Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/433715
T H E M O N T H I N . . . Franklin had a full class of recruits in February. Now, scholarships are back at the 25 per year and 85 overall levels as of the National Letter of Intent Day on Feb. 4, 2015. So while the on-the-field sanctions are now gone, it's folly to think that Franklin can restock Penn State's shelves in any reasonably manageable manner, even if he brings in another class of 25 recruits. You know by now that the Lions were already the second-youngest team in major college football. You want young? Try 25 plus 25 at ages 18 and 19. MIKE POORMAN STATECOLLEGE.COM I don't know that Hackenberg will get his mojo back to where it was in 2013. He might have to endure more of what we've seen this year. It could be just as ugly. He knows that, too. And yet, he's choosing this road on faith without much evi- dence, the belief that good things will happen to him and his teammates if they stay committed to a common cause and each other. In a realm where so few are so inclined, that sounds pretty refreshing to me. DAVID JONES PENNLIVE.COM Progress has taken longer than expected, no doubt. But with a quarterback viewed by some as a future first-round NFL pick and a coaching staff that turned in a pair of 9-4 seasons at Vanderbilt, previously an SEC doormat, logic would dictate that a remedy should not be as elusive as it appeared this season. NEIL RUDEL ALTOONA MIRROR Moving forward, this is where I'm at. This is where I want to be. This is the team that I love, the guys that I love, the university that I love, and I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. CHRISTIAN HACKENBERG ADDRESSING TRANSFER SPECULATION O P I N I O N S Q U O T E S WINTER SPORTS Lions to play in first hockey-hoops twinbill If you're a Penn State basketball fan, or a Penn State ice hockey fan, or, even bet- ter, a fan of both progams, you'll want to save this date: Jan. 30, 2016. That's when the two Nittany Lion teams will take part in an innovative doubleheader against Michigan in New York. The games are the byproducts of an agree- ment between Madison Square Garden and the Big Ten. The basketball-hockey doubleheader will be the first of four annual events at Madison Square Garden, which will also host the 2018 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament. "Any chance we have to showcase Penn State and the Big Ten in the Northeast corridor, not to mention in one of the most historic venues in the world, is a tremendous opportunity," men's basketball coach Patrick Cham- bers said. "We are looking forward to taking part in the first conference bas- ketball and hockey doubleheader, along with Coach [Guy] Gadowsky, next year and kicking off the presence of Big Ten basketball leading up to the tournament in 2018." Added Gadowsky, coach of the Nittany Lion men's ice hockey team, "This is a tremendous opportunity for our pro- gram and the conference to bring great college hockey to Madison Square Gar- den. We had a great experience this past November against Cornell, and we're thrilled to be a part of the first Big Ten doubleheader at MSG." Big Ten men's basketball and hockey programs will play regular-season games in late January or early February in 2016 through 2019. The Nittany Lion men's hockey team played at Madison Square Garden in the Frozen Apple this Novem- ber against Cornell, while the men's bas- ketball team last visited MSG in 2009 when it captured the National Invitation Tournament championship. ■