Posts tagged ‘Talor Battle’
Two Big Wins For PSU, On and Off the Court
The men’s volleyball team last night swept Cal State Northridge 30-21, 30-23, 30-28 in the NCAA semifinals to earn a berth in the national title match. The third-seeded Nittany Lions will face top-ranked Stanford on Saturday night for the championship. You can watch the match live at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
The Stanford connection is a familiar one for Penn State teams in big games: The Nittany Lion women beat the Cardinal in 2007 and 2008 for the first two of their three straight NCAA titles, and the women’s rugby team has beaten Stanford in each of the past two national title matches.
And in hardwood news of a slightly different configuration, the Daily Collegian today is confirming a report by an Albany, N.Y. TV station that Talor Battle will return for his senior season. Battle had thrown his name into the hat for the 2010 NBA draft, but it was widely expected that he was only trying to get a sense of his chances of being picked and would be back in Happy Valley for a final season. The Collegian report cites Battle’s mother confirming his decision to return.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Tyra Grant & Talor Battle, Updated
The futures of Tyra Grant and Talor Battle look slightly more certain this morning. Grant, the former Lady Lion hoops All-American, was chosen by the defending champion Phoenix Mercury with the final pick of the second round (24th overall) in Thursday’s WNBA draft. The Mercury were looking for a “slasher,” a player who could fit into their open-court, fast-paced style, and Grant fit the bill.
Grant will still have to impress her new coaches enough to earn a roster spot, which is a similar challenge to the one now faced by Battle. The Nittany Lion junior announced yesterday than he was throwing his name into the ring for the 2010 NBA draft, but, by not hiring an agent, he left himself the option of returning to Penn State next year. Battle confirmed that his decision is about determining his best options: If he impresses NBA scouts enough to get a first-round guarantee (and the guaranteed contract that comes with it), he’d be crazy not to leave. But if — much more likely — he’s told that he’s a second-round pick at best, Battle will almost certainly be back for his senior season. As respected draft analyst Jerry Palm told the Daily Collegian, “I don’t really see a lot of reason for optimism from him in terms of the draft. I would expect he probably comes back to school.”
I imagine I speak for all Penn State basketball fans when I say I’d love to see Talor Battle in an NBA uniform… just not next season.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Talor Battle & Tyra Grant Hope to Feel A Draft
The 2010 WNBA draft tips off today at 3 p.m., and former Lady Lion Tyra Grant is among the players hoping to hear their names called. The consensus among WNBA “mock” drafts is that Grant will be chosen in the second or third round of the three-round draft. Recent Collegian alumnus Matt Fortuna has a nice piece on Grant’s pre-draft preparations in today’s Altoona Mirror. You can follow the draft live online on the WNBA Web site.
And some “breaking” draft news — received just as I was about to post this: Nittany Lion junior Talor Battle has submitted his name for the 2010 NBA Draft. Before Penn State hoop fans panic, know that Battle’s decision is almost certainly exploratory, and nothing more: By not hiring an agent, he gives himself the chance to work out for NBA scouts, get feedback on how to plug the holes in his game, and pull his name out of the hat before the NCAA-mandated May 8 deadline. I have yet to see an NBA mock draft that includes Battle’s name for 2010, but if (as expected) he comes back with a better sense of where he needs to improve and has a strong senior season, he’ll give himself a decent shot of being chosen in 2011.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Penn State to Face BYU in… Albany?
This just in from the Penn State sports blog The22000: The Nittany Lion basketball team will reportedly face BYU next December in Albany, N.Y. It may sound like a head-scratcher, but fans who follow Penn State hoops closely will know why it makes perfect sense: All-Big Ten guard Talor Battle, a senior next season, is an Albany native, as is his younger brother and incoming freshman Taran Buie. It’ll be the brothers’ only season together, and the chance to play in front of their hometown crowd seems a great reward for two kids who bypassed more successful programs to come to Penn State.
The choice of opponent seems to make even less sense, but again, it’s about roots: BYU star Jimmer Fredette is another New York state native (with an interesting life story you can read more about here) who was once recruited by Penn State — for football. He’s also a former AAU teammate of Battle.
