28 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists. While Penn State (14-14, 6-10) toils in relative obscurity, freshman point guard Talor Battle (Albany, NY) has emerged as one the few bright spots for Ed DeChellis and the Nittany Lions. Perhaps when Battle is a sophomore, Brent, Steve and Erin will arrive to watch the talented guard play meaningful games in March.
Another Freshman Guard
If any positive development can be salvaged from the ruins of All-Big senior Geary Claxton’s season-ending knee injury, it’s the rapid acceleration of Talor Battle’s development. Aside from laying ruin to Penn State’s hopes for the season, the Claxton injury left an clutch-player void in State College. Although prone to the inconsistencies freshmen usually endure, Battle has answered the call. As he did in a hard fought comeback win against Iowa last week, Battle has filled the void with combination of confidence and the willingness to demand the ball when the outcome of the game is in the balance.
Against Michigan this past weekend, he led Penn State (14-14, 6-10) to its fourth-straight Big Ten home victory with a 69-61 win over Michigan (9-20, 5-12). Building on that win total will be daunting as Penn State and its talented freshman travel to Madison on Wednesday. Still, Battle’s date with Erin and Bryce-Jordan is coming.
Smarty Pants Boilers
It’s generally recognized that Purdue plays smart basketball and, so long as Matt Painter patrols the sidelines of Mackey, the Boilermakers will continue to play smart hoops. From the talented freshmen through the upperclassmen, the Boilermakers have demonstrated the principles of an adherence to fundamentals and and unselfish play. In West Lafayette, as Painter has now firmly entrenched himself, it’s clear the team is more important than the individual.
Except when it comes to the books. Led by Academic-All Big Ten players Chris Kramer (3.5 gpa), Tarrance Crump (3.3 gpa) and Bobby Riddell (3.75 gpa), Purdue has the highest team GPA in the Conference. According to the report published in the Lafayette Journal-Carrier, if the freshmen and junior college transfers were eligible for inclusion, 10 of the 14 players on the roster would’ve been Academic All-Big selections. Robbie Hummel, for example, is not only smart enough to follow up his own shot, he nailed down a 4.0 in his first semester on campus.
With the expectations placed on student-athletes and those in conferences such as the Big Ten in particular, the travel and late night mid-week games to accommodate the insatiable appetite of television requires loads of discipline in the classroom. Purdue’s recent accomplishment is yet another great reason to tip your hardhat to Painter and his team.
Remember Latrell
Hoopraker would like to extend a welcome to the greater NYC area to one of our favorite Big Ten players in recent years, Devin Harris. Badgercentric reminds us of Harris’ recruiting class partner, former roommate and longtime friend Latrell Fleming (Milwaukee-Marshall), a high flying scorer who was unable to play for the Wisconsin after a heart ailment was discovered when he collapsed in a grueling pre-season workout at the legendary Elver Park Hill. Although he never played hoops again, Wisconsin kept Fleming on a basketball scholarship and installed Fleming as a student-assistant coach for Bo Ryan.
“Latrell was a tremendous, complete guard who had a great outside shot; he could really shoot the ball,†former UW-Madison assistant coach and Washington State head man Tony Bennett said. “He was a great ball handler, he had a lot of tricks, and he could cross people up. He was a natural point guard who could really stroke it. The combination of him and Devin (Harris) would have been lethal.â€