Penn State entertained hopes of being a dark-horse contender in the Big Ten this season and possibly even winning enough games to snare its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2001.

However, those hopes were dashed in early January, when senior forward Geary Claxton went down to a season-ending knee injury in the Nittany Lions' fourth conference game. Throw in the fact that Penn State's second-best player, junior forward Jamelle Cornley, battled a bruised knee all season, and the Nittany Lions were fortunate to go 14-16 in a season in which it was starting four freshmen at the end.

Claxton was on his way to all-Big Ten honors as he was averaging 17.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Cornley averaged 12.1 points and 6.0 rebounds before undergoing knee surgery the day after the regular season ended.

With those two out, freshman guard Talor Battle became the star, as he averaged 10.l points and 3.1 assists.

Battle and Cornley will be the two players Penn State builds around next season along with junior guard Stanley Pringle (6.8 points, 2.3 assists), freshman forwards David Jackson (5.5 points) and Jeff Brooks (2.8 points), and freshman center Andrew Jones (4.0 points).

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