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I t's hard to catch more than a dozen passes against anybody, let alone against the eventual national champion. But that's what DaeSean Hamilton did against Ohio State last fall, 9nishing with 14 re- ceptions to break a Penn State single- game record belonging to Freddie Scott that had stood for 19 years. Hamilton, who accounted for more than half of Penn State's total receiving yards with his 126-yard performance, was un- aware he had achieved a milestone until someone told him about it a:er the game, and he didn't seem interested in savoring the moment. In the a:ermath of the heart- breaking double-overtime loss, no one was dwelling on personal accomplish- ments. "I didn't even know I had a school record," Hamilton said. "I was just trying to get open, really. Whenever the play is called, it's my job to get open, to make the catch whenever the opportunity pres- ents itself." Those opportunities presented them- selves with astonishing frequency last year. The Buckeyes' secondary wasn't the only one the 6-foot-1, 211-pound receiver scorched, as Hamilton 9nished with 82 catches for 899 yards and a pair of touch- downs on the season. Even a:er a late- season slump that coincided with a ham- string problem, his average of 6.3 catches per game led the Big Ten and marked him as one of the league's rising stars heading into the 2015 season. Hamilton's rapid rise last year was due to a number of factors, notably his versa- tility and discipline. "He can play all three of the [wide receiver] positions, which is helpful because you can move him around," coach James Franklin said following his big night against the Buckeyes. "We're going to need to continue to 9nd ways to get him the ball, because he's proven to us that he's a playmaker. "I'm really proud of him," the 9rst-year coach added. "I've been proud of him since day one for how he's been working. [It's impressive] just how disciplined he is with his assignments and his respon- sibilities." Hamilton's studiousness and determi- nation helped him overcome a wrist injury that forced him to redshirt as a true fresh- man and kept him out of the early part of last year's spring drills. "He's a very, very smart kid," receivers coach Josh Gat- tis said. "He's probably one of the smartest minds in our meeting room. He's come a very long way because he didn't get a chance to practice in the spring. He took advantage of every bit of coaching and paid attention to all of the details. "He's always got a smile on his face. He's always cracking jokes. He's really a great kid to be around, a guy who brings DaeSEAN HAMILTON MALE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR | Wideout's strong debut sets stage for even bigger things this fall MARCUS ALLEN FOOTBALL Allen stepped into the starting lineup at midseason following senior safety Ryan Keiser's career-ending injury, and the true freshman from Upper Marlboro, Md., came up big, finishing third on the Nittany Lions with 52 tackles and prompting defensive coordinator Bob Shoop to gush prior to the Pin- stripe Bowl that he "played as well as any safety in college football the second half of the year." ERIK AUTIO ICE HOCKEY Overcoming the language barrier, the move to a new continent and the transition to American collegiate hockey, Autio, a native of Espoo, Finland, finished second on the team among defensemen with 11 points. He had two goals and nine assists and blocked 41 shots in his debut season. SHEP GARNER BASKETBALL The newcomer from Philadelphia Roman Catholic started 33 of Penn State's 34 games and finished second on the team in scoring with an average of 9.2 points per game. THAD LAWSON GYMNASTICS Lawson became the second Penn State freshman in the past three years to win a national championship in the floor exercise, duplicating Trevor Howard's triumph in 2013. ANDREW MACKIEWICZ FENCING Mackiewicz brought Penn State its second men's saber national championship in as many years, claiming the title that Kaito Streets won last season while helping the Nittany Lions finish in second place at na- tionals. – M.H. H O N O R A B L E M E N T I O N

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