It won’t be official until it’s official, but it almost makes too much sense not to happen. Geography aside, the matchup would go a long way in helping Penn State improve what has been one of the nation’s weaker non-conference schedules in recent years. BYU is coming off an appearance in this year’s NCAA tournament, while the Nittany Lions are hoping to make their first trip to the Big Dance in a decade. Playing — and beating — a team like BYU would be huge for Battle and Co. if they hope to make that leap next year.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Another Nittany Lion Hoops Milestone
Eleven years into the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the annual early season hoops tournament dominated by Atlantic Coast Conference schools, no Big Ten team had managed to win three straight games against ACC foes.
Until Monday night.
The Nittany Lions opened the 2009 Challenge Monday at Virginia, overcoming a six-point halftime deficit to record a 69-66 win. Junior guard Talor Battle led the way with 32 points—a school-record 28 of them coming in the second half—as the Lions built a 12-point lead, then fought off a late UVA rally for the win.
Penn State’s third consecutive win in the series comes after last year’s 85-83 victory at Georgia Tech, and a 66-61 defeat of Virgina Tech in 2007. The 2009 Challenge continues with five games tonight and five more on Wednesday, and observers say the Big Ten has its best chance to finally win a majority of the games. If so, the rest of the conference can thank the Nittany Lions for showing them how to do it.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Kelly Mazzante & Blue-Chip Recruits Shine Light on PSU Hoops
Hard to believe, but college basketball is about to tip off again. Both the Nittany and Lady Lions open their seasons Friday, and both received good news this week about the future of their programs.
On Wednesday, the first day of the national early signing period for high school basketball players, Penn State recruits were able to make their verbal promises official. The Nittany Lions got their guy when Taran Buie (right), younger brother of current Penn State guard Talor Battle, signed his letter of intent; he’s arguably the most highly touted recruit in Nittany Lion history. I’ve had a chance to see him play the past couple of summers in Akron, Ohio at the LeBron James Skills Academy, an all-star camp for some of the nation’s best prep players. Buie, a 6-2 guard, recently relocated with his family to Centre County, and I imagine I won’t be the only one showing up at State High games this winter specifically to see him play.
The Lady Lions’ strong recruiting class is led by Maggie Lucas, a 5-8 guard from Narbeth, Pa., ranked as the 14th best senior in the nation by one prominent recruiting service. And, in a rare crossover of my old and new jobs that I’m happy to share here, a Lady Lion legend is getting some ink this week, too.
Before coming back to Penn State, I spent a little more than seven years at Slam, the basketball magazine. Though I had nothing to do with it, there’s a very cool Q&A on the Slam site this week with Kelly Mazzante ’04, who’s fresh off helping the Phoenix Mercury to their second WNBA title in the past three years. The interviewer describes Mazzante as “one of the most underrated players in the WNBA,” as well as “one of the nicest, funniest, and most supportive” — a description that should sound just right to longtime Lady Lion fans.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Reps on the Rise: Talor Battle & Jack Crawford
Talor Battle continues to make us look good for featuring him in our Nov/Dec 2008 issue. The Nittany Lion point guard (pictured here) followed up his terrific sophomore season by leading the U.S. team in scoring at the World University Games last week in Serbia, where the Americans earned a bronze medal. Here’s hoping Jack Crawford treats us just as well. The British-born defensive end and sophomore-to-be on the Penn State football team is the “Lead Athlete” in our current (July/Aug) issue, and we’re not the only ones picking him for stardom in the near future. The Altoona Mirror ran a lengthy profile of Crawford on Sunday, coinciding with the Nittany Lions’ annual Lift for Life charity event, which raised more than $81,000 for the Kidney Cancer Association.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Talor Battle (and His Family) Are Having Quite a Summer
Just got an e-mail from the folks at USA Basketball announcing the final roster for the World University Games. Among the names on the 12-man roster is Talor Battle, the Nittany Lions’ all-Big Ten point guard. It’s a terrific honor for Battle, who earns a trip to Belgrade, Serbia, next month for the international tournament. The U.S. team will be led by Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan — whose knowledge of Battle’s talent from conference play probably didn’t hurt Talor’s chances — and assisted by University of Miami coach Frank Haith; hardcore Nittany Lion hoops fans will remember Haith as a Penn State assistant coach during the ’95-96 season.
