Posts filed under ‘Nittany Lion basketball’
More Memories of Indiana-Penn State Hoops
The Nittany Lion basketball team is in Bloomington on Wednesday to take on No. 7 Indiana, which I’ll use as another excuse to expand on our feature on the ’93 Indiana-Penn State game that appears in our January/February issue.
As I’ve mentioned, I was in the front row for that game, as I was for nearly every game during the ’92-93 and ’93-94 seasons. We were right across from the visitor’s bench, standing—always standing, of course—about 18 inches from the court. For much of the tape from that ’93 game, I can see myself and my friends jumping, yelling, and occasionally getting held back by a student auxiliary officer. (What, I was gonna run across the court and tackle Bobby Knight?) What I remember almost as clearly as that game is what my friends and I did afterward.
Back in Snyder Hall that night, my fellow front-row residents—Greg Galli ’96, Guy Licata ’96, Doug Schoenly ’96, Rob Scott ’96, and Chad Weihrauch ’97—and I were an emotional mess. We felt like we needed to do something, and we finally settled on writing a letter to Bruce Parkhill expressing our support. (As Parkhill made clear when we spoke last year, we were hardly the only ones—he still has the dozens of letters he received from around the country in the weeks after the game.) I don’t remember what we wrote, but I remember the handwritten reply, on Penn State basketball letterhead, that we received via campus mail a few days later.
Pretty cool, huh?
But one of my favorite memories from this game is not actually my own. It comes from Loren Crispell ’00, who was a local eighth grader at the time and now works as the marketing manager for the Nittany Lion basketball program. I quote Loren in the story that appears in the magazine, but I didn’t have room to include this terrific story about how some of his friends ended up at the game:
I was born and raised in State College, and games at Rec Hall were events. Indiana coming to town was something that everybody had waited for. Everybody pointed to that game. You’d have the “General” in town, the history, all of it. That was something everybody anticipated from the moment we joined the Big Ten.
I went to Park Forest Middle School, and three or four of my friends got off the bus at school that morning and immediately turned and started walking toward campus. They were skipping school to go to Rec Hall. They went into the men’s room at Rec Hall, which was open then, and camped out all day in the stalls. They read magazines to pass the time, and they just waited. Once the doors opened for the game that night, they were in the building. To me, it just underscored how big that game was, how much people wanted to be part of that experience.
I remember I had a French test the next morning. My parents kept asking me if I was ready. I kept saying ‘Oui.’ Little did I know that game would occupy the whole night.
I’m pretty sure Loren’s out in Bloomington as I write this. Next time I see him, I’ll have to ask him how he did on that test.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
The Hoosiers are in Town for a Big Basketball Game? That Reminds Me…
If you’ve seen our Jan./Feb. issue, you might’ve noticed our feature about a basketball game between Indiana and Penn State played 20 years ago next month. It’s a story I’ve long wanted to write, and I went with an oral-history format because I thought it could best be told through the voices of the people who were there. I was one of them—a sophomore with front-row seats across from the visitor’s bench. It remains the most memorable sporting event of my undergraduate career.
I had a blast putting the story together, talking to the coaches, players, fans, and even the mascot who were there that night—I hope to run a post later this week updating readers on where those guys ended up. Along with those interviews, I spent a lot of time over the past few months watching and re-watching the game. Part of me wonders, every time, if this might be the time the refs get it right.
If you remember the game, you know what I’m talking about. Regardless, I thought it was essential to share that footage—particularly the exhilarating, heartbreaking moments at the end of regulation. Below, in a roughly seven-minute clip, you’ll find most of the final minute of the second half. My apologies for the 15 seconds of nothing around the 3-minute mark; my video-editing skills are rudimentary at best.
Did I mention that a top-5 Indiana team visits Penn State Monday night? I’ll be there, rooting once again for the upset—and for the refs to keep their eyes open.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Backcourt Valuation
For Patrick Chambers and the Nittany Lion basketball team this season, it’s all about the backcourt.
For months, Chambers has been talking up the Lions’ 2012-13 backcourt as (possibly) the best in the nation. It sounds like craziness from the second-year head coach, but think of it as exaggeration with a purpose. Chambers absolutely believes that his starting backcourt of Tim Frazier and DJ Newbill can be among the best in college basketball this season; just as important, he wants to make sure Frazier and Newbill believe it, too.
“I have to do a great job of managing expectations, because I put it out there—but why not?” Chambers said Monday at the team’s preseason media day. “Why not us? I know people are shocked, because usually when people say that, it’s Ohio State or Michigan State. But it’s Penn State. I’m saying it, I’m the head coach at Penn State, and I think we have a great backcourt.”
The presence of Frazier alone means the claim isn’t that far-fetched. A first-team all-Big Ten pick as a junior last season, Frazier averaged a league-high 6.2 assists per game, and ranked second in the conference in points (18.8) and steals (2.4). Statistically, it was one of the best seasons ever by a Penn State guard.
