Oct. 29, 2008
MEDIA DAY PAGE/DeCHELLIS TRANSCRIPT
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., Oct. 29, 2008 -Nittany Lion basketball players and coaches welcomed nearly 40 members of the local and state-wide media to the Bryce Jordan Center Wednesday for the annual Penn State Basketball Media Day. Coach Ed DeChellis addressed a full Jordan Center media room for 30 minutes before taking the floor with his 14 players and coaching staff that will form his sixth team at Penn State.
Penn State, which returns seven players that started 12 or more games and 73 percent of its scoring and 81 percent of rebounding from last season, had plenty to talk about as they prepare for what they hope will be an exciting campaign. Penn State, which brings a five-game home win streak into 2008-09, will play an exhibition game Nov. 9 vs. Bloomsburg in the Jordan Center before tipping off the season on Friday, Nov. 14 vs. William and Mary at 6:30 p.m. That game will be played the night before the football team's Nov. 15 match-up with Indiana in Beaver Stadium. Football tickets for the Indiana game can be shown at the door of the Bryce Jordan Center to receive a 2-for-1, buy-one-get-one free ticket to the game.
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 four 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.
Nittany Lion basketball tickets can be purchased by calling the ticket office during regular business hours at 814-865-5555 or visiting GoPSUsports.com anytime. Penn State basketball offers the most flexible ticket package ever with the 2009 FLEX pack. For just $99 fans can receive 10 vouchers that can be redeemed in any quantity, bring one friend or nine, for any men's or women's game on any date. You pick the games, the dates and the number of tickets that work for you. The Penn State Basketball FLEX Pack - now our schedule fits yours!