By the time Battle gets back from Europe, he might have a new hometown: With Talor looking at two more years in a Penn State uniform and his younger brother, Taran Buie, committed to play for the Nittany Lions beginning in 2010, Battle’s mother and kids (including Buie) are reportedly moving to Centre County in time for Buie’s senior year of high school. Buie, a top-50 recruit according to some national scouting services, is the most highly touted recruit in the history of the program. As a Penn State hoops fan who lives about a mile from State College High School, I for one am psyched.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Garden Party: A Night with the NIT Champs
If you weren’t there, I hope you watched the game on TV, or at least saw the highlights (ESPN has a terrific game wrap-up here). If you were at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, you know what a great night it was. In front of what might as well have been a home crowd, Penn State won its first ever postseason championship, beating Baylor 69-63 for the National Invitational Tournament title.
I was not aboard one of the 35 or 36 buses that left State College on Thursday afternoon, but I did make the trip by car. It was well worth it, particularly since I was able to blur the fan/credentialed-media line during the game. In the first half, I sat in my baseline press seat and tried to act like a professional (read: no cheering). Here’s the view from my courtside perch; all those white t-shirts should give you an idea of the terrific fan support. (click for larger view)
At halftime, I hooked up with some friends in the crowd, tucked my credential in my shirt pocket and switched to fan status — I’m not taking sole credit for Penn State turning a four-point halftime deficit into a six-point win, but, you know…
I did keep the camera handy, though — novice photographer that I am, the quality of some of these is dodgy, but you get the idea. Here’s the view from our seats:
Another guy who I assume didn’t take the bus to Manhattan was native New Yorker Joe Paterno. Just as he did during Tuesday’s semifinal, JoePa sat a few rows behind the Penn State bench. He was also the game’s biggest halftime attraction, being mobbed by well-wishers and folks with cameras during the intermission.
The student support was the real story in the stands. Official attendance for Thursday’s final was 10,254, close to 9,000 of whom were cheering on the Nittany Lions. The students who made the trip — and most of them made two SC-to-NY roundtrips in the space of 48 hours — were their usual rowdy selves. Among the most loyal members of Nittany Nation are a bunch of the Paternoville regulars I met while reporting the cover story for our Jan/Feb issue. I saw a few of them Thursday:
I’ve been to hundreds of games at the Garden (in my previous life as an editor at Slam Magazine, it was part of the job), and I don’t ever remember the stands shaking. But last night, when the students bounced to “Zombie Nation,” I found myself worrying about structural integrity. Very cool.
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It’s probably impossible to overstate how cool it was to see Jamelle Cornley end his Penn State career with a title. The burly but undersized power forward led the Nittany Lions all season (and, really, throughout much of his career) with his toughness and intensity. After finishing with a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds, he was the obvious and thoroughly deserving choice for tournament MVP:
A couple more low-quality shots of ’Mel, worth including (I thought) to give a sense of just how happy everyone was to see him go out on such a high note. He’ll be missed next season.
Postgame, somebody handed Joe an NIT Champs t-shirts, which he put on over his sports coat. (Bonus points if you can ID the bearded gentleman to Paterno’s left — not too many bonus points, though. This one should be easy.)
Pretty close behind Cornley on the people-to-be-happy-for list is head coach Ed DeChellis ’82 Edu. No one knows Penn State’s success-starved hoops history better than Ed — Sports Illustrated recently called his job the toughest in the Big Ten — and while it’s not the NCAA Tournament glory he and his players were hoping for, it was a huge moment nonetheless. Postgame, he looked happy, tired, and proud.
And just when Ed thought his night couldn’t get any better: Taran Buie, the younger brother of star sophomore Talor Battle and one of the top high school juniors in the nation, put the cherry on top Thursday night when he verbally committed to attend Penn State beginning in 2010. Rumor has it that Buie (read more about him here) joined his big brother and their mom on the team bus after the game and announced his plans to the team.
Even in New York City, the stories don’t get much better than that.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Talor Battle Does it Again
Ryan Jones may have more to say later about last night’s Penn State win in the NIT. But in case you’d like to watch Talor Battle’s three-pointer at the buzzer again—and it sure is fun to watch—there’s a nice video clip of it here.
Tina Hay, editor
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