University Park, Pa. — Former Nittany Lions Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) and Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) have been selected as the 2011 Penn State Athletes of the Year. Battle, an Associate Press honorable mention All-American, became Penn State men’s basketball’s all-time leading scorer, while Brown, a three-time AVCA All-American, led the women’s volleyball team to four consecutive national championships.
Battle and Brown are now eligible for the Big Ten’s Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year Award and Suzy Favor Female Athlete of the Year Award.
Battle led Penn State to its first-ever Big Ten Tournament championship game and its first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade during a senior season in which he finished second in the Big Ten in scoring (20.2 ppg) and became Penn State’s all-time career scoring leader, posting 2,213 points to surpass the 56-year old mark set by All-American Jesse Arnelle in 1955 and rank 10th all-time in Big Ten Conference history.
A Big Ten Tournament All-Tournament team selection after posting 25 points in a semi-final win over Michigan State and 24 in the final vs. No. 1 ranked Ohio State, Battle became the first Lion to earn first-team All-Big Ten, NABC All-District and USBWA All-District honors in multiple seasons; the first since 1996 and just the sixth-ever to earn All-American recognition (AP – honorable-mention); the first to earn team MVP honors in four seasons; and just the second to lead the team in scoring in four seasons. Battle’s 687 points and 106 threes on the year both ranked as the second-best season marks in Penn State history. He led the Big Ten hitting 3.12 threes per game and playing 38.06 minutes per contest and played all 40 minutes in nine of Penn State’s last 10 games of the year and the final six straight as the Lions made a run to the NCAAs.
Battle’s scoring average stands as the highest by a Lion in 48 years….
via Battle, Brown named Penn State Athletes of the Year | GantDaily.com.