Blue White Illustrated

2000, but he left the coaching ranks four years later to become associate athletic director for football administration. He also served as the director of the Penn State Football Letterman���s Club since 2003. Former Nittany Lion defensive lineman Elijah Robinson will take over administrative oversight of the FLC. ���I can���t say enough about Fran and his impact on me and the players he coached,��� former Nittany Lion tailback Curt Warner said. ���He had great knowledge of the Xs and Os and was an excellent coach. He was a great communicator who knew how to motivate people and get their best effort. Fran has been a tremendous liaison as all the former players get to know Coach O���Brien and his staff. I have the utmost respect for him and what he has accomplished during his career at Penn State.��� FOOTBALL Penn State replaces veteran team doctor Throughout the off-season, Bill O���Brien has pushed for improve- ments and additional manpower to assist with the football program���s daily operations. While Penn State has added a new coordinator to help on the recruiting trail, it has also been making changes to the medical staff. On Feb. 28, the football program announced a change at the top of its medical staff, replacing Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli, the team���s head physician since 1992, with Dr. Peter Seidenberg, an associate professor of orthopedics and a primary care sports medicine physician for Penn State Hershey���s orthopedic practice in State College. Penn State also added Dr. Scott Lynch to the medical staff. An associate professor of orthopedics and director of orthopedic sports medicine at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Lynch will serve as the football team���s orthopedic consultant. In a news release, Penn State said the decision to replace Sebastianelli and add a consultant position was made after a review of procedures and personnel by O���Brien. The moves are part of an ongoing reorganization of the football staff. Sebastianelli, the Kalenak professor of orthopedics for Penn State���s Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine, will remain the university���s director of athletic medicine and will oversee all sports medical services for the athletic department. Sebastianelli might be best known for his role in Adam Taliaferro���s recovery from the spinal cord injury he suffered against Ohio State in 2000. Taliaferro���s father, Andre, said that if not for the care Sebastianelli provided, ���my son could have died or been a lifelong quadriplegic.��� ���Removing or altering the involvement of Sebastianelli with the football program should and will be viewed by many as malpractice, political and a disservice to all players and parents,��� Andre Taliaferro said in a letter to The Daily Collegian. ���I am not saying that there are not others who could perform his duties, but why make changes regarding a person who has proven numerous times his value to the program, its players and parents?��� Speaking to reporters prior to the Maxwell Club banquet in Atlantic City, N.J., on March 1, O���Brien said he understood that change doesn���t always come easily, especially at a place like Penn State that has been AWARDS WATCH enn State senior point guard Alex Bentley recently received the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, which is presented annually by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the nation���s outstanding female collegiate player who stands 5-foot-8 or under and has excelled both on the court and in the classroom. Bentley is the third Lady Lion to win the award, joining Helen Darling (2000) and Suzie McConnell (1988). ��� Another Lady Lion guard, Maggie Lucas, was named Big Ten Player of the Year by the league���s coaches and media. A unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection, Lucas was third in the league in scoring (20.5) during the regular season, third in free throw percentage (.898) and second in 3-point field goals made (3.1 per game). ��� Head coach Coquese Washington claimed her second consecutive Big Ten Coach of the Year Award from the media. It is the fifth P time in conference history that a coach has won the honor two years in row. ... Two key players from Penn State���s 1986 national championship team are on the ballot for the National Football Foundation���s College Hall of Fame. First-team All-Americans D.J. Dozier and Steve Wisniewski are under consideration for the Hall of Fame���s Class of 2013. If the running back and offensive guard are inducted, they will join 17 former Nittany Lion players and five coaches who already are enshrined in the college hall. The class will be announced May 7 and will be inducted Dec. 10 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. ��� Former Nittany Lion men���s volleyball standout Ivan Contreras was one of three honorees named to the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association���s second Hall of Fame class. A four-time All-American, Contreras led Penn State to its first national title in 1992.

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