Nov. 4, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Nov. 4, 2009 - Penn State junior point-guard Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) has added yet another preseason honor to his growing resume as he has been named to the 2009-10 Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List.
The Naismith Trophy is presented to the men's College Player of the Year and past winners include Bill Walton, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. The watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances from the previous year and expectations for the 2009-10 college basketball season.
The Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T will be awarded at the 2010 NCAA Men's Final Four in Indianapolis, Ind. The Big XII Conference has claimed two of the last three Naismith Trophies for Men's College Player of the Year, and has done so with a sophomore (Blake Griffin, Oklahoma, 2009) and a freshman (Kevin Durant, Texas, 2007).
Battle was one of 14 juniors and 33 upperclassmen named to the 50-person Watch List. He was joined by fellow Big Ten standouts Manny Harris (Michigan), Robbie Hummel (Purdue), Kalin Lucas (Michigan State) and Evan Turner (Ohio State). Battle also joined those four on the preseason All-Big Ten team selected by media voters last week and was previously named a preseason candidate for the Wooden Award.
Battle, who averaged 16.7 ppg while setting a Penn State single season record with 189 assists last year, will lead the Nittany Lions into their first contest of the season this Friday as Penn State takes on Slippery Rock in exhibition action starting at 6:00 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Rock played Big East power Pittsburgh to a close 75-64 game on Sunday in Pittsburgh, hitting 15 threes in the fast paced game. Admission to Friday's game is $5 for the general public with students and season ticket holders admitted for free. All seating is general admission.
The football pep rally will begin immediately after the Nittany Lion basketball game at approximately 8 p.m. All fans who plan to attend the pep rally are encouraged to attend the basketball game. Rally in the Valley will pump up and prime the Nittany Lion faithful for the highly-anticipated clash between No. 10 Penn State and No. 12 Ohio State on Saturday. The pep rally will feature Coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lion football team, Penn State cheerleaders, Lionettes dance team, the Blue Band, and the Nittany Lion. T-shirts will be given away at the pep rally.
Both the Nittany Lions' exhibition game and Rally in the Valley will be streamed live in their entirety on BigTenNetwork.com
The Nittany Lions basketball team opens its regular season the following Friday, Nov. 13 vs. Penn in the Jordan Center.
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