Tag: John Harrar

Penn State fields team for annual The Basketball Tournament

Check out this roster of former Penn State basketball stars gearing up for The Basketball Tournament.

The Basketball Tournament has turned into one of the best basketball events in the United States. It’s a single elimination bracket with the majority of team rosters full of college basketball alumni from years past. The winning team of the tournament takes home $1 million. This event first started in 2014 and takes place every summer.

This year, Penn State will be represented with a roster to compete for the $1 million prize.

Happy Valley Hoopers is a team made up of all Penn State alumni of years past. It was put together by [autotag]John Harrar[/autotag] and is full of familiar faces and a program legend.

Here is the full roster.

  • Ross Condon – Head Coach
  • Austin Waggoner – Assistant Coach
  • Zach Zygmunt – Assistant Coach
  • John Harrar
  • Myles Dread
  • Shep Garner
  • Mike Watkins
  • Josh Reaves
  • Sam Sessoms
  • Jamari Wheeler
  • Trent Buttrick
  • Curtis Jones Jr.
  • Taylor Nussbaum

This is the first time a team full of Penn State alumni will compete in The Basketball Tournament. They’re in the Syracuse region and are playing The Nerd Squad in the first round.

Condon was an assistant coach and Director of Basketball Operations for Penn State on Pat Chamber’s staff. He currently is the Manager of Basketball Partnerships for Teamworks.

[autotag]Myles Dread[/autotag] is the most recent Penn State alumni coming off the magical run in March. He gets to play with his old teammates [autotag]Josh Reaves[/autotag], [autotag]Mike Watkins[/autotag], [autotag]Sam Sessoms[/autotag] and Harrar again.

Program legend [autotag]Shep Garner[/autotag] returns to represent Penn State again. He holds the record for most made three pointers in a career and in a single season.

[autotag]Jamari Wheeler[/autotag] and [autotag]Trent Buttrick[/autotag] are back with Penn State after graduate transferring to Ohio State and UMass respectively.

The Happy Valley Hoopers will play their first round game against The Nerd Squad on July 24th at 4pm Eastern Time and can be watched on the ESPN networks.

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Micah Shrewsberry’s Year 2 outlook for Penn State men’s basketball

Here’s a quick look at Penn State men’s basketball’s Year 2 under Micah Shrewsberry.

We are in the bye week of Penn State football. But that also means we are in the midst of preparing for Penn State Nittany Lions men’s basketball.

Penn State is under former Purdue assistant [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag], who came into a team that was struggling immensely. Shrewsberry came in and already inked Penn State’s highest recruiting class in program history.

How will Shrews be in his second year with the Nittany Lions? Let’s take a look.

Penn State finished 14-17 (7-13) last season, which was 10th in the Big Ten.

Their biggest loss will be forward [autotag]John Harrar[/autotag], who averaged 10.6 points per game, 10.3 rebounds and a 64.0 field goal percentage with Penn State last season.

Another big loss for Penn State is guard [autotag]Sam Sessoms[/autotag], who transferred to Coppin State