MBB Team Receives NIT Championship RingsMBB Team Receives NIT Championship Rings

MBB Team Receives NIT Championship Rings

July 19, 2018

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - Members of Penn State's 2018 National Invitation Tournament Championship team received their rings this week, another celebration of the team's record-breaking season and accomplishments. Coach Patrick Chambers presented the rings to the Nittany Lions on Tuesday.

The bezel of the white metal ring features "2018 NIT CHAMPIONS" with a radiant dark blue enamel overlay in the shape of the Penn State Nittany Lion logo in the center. Sculpted in a harlequin style, the logo is surrounded by multi-sized sparkling white round stones and enclosed by the embossed outline of a basketball. The championship designation is separated by two additional channels of white round stones on each side of the engraved text.

One side of the ring features "Nittany Lions" above the NIT logo with Penn State's final record, 26-13, to anchor the lower shank. The other side of the ring has each player's name across the top, near the base of the ring's crown, with their uniform number at the bottom. A 3-D engraving of the "World's Most Famous Arena," Madison Square Garden, the site of the NIT semifinal and championship games, appears in the center.

Penn State won four games Madison Square Garden in the month of March, advancing to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament with wins over Northwestern and 13th-ranked Ohio State. The month of March witnessed an overall record of 7-1 as the Nittany Lions won five-straight contests for the privilege of cutting down the nets at MSG. Penn State posted an average scoring margin of 10.4 points per game during the title run.

"Going on the run was a dream come true - down the stretch to the final game having everyone playing together as a team - we were really playing our best basketball at the end of the season," said rising senior Josh Reaves. "The best moment was seeing (seniors) Shep's (Garner) and Julian's (Moore) faces at the end of the game and knowing we did that for them. With all their hard work, and how important they were to this team, knowing that they could finally go out on top."

Both Garner and Moore left their names etched in the record books with Garner setting the Penn State and Big Ten single-season (120) and Nittany Lion career record (336) for 3-point field goals. Moore owns the Penn State career record for games played (141) and both seniors claimed the mark for most career games played in the Big Ten Tournament with nine.

"I was playing for Shep and Julian at the end of the year," said John Harrar, a true freshman forward in 2017-18 who started the last eight games of the season. "(Winning the NIT) this was an amazing experience and it is going to help us in the future. I have three more years and I'm excited about continuing the great culture we have here."

Penn State racked up 26 wins, the second-most in program history, and earned 19 votes in the final 2018 USA Today Coaches 25 poll. The Nittany Lions climbed to a No. 19 ranking the final kenpom.com ratings, the highest-ever finish since the basketball analytics website debuted in 2002. A top-20 ranking in ESPN's final College Basketball Power Index (BPI) also gave Penn State its best ranking in the BPI's decade of existence.

The Nittany Lions open their 2018-19 season on Friday, Nov. 9 vs. North Florida and will raise the 2018 NIT Championship banner prior to tipoff.

For information, to renew Penn State men's basketball season tickets or to purchase new tickets for the 2018-19 season fans should go to GoPSUsports.com/climbwithus or call 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Keep up to date with the latest information from Coach Chambers and the Nittany Lions on Twitter by following @Coach_Chambers and @PennStateMBB, on Facebook and Instagram at @PennStateMBB.