Blue White Illustrated

T alor Battle, Penn State's all-time leading scorer, sees a need on this year's team. Having spent a few days with the Nit- tany Lions in late July in advance of their three-game trip to the Bahamas, he wants sophomore point guard Tony Carr to be the one to 1ll it. One of several former players present in the Bryce Jordan Center for a workout session with current Nittany Lions, Battle emphasized the importance of a vocal leader on a team that still lacks experi- ence, and he touted Penn State's prized young point guard as the man for the job. "It's a bigger year, because, as a fresh- man, they do a little scouting report, but there's not much they really know," Battle said. "Now, they know. They've seen you for a year, and your progress is huge. The work you put in before the season starts, your leadership to the other guys [is im- portant], because you're the point guard and they're looking at you. So he's got a lot on his shoulders, but that's life in bas- ketball, especially in a big-time confer- ence like the Big Ten." Having worked to absorb what he could from the alumni who were in town, Carr was also set to receive a valuable learning opportunity at the Nike Basketball Acad- emy in Los Angeles from Aug. 15-20. Prior to his trip to California, he said that leadership skills and techniques would be at the top of his list when he got the chance to pick the brains of NBA super- stars. "I'm sure guys out there can help me with my leadership," Carr said. "This year's team is relatively young again and I'm one of the main leaders. So I just want to soak up as many leadership tools and techniques that these guys have [as pos- sible], and hopefully I can bring that back to my team and just lead them the best way I can." The Nittany Lions are counting on it. Heading into the 2017-18 season, they boast a loaded sophomore class consist- ing of Carr, Lamar Stevens, Mike Watkins and Nazeer Bostick. It's strikingly similar to the group that drove the Nittany Lions to the their only NCAA tournament ap- pearance in the past decade. Battle, David Jackson, Je3 Brooks and Andrew Jones all logged signi1cant playing time from the start of their careers, and those four play- ers formed the core of the team as they got older and 1nally broke through onto the national stage as seniors. The team's reliance on so many young players may have led to some growing pains last year, but there's an upside, too. "The advantage is they get to hit the 2oor running," said Jamelle Cornley, who played one year with Battle and company and won an NIT title. "They get to come in and just play. They get to learn from their mistakes and play o3 of each other, so when they become juniors and seniors, it'll be fairly easy. They'll be able to read each other without having to have many verbal cues." Battle is doing his best to pass along what he knows. "What we've been saying to them is just '10 out of 10,' meaning bring the energy and e3ort each and every day," he said. "It's not just here. It's a4er practice, be- fore practice, shooting. It's everyone, be- cause everyone has to play better than they did last year for them to achieve that goal. Winning is hard. Winning is really, really hard, obviously. So you've got to put in that extra work, and that's what I'm trying to show." One of the only impact players from that tournament team who was not a member of the senior class was its point guard, Tim Frazier, who was also in atten- dance. Set to be the backup to star Washington Wizards guard John Wall this coming NBA season, Frazier is living out the dreams of Carr and almost certainly everyone else in the Penn state locker room. Having spent the past two years competing against the best the league has to o3er, the former Nittany Lion great of- fered a glowing appraisal of Carr's poise on the hardwood. "It seems like he doesn't get rattled," Frazier said. "It seems that he stays in his area. He doesn't try to do too much. He doesn't try to do less. He kind of stays in his area. I would love to continue to watch PSU alumni to successors: 'Bring the energy' | BATTLE TESTED The leader of Penn State's most recent NCAA tournament qualifier, Battle was one of sev- eral former Nittany Lion greats who re- turned to campus in August to work with the current team. Photo by Nate Bauer

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