Newbill is the unknown half of this potentially dynamic duo. A redshirt sophomore from Philadelphia, Newbill sat out last season after transferring from Southern Mississippi, where he made the Conference USA all-freshman team. Word of Newbill’s athleticism, intensity, and defensive prowess trickled out last season, when he and Frazier battled relentlessly during practices. Now, they get their chance to work together.
“If we keep working hard, the sky’s the limit,” Newbill said Monday. “I think Coach said what he said because he knows that. Me and Tim, we heard him make the statement. We’re glad he believes in us, to make a bold statement like that.”
Belief isn’t lacking in the Penn State locker room; now they just have to convince everyone else. The Lions were picked near the bottom of the Big Ten by the league’s coaches and media, folks who know little to nothing about Newbill (a team co-captain before he’s even played a game) and don’t see enough talent elsewhere on the roster to help Frazier win games. We’ll find out soon enough: A 79-54 exhibition win over Philadelphia University last Saturday was a nice warm-up for the games that count, starting with Friday’s tip-off against St. Francis. Not for the first time, a Penn State basketball team will be out to disprove the doubters.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Mr. O’Brien Goes to Washington
He signed 21 autographs. He posed for 68 photos. He shook 101 hands.
That was the tally—part of it, anyway—for Bill O’Brien Tuesday night in Washington D.C., on the fourth stop of the Penn State Coaches Caravan. For about 40 minutes—from the time he entered the ballroom at the Washington Hilton until the time he excused himself to make his way up to the stage—I watched O’Brien stand at the front an impromptu receiving line and greet Penn State alumni and fans. For those 40 minutes, I tracked every interaction O’Brien had.
Washington seemed the right place to document the most campaign-like aspect of the caravan, and O’Brien’s role in it. I joked before I stepped onto the bus Monday morning that I felt a bit like a reporter embedding with a presidential candidate; seeing O’Brien address the handshake line for the fourth time in two days—knowing how many more hands he’ll shake, pictures he’ll take, and autographs he’ll sign in the coming days and weeks—only reinforced the analogy. (more…)
The Bill & Patrick Show
I’m back on the bus now between Baltimore and Washington, en route from the third to the fourth stop on the Penn State Coaches Caravan. As has been the case for every leg of our trip so far, Bill O’Brien and Patrick Chambers are posted up in the back of the bus, each habitually working their phones. They’ve been on those phones quite a bit over the past day and a half, but they’ve also spent a lot of time trading stories and banter. Watching and listening to them interact has been a blast.
Anyone who’s paid attention to Chambers since his arrival 11 months ago knows what the Nittany Lion basketball coach is all about: energy, intensity, and passion. O’Brien’s public personality isn’t quite as obvious; he’s intense, certainly, but not the non-stop salesman that Chambers (literally, a salesman before he was a coach) has shown himself to be. But these guys have enough obviously in common that it wasn’t hard to guess they’d get along.
Do they ever.
What I’ve been fortunate to see on the bus, alumni and fans have gotten a taste of at the three caravan stops so far. O’Brien and Chambers play off each other perfectly, riffing on each other’s roots in provincial East Coast sports towns (greater Boston for O’Brien, the Philly burbs for Chambers), their similar no-nonsense haircuts, and their insistence on being not just colleagues but teammates at Penn State.
That last part is worth talking more about. These men are similar in age (O’Brien is 42, Chambers 41) and experience. Both have young children. Most important, both have been on campus less than a year. As the football coach at Penn State, O’Brien will always be the focus of greater public attention, but in all the ways that matter to these guys, they genuinely seem to see each other as equals, and men who can contribute to each other’s success.
On the stage Tuesday in Baltimore, O’Brien joked about bringing the football team to watch basketball games next season “whether they like it or not” and opening up the revamped Nittany Lion weight room to other student-athletes. Chambers mentioned a burly incoming basketball recruit who “looks like a defensive end,” then glanced back at O’Brien as he warned the coach off his soon-to-be player. It goes on and on. There’s a natural vibe between these two—fellow jocks, to be sure, but not dumb ones. It’s been great watching it develop.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
On the Road with the Penn State Coaches Caravan
It’s a beautiful morning for a bus trip. And the bus isn’t too shabby, either.
I’m one of a dozen or so people on this impressively customized Fullington Trailways bus en route to Philadelphia for the first stop on the Penn State Coaches Caravan. Bill O’Brien and Patrick Chambers are on board, and more coaches are set to join us over the next two and a half days; you can find all the details here. I’ll be posting throughout the first leg of the trip, so keep an eye out for photos, video, and conversations with the coaches. And if you’re on Twitter, search #psucaravan for updates.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
A Sad Week for the Nittany Lion Hoops Family
Late Monday we got word that former Penn State basketball coach Dick Harter had died of cancer. Harter coached the Nittany Lions for just five seasons, from 1978–79 until 1982–83, but he posted a 79-61 record in that span and set the table for some of the more successful teams in Penn State history. Harter also worked as head coach at Oregon, Rider, and Penn before becoming a long-time NBA assistant. He was 81.
