Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1410640
1 6 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M PENN STATE'S TOP PERFORMERS Ryan Lee — Men's Golf Lee won the New Jersey Golf Asso- ciation Public Links championship Aug. 19 at Ballyowen Golf Club in Hamburg, shooting a 5-under 139 in the 36-hole event. The senior was tied for third place, two strokes off the pace, after shooting a 1-under 71 in the morning session. The wind kicked up later in the day, but Lee was unfazed, surging into the lead with a 4-under 68 in the after- noon. The Norwood, N.J., native is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a 2021 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. Payton Linnehan — Women's Soccer When the Nittany Lions defeated third-ranked Virginia, 4-2, in Charlottesville Sept. 9, Linnehan, un- surprisingly, played a starring role. The junior midfielder from Douglas, Mass., assisted on the opening goal of the game by Sam Coffey. Then in the 38th minute, she capitalized on a Cavaliers turnover and scored to give Penn State a 2-1 lead. Heading into Penn State's match against Rutgers Sept. 19, Linne- han, a second-team All-Big Ten selection during the spring 2021 season, was tied for the conference lead with six goals and ranked second with 15 points. Andrew Prive — Men's Soccer Coming off a spring season in which he made 11 starts, with one goal and a pair of assists, the Fallston, Md., native has been an offensive force for the Nit- tany Lions this fall. Through six games, Privett ranked second in the Big Ten for goals (three) and points (seven). The junior midfielder scored the equalizer in two recent games in which Penn State fell behind early but went on to win, a 3-1 victory over American Sept. 6 and a 2-1 win against Penn four days later. Anna Simon — Field Hockey The Nittany Lions have gotten off to a strong start this fall, and Simon has been a big reason for their early suc- cess. Through Penn State's first five games, the senior defender from Hanau, Germany, was tied for second in the Big Ten in goals (seven) and ranked third in points (15). She had two goals on four shots in a 3-1 non-conference victory over Albany Sept. 10 and already has doubled her scoring output from the spring season when she had three goals in 14 games. — Matt Herb New Initiative To Help Penn State Athletes Find NIL Opportunities The NCAA's decision earlier this year to loosen its name, image and likeness (NIL) restric- tions already has had a major impact on the college sports world. That impact is only going to grow in the months and years to come, Penn State athletics director Sandy Barbour said during a Zoom presentation to State College business leaders Sept. 2. The changes to the NCAA's longstanding rules have opened the door to partnerships between businesses and Penn State student-athletes, and Barbour said she's eager to help build a bridge between the two parties. "It's not a stretch at all for me to speak on behalf of students at Penn State, but specifi- cally student-athletes who we know this will benefit. It will be incredibly helpful and valu- able in their entrepreneurial pursuits involving name, image and likeness," Barbour said. "We know a lot of work has gone into this, and I know it will benefit students and I believe very strongly that there will be a mutual benefit to our community as well." To help facilitate those relationships, the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County (CBICC) has launched HappyValleyTalent.com. It's a portal designed to connect student-athletes with local businesses. Penn State's athletic department and the business community are hoping that it will expand opportunities for branding partnerships and promotions. When the new NIL rules went into effect in July, Penn State immediately announced a program called STATEment, which was aimed at helping educate student-athletes about entrepreneurial opportunities. The athletic department also launched a Penn State- exclusive portal to connect former student-athletes with current players. The new CBICC site localizes that effort. Now that the new initiatives are underway, it's expected that Penn State student-ath- letes will find it easier to partner with local businesses like car dealerships and restaurants. In her remarks to local business leaders, Barbour acknowledged that the NIL environ- ment is changing rapidly, and continued growth is all but certain. The new website is part of a broader effort to stay abreast of those changes. "We are committed to evolving," Barbour said. "We're committed to listening to our student-athletes, listening to our community, listening to the campus and making adjustments." — Nate Bauer Penn State Declines To Release Official Depth Chart Penn State is not going to be releasing any official depth charts during the 2021 season, which is a change from how the program previously operated during the James Franklin era. Franklin said he does not have a strong opinion one way or the other when it comes to sharing that information publicly but decided not to do so after learning that several other Big Ten teams would not be putting out depth charts this year. "There have been multiple schools in the conference that haven't been releasing it for a number of years," he said. "And then this year we found out that Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State and Purdue either were not releasing it or were think- ing about not releasing it, so it just didn't make sense for us to do it if others weren't doing it." Penn State's season-opening opponent, Wisconsin, did release a positional grid in advance of the game, but none of the teams Franklin mentioned during his news conference included a depth chart in their game notes. In the Big Ten, only Indiana, Rutgers and Maryland joined the Badgers in releasing official depth charts, while Northwestern released a "projected" depth chart. In past years, Penn State's depth chart was based on either the previous game's starters or seniority, which made it an unreliable guide sometimes. Nevertheless, Franklin said it may have been marginally useful for opponents. "I know on Sundays, or even Saturdays, when we're breaking down the next opponent, if that's already out there it saves some work and saves some time," he said. — Greg Pickel