March 5, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., March 5, 2009 - On the day of Penn State's biggest game of the season, Penn State sophomore Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) and senior Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio) have been named to the 2009 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division 1 All-District teams, recognizing the nation's best men's collegiate basketball student-athletes. Battle and Cornley are the first pair of Nittany Lion basketball players to be honored by the NABC in the same season.
Battle, who ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring (17.0 ppg) and assists (5.0 apg), was one of five Big Ten players named first-team NABC All-District. Battle joins Michigan State's Kalin Lucas, Ohio State's Evan Turner, Michigan's Manny Harris and Purdue's JuJuan Johnson on the District 7 first-team.
Cornley, who ranks eighth in scoring (14.3 ppg) and ninth in rebounding (6.3 ppg) in the Big Ten, was named to the District 7 second-team along with Northwestern's Kevin Coble, Illinois' Demetri McCamey and Mike Tisdale and Michigan State's Goran Suton.
The NABC District teams are selected and voted on by members of the NABC. Selections were made from 24 districts nation-wide determined by conference affiliation. First-team selections are now eligible for the State Farm Coaches' Division I All-America team to be announced on Saturday, April 4 in Detroit.
Battle, who is tied for the Big Ten lead with 12, 20-point games on the season, is just Penn State's fourth NABC All-District first-team selection and the first since Geary Claxton in 2006. He joins Claxton, Joe Crispin (2001) and John Amaechi (1995) in receiving the honor. Battle ranks in the top six of five statistical categories in the Big Ten and leads the conference in minutes played at 37 a game. He has scored in double-figures in 26 of 29 games, is second in the Big Ten with 75 threes, and has led Penn State in scoring in 13 games on the year including a career-high 29 points in the Nittany Lions upset of No. 9 Michigan State in East Lansing. He is on pace for one of the top five seasons all-time in scoring and assists at Penn State and, at 5-11, ranks in the Top 15 of the Big Ten in rebounding pulling down 5.4 boards per game.
Cornley is just the fourth Nittany Lion to earn NABC All-District second-team selection joining Geary Claxton (2007), John Amaechi (1994) and Randy Meister (1975). Cornley is the Big Ten's active scoring leader and sixth all-time at Penn State with 1,462 career points and stands ninth all-time at PSU with 705 career rebounds. He needs just 38 points to join Jesse Arnelle and Geary Claxton as the only three Penn State players to achieve 1,500 points and 700 boards on their career. He ranks seventh in the Big Ten shooting 52 percent from the floor and was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on Jan. 26. He has led Penn State in scoring in eight games on the season (31 for his career) and in rebounding in 13 (46 for his career) and has five 20-point games on the season.
Penn State (20-9; 9-7 Big Ten) will take on No. 23 ranked Illinois (23-7; 11-6 Big Ten) tonight at 9:00 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center before a national television audience on ESPN. With two regular-season games remaining, Penn State has a chance to finish as high as second in the Big Ten and will look to add to its NCAA Tournament resume with its fourth victory over a Top 25 team on the season.