Aug. 28, 2008
Check out the Lions' first practice on GOPSB.com
Team Blog: Follow the Nittany Lion Basketball Team on Its Trip To Canada
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., Aug. 28, 2008 - This weekend will not only mark the beginning of the Penn State football season, but the very early tip-off of what is expected to be a rewarding season for the Nittany Lion basketball team as they play the first of four exhibition games in Toronto, Canada, Saturday at noon. A roster of 15 Nittany Lion players, coaches and staff will head north to take on a group of Canadian colleges and universities in the Toronto area, opening play on the season a full month and a half before the official NCAA start date for practice on Oct. 17.
Penn State will open play with a double-header against the University of Waterloo Warriors and the Sheridan College Bruins on Saturday, Aug. 30. Both games will be played at Sheridan College's Davis Campus just outside of Toronto. The Nittany Lions will take on the Warriors, who went 6-16 in the west division of Ontario University Athletics (OUA) last year, in a noon tip-off. Penn State will take on Sheridan, which won the Ontario College Athletics Association with a 16-2 record last year and finished fourth in the Canadian College National Championship, at 7:00 p.m.
Penn State will face the Ryerson University Rams on Sunday, Aug. 31 in a 7:00 p.m. game in Toronto. The Rams finished with a 7-15 record in the East Division of the OUA last season.
The Nittany Lions will wrap up the Toronto trip with a noon tip-off against the York University Lions on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 1. The Lions also posted a 7-15 mark in the OUA last season.
The Nittany Lions also plan to make a stop at Niagara Falls on the return trip home following Monday's game and take a voyage on the Maid of the Mist.
"It's been fun," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said of the opportunity to begin coaching his team early. "We've had some very spirited practices and the guys are really excited for the chance to play this early in the year. It's been a great opportunity to teach the freshmen our offensive and defensive sets and get a feel for where guys are going to fit and what we are going to be able to do this season. I think the guys will really enjoy the trip, and we are all looking forward to spending some time together in a different city and playing some competitive games."
Under NCAA rules, the Nittany Lions were allowed 10 practice dates prior to the exhibition games. Penn State got four of those in with its 12 returning players prior to the end of the summer session. Once the fall semester began Nittany Lion freshmen, Chris Babb, Billy Oliver and Cammeron Woodyard, joined the team and Penn State has been putting in two-a-days this week to prepare to play.
Among the things they have been practicing are playing under FIBA rules set by the International Basketball Federation. Among the differences they've been adjusting to are a wider trapezoid lane, 24-second shot clock, four 10-minute quarters, an eight-second backcourt violation and the ability to touch the ball on the rim after its initial contact. Penn State has also been adjusting to the new 20 feet, 9 inch NCAA three-point line, which is actually three inches longer than the 20 feet, 6 inch international arc.
Penn State returns its top two scorers and five of its top six from last season, including leading scorer Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.). Battle, a sophomore point-guard who posted 10.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 3.1 apg last season, also led the Lions in assists and steals and is among four of the Lions top five rebounders that also return. Battle shared team MVP honors with two-time All-Big Ten honoree Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio). Cornley averaged 12.1 ppg and 6.0 rpg last season to earn third-team All-Big Ten honors despite missing six games total and the last three of the season with a knee injury. Cornley is fully recovered from knee surgery and is among five returning seniors that include Danny Morrissey (Cleveland, Ohio), the team's leading three-point shooter in three seasons, and Stanley Pringle (Virginia Beach, Va.), a starter in 12 games who shot better than 40 percent from the arc last year.