On Wednesday, rumors we’d been hearing since the weekend were confirmed: Monroe “Monnie” Brown ’92, a standout on the Lions’ early ’90s teams, was dead at 41. Brown starred for Bruce Parkhill’s squads that posted four straight 20-win seasons, a run highlighted by a trip to the 1991 NCAA tournament, where the Lions posted an unforgettable first-round upset of UCLA. Brown, who also spent a season as an assistant to Jerry Dunn in 1995-96, had battled drug problems through much of his life; Dave Jones of the Harrisburg Patriot-News wrote a compelling remembrance of Brown, whom he covered on those great teams.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
For Billy Oliver, a Reluctant Goodbye
Billy Oliver’s best night as a Penn State basketball player came at the Jordan Center five weeks ago, when he scored a career-high 21 points in the Nittany Lions’ blowout win over Purdue. The game was memorable for being coach Patrick Chambers’ first Big Ten victory, but more so for Oliver’s stunning shooting display: all his points came on three-pointers, on which he shot 7 for 11 on the night.
Oliver won’t have any more big nights for Penn State. After the Lions’ 67-51 win Saturday over Nebraska, the redshirt junior forward announced his playing days were over. Still bothered by lingering effects from multiple concussions suffered during preseason workouts his freshman year, Oliver was emotional but certain Saturday when he told reporters he was retiring from basketball.
“It seems right for me, and more importantly, for the team,” Oliver said. “It’s selfish for me if I am not going to be able to go out there and give 100 percent with the history of my head, and I am worried about problems with that. I don’t want to do that to the team, because I know they give 100 percent. So, I am not continuing basketball.”
Oliver, who had one year of remaining eligibility, played just 58 games since arriving on campus in 2008 after a terrific high school career in Chatham, N.J. He redshirted as a freshman after twice suffering concussions in the preseason, and missed all but five games in 2009-10 while suffering from exercise-induced migraines. He played only sporadically over the past month while symptoms recurred, and after consulting with doctors and his family, made the call on his career.
The good news: Oliver will remain with the team next season on a medical scholarship, and he’s scheduled to graduate in May with a degree in finance—no surprise for a guy who earned a place on the Big Ten all-academic team. By all accounts, Oliver is a smart, personable young man who should do just fine without basketball. We’ll be rooting for him.
Beyond Oliver’s announcement, it was actually a pretty good weekend for the basketball program. There was that convincing win Saturday over Nebraska, and there was the news that Brandon Austin pledged to join the Nittany Lions next fall. Austin, a 6-foot-6 junior at Philadelphia’s Imhotep Charter High School, is rated by ESPN as the 12th-best small forward in the class of 2013.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Hoops Wins, and Kerry Collins Moving On
Both Penn State basketball teams earned nice wins Wednesday night as part of the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Lady Lions, ranked 15th or 16th depending on which poll you go by, dominated No. 13/14 North Carolina in a 103-84 win at the Bryce Jordan Center. A school-record 14 three-pointers contributed greatly to the outcome. The men were a bit more subtle in pulling off a 62-54 road win over Boston College. Great results for both teams.
Unrelated, but a story worth sharing: Kerry Collins ’94 Lib is the focus of a lengthy profile in Thursday’s New York Times. It’s a great story on the former Nittany Lion quarterback, who retired for good last month after a final, frustrating season with the Indianapolis Colts. He’s focused now on his family and a burgeoning career as a country music songwriter.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Coaching Speculation, and Other Sports
The university’s announcement of a search committee to help choose the next head football coach has added fuel to the speculative fire for those trying to predict who that coach might be. Of course it’s all just that—speculation—but there are some educated opinions on the matter, including those at Blue White Illustrated and the Patriot News. Just who that coach will be, and whether he’ll be hired before the Nittany Lions play (as expected) in a bowl game, remains to be seen.
There’s less intrigue in most other areas of the Penn State sports world. Among the things we know:
—Devon Still is the Big Ten’s best lineman. It was obvious to anyone who watched the Nittany Lions play this season, and on Monday the league made it official. Here’s the senior defensive tackle (and probable first-round NFL draft pick next year) talking about his success:
—The women’s volleyball team is back in the NCAA tournament. The four-time defending national champs had a “down” year by their recent standards, finishing the regular season 23-7 and earning the No. 8 seed for the NCAAs. In spite of all that, something tells us they won’t be overlooked. The Lions open the tournament against Liberty University; that match is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Rec Hall.
—Hoops season is in full swing.The No. 15 Lady Lions look to improve on a 5-1 start Wednesday night when they host North Carolina at the Jordan Center; also on Wednesday, the Nittany Lions (5-2) travel to Boston College. Both games are part of the annual Big Ten-ACC Challenge.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
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