Oct. 29, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Oct. 29, 2010 - Penn State men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis announced the addition of a pair of walk-ons to the Nittany Lion roster on Friday as 6-3 guard Nick Colella (New Castle, Pa.) and 6-9 forward Alan Wisniewski (Sterling Heights, Mich.) joined the team bringing Penn State's roster to 15 players, 14 healthy with the loss of sophomore Sasa Borovnjak to a torn ACL in the preseason.
Colella comes to the Penn State main campus after playing two seasons at Penn State-Behrend. An Academic All-Conference selection, Colella played in 16 games off the bench as a sophomore at Penn State-Behrend averaging 8.2 points and 4.4 rebounds a game and draining 11 3-pointers as the Lions went 21-8.The 2008 New Castle High graduate averaged 13.1 points a game as senior as he bucketed a team-best 26 treys for the Red Hurricane.
Wisniewski brings rare height for a walk-on. The native of Sterling Heights, Mich. averaged 7.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in his senior season at Bishop Foley Catholic as the team went 11-14.
Penn State fans will get a couple of chances to see the Nittany Lions in the next few days as the basketball team takes part in Tipoff at Tailgreat on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center and hosts an open practice for Penn State students on Monday, Nov. 1 at the BJC.
Monday's open practice runs 4:30-6:30 p.m. with the first 150 students in attendance receiving a Big Ten Network Drawstring Bag. Students can watch part of practice, hear from team members, enjoy free food and drinks (while supplies last) and prepare with the band, cheerleaders and Lionettes dance team to make the Jordan Center a raging nightmare for opponents in 2010-11.
Student season ticket holders and non-season ticket holders are encouraged to attend and enter the Bryce Jordan Center through Gate A.
Tipoff at Tailgreat begins at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Bryce Jordan Center prior to Penn State football's kickoff vs. Michigan at 8 p.m. in Beaver Stadium. Both men's and women's squads will partake in special dance performances that will bring you back to the songs of yesteryear, as well as songs of today.The performance of the basketball teams is part of Tailgreat, which takes place in the Bryce Jordan Center three hours before kickoff of each home football game. Tailgreat is free to the public and features performances by the Lionettes, Penn State cheerleaders and the Penn State Blue Band.
Penn State will play an exhibition game vs. East Stroudsburg on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 2:30 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center before officially opening the season taking on Patriot League favorite Lehigh on Friday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions return four senior starters and 75 percent of their scoring led by two-time All-Big Ten point-guard Talor Battle.
Fans can purchase single-game tickets or PNC Flex Books for any of the Nittany Lions' 19 home contests. Single-game tickets for Nittany Lion games are $18 for the lower bowl and $15 for upper level tickets for adults. Youth tickets (18 and under) are $7 for the lower bowl and $5 for upper level seating, while Penn State student tickets (University Park or branch campus) are $5 for all games. Single-game tickets can be ordered by calling the ticket office at 814-865-5555, by visiting GoPSUsports.com or through Ticketmaster. Penn State also offers special group ticket rates (15 fans or more) of $10 for adults and $5 for youth. Interested groups are asked to contact Joel Diamond in the Penn State ticket office at 814-867-2557.
For all the latest information, notes, pictures and related links on Penn State basketball follow Assistant Athletic Communications Director Brian Siegrist on Twitter (@PSUSTRETCH) and check GoPSUsports.com. The Nittany Lions are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstatebasketball.
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