Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1276571
into the off-season was senior Trent But- trick, a lightly used player who averaged 5.5 minutes per game through his first three seasons. Tsimbila will help fill that need. He was a Rivals.com three-star prospect, ranked No. 26 nationally at the center position in the Class of 2019, and will be available to play immediately. Corey Evans, Rivals' national basketball recruiting analyst, noted that the addition of Tsimbila could be a significant one for Penn State. "The strides that the Mid-Atlantic Se- lect big man made over the [summer of 2018] are something that deserves praise," Evans wrote. "Tsimbilia is not someone that Pat Chambers will draw up specific plays for immediately in Happy Valley, but he has intangibles and is the type of big man that blocks shots, re- bounds, and wins his fair share of 50-50 plays." ■ ford vs. Georgia Tech and Army vs. Princeton. "We love being able to play in front of our Penn State alumni and fans in New York City, and we're looking for- ward to being part of this exciting slate of games," Chambers said in a news release announcing the matchup. "We've been fortunate to have been invited to Basketball Hall of Fame events in previous years, and every time we have a great experi- ence." Penn State and Florida have met three times, most recently in 2009, with the Nittany Lions winning, 71- 62, in Gainesville en route to the championship of the National Invita- tion Tournament. Penn State is 2-1 against the Gators all-time. Ticket information, game times and television broadcast details will be re- leased at a later date. The Basketball Hall of Fame said that it will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely in the coming months and provide updates as needed. –N.B. Stevens invited to take part in NBA scouting combine P enn State forward Lamar Stevens has received an invitation to par- ticipate in the 2020 NBA Draft Com- bine. Approximately 100 players were on the list of invitees, with dates and details for the annual event still to be determined as of late July. The 2020 NBA Draft was moved from its tradi- tional June date to Oct. 16. "I've been blessed to be able to play this great game and grateful for the support of so many people, especially my family and coaches," said Stevens, a two-time first-team All-Big Ten honoree during his tenure with the Nittany Lions. "With the invitation to participate in the NBA Combine and the experiences I've had over the last two summers, I'm going to make the most of the opportunities pre- sented and prove that I can con- tribute to a team's success." Stevens declared for the 2019 NBA Draft but de- cided to return for his sen- ior campaign. He led the 2019-20 Nittany Lions to 21 wins, 11 Big Ten Conference wins and their first Associated Press poll ranking since 1996. He helped posi- tion Penn State for an NCAA tourna- ment berth, as the Lions won a program-record eight consecutive conference games and were ranked as high as No. 9 in the AP poll. The Philadelphia native is one of only two Penn State players to amass more than 2,000 career points and 800 career rebounds. He started all 135 of his games as a Nittany Lion, a program-record total, with 115 dou- ble-figure scoring games and 4,532 minutes played. "Lamar has earned this chance to showcase his abilities, and, without question, any team could benefit from Lamar's work ethic and leader- ship," Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. "On the court, in the locker room and in the community, he's the type of player and person you want repre- senting your organiza- tion." ■ ALL-TIME GREAT Stevens finished his ca- reer as the sec- ond-leading scorer in PSU history. Photo courtesy of Ho- yaReport.com