| Geary Claxton (top) was named to the All-Big Ten second and third teams while Jamelle Cornley (bottom) was named honorable mention. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., March 6, 2007 ?C Penn State junior forward Geary Claxton (West Haven, Conn.), one of two players to rank in the top five in scoring and rebounding in the Big Ten, earned All-Big Ten selection for the second-consecutive year when the conference announced the 2007 All-Big Ten teams on Tuesday.
Claxton, who was a third-team selection in 2006, was named to the All-Big Ten second team by the media voters and to the third team by the coaches. He is the fifth Nittany Lion to earn All-Big Ten selection in two or more seasons and the first since Joe Crispin (2000 and 2001). Penn State sophomore Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio), the 2006 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, was named an honorable mention selection by both the coaches and media.
Wisconsin??s Alando Tucker was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and was a unanimous first-team selection by both the coaches and the media. Ohio State freshman standout Greg Oden was named the conference??s Defensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous first-team pick by the media and a first-team pick by the coaches. Iowa??s Adam Haluska, who led the conference in scoring, and Michigan State??s Drew Neitzel were also first-team selections by the coaches and the media. Purdue??s Carl Landry was named to the first team by the coaches and second team by the media, while Ohio State freshman Mike Conley, Jr. was named to the first team by the media and the second team by the coaches.
Ohio State head coach Thad Matta, who led the Buckeyes to their second-consecutive league title and No. 1 national ranking, was named the Coach of the Year by both the media and coaches. Oden earned Freshman of the Year honors from both the coaches and media and fellow Ohio State freshman Daequan Cook was named the Sixth Man of the Year by the coaches.
The 6-5 Claxton leads Penn State in 10 categories on the season including points, rebounds, steals and blocks. He became just the 15th player in Penn State history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds for a career and currently stands 13th on the all-time scoring chart with 1,252 points. He ranks fifth in the Big Ten in scoring (16.6 ppg) and second in rebounding (7.9 rpg) on the season and is in the top 15 in six Big Ten categories. He ranks second in the Big Ten with eight double-doubles and has recorded seven 20-point plus scoring games while raising his scoring average for the third-straight season. Claxton stands poised to become just the sixth Nittany Lion, and first since Pete Lisicky in 1998, to lead Penn State in scoring in three-consecutive seasons.
Cornley continues to elevate his game following a stellar freshman season. He has led Penn State in scoring 11 times and rebounding 12 times on the year and ranks 12th in the Big Ten in scoring (13.7 ppg), fifth in rebounding (6.8 rpg), seventh in field goal percentage (50.2) and first in minutes played (35.9 mpg). The 6-5 forward has recorded six 20-point plus games and five double-doubles on the year, including a memorable 20-point, 13-rebound outing with a painful hip pointer to lead Penn State to a 74-72 victory over Iowa to close out the 2006-07 home schedule.
Claxton and Cornley will lead Penn State into the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday. Penn State, the No. 11 seed, will face No. 6 seed Illinois at 5:05 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2. Claxton has posted a double-double in each of his previous three Big Ten Tournament games and brings averages of 16.3 ppg and 11.7 rpg in Big Ten Tournament play into the game.