he averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds as a senior at Calvert Hall High School and graduated as the school's second-leading scorer at 1,670 points. With a year of watching the trio of Brooks, Jackson, and Jones (and learning from every one of their mistakes), Graham will hopefully develop into a strong player during his time in Happy Valley.
Find out some details about Penn State's upcoming home game against Maryland after the jump.
As the days grow hotter, so does the Penn State baseball team. The Lions have won their past two Big Ten weekend series against Ohio State and Michigan State, going 5-1 while averaging 14 runs/game during the span, including a 22-5 shellacking of the Spartans this past Saturday. With 10 games left on the schedule, Penn State finds themselves tied for third place in the conference, two games behind first placers Michigan and Northwestern. Their hot streak needs to continue in order to make the Big Ten Tournament, where only the top six teams compete.
One reason for Penn State's success is junior catcher and Johnny Bench Award nominee Ben Heath. Pitchers have not been able to contain him this year, as he is hitting a .383 batting average with 17 home runs and 53 RBIs. He is also masterful behind the plate, sporting a .989 fielding percentage. I was able to ask him a few questions on his accomplishments and this year's team. After the jump: what he had to tell me.
School may be out for summer, but Talor Battle will return to classes in the fall. According to FOX23 out of Battle's hometown of Albany, New York, a text message confirmed that the star guard of the Nittany Lions will take his name out of the NBA draft and return to Happy Valley for his senior season.
Neither the Penn State Athletic Office nor the NBA have not confirmed the validity of Battle's change of heart yet. He is still going to Oregon today to work out with the Portland Trailblazers, and he has until Saturday to officially withdraw his name from the draft.
More details after the jump.
Rumors have been flying around for the past few months about the Big Ten looking to expand the size of the conference by one, three, or five teams. The biggest prize up for grabs (as it pertains to additional members) is Notre Dame, which is an independent football team, despite being a member of the Big East in most sports. So, why expand? First off, JoePa wants it, and who's gonna tell him no? Certainly not me.
But some other reasons why the Big Ten is considering adding members can be found after the jump.
There was no home-pitch advantage for the Stanford women's rugby team on Saturday as the Penn State Lady Ruggers defended their national championship by defeating the Cardinal 24-7. Not only was this Penn State's 2nd straight national championship, it was also their 3rd title win in the past four years with Stanford being the break in the streak with a 2008 championship.
Penn State's defense was aggressive from the beginning, limiting the Cardinal to only one try during the entire match. Stanford coach Johnathan Griffin had this to say:
"They're unbeatable now for the next 12-15 years. They are the Cal of women's rugby."
Cal won the men's title on Saturday, capturing the title for the 18th time in the past 20 years.
With another national championship in hand, the Lady Ruggers can now come home and rest and throw their support behind the men's volleyball team, which has a chance to also play Stanford in the final on the NCAA Men's Volleyball Tournament this Saturday.
The Penn State men's golf team won the Rutherford Intercollegiate Tournament this weekend with a total score of 879, beating out second-place Towson by an impressive 20 strokes. The event title should come as no surprise, considering Penn State was the host of the 3-day tourney. The Blue Course proved to be a welcome setting for the Lions as they won the Rutherford for the 21st time in its 34-year history.
Kevin Foley, a senior hailing from Somerville, New Jersey, won the individual tournament title by being the only person to shoot in the red for the weekend. His 2-under 211 (70-72-69) helped put him 8 strokes ahead of his nearest competitor once all the golfers made it back to the clubhouse on Sunday. Foley's 6th win of his college career was a record-breaker, breaking a tie between him and former Penn States Robert Rohanna and Dirk Ayers for most individual tournament wins.
After the jump: the next stop for the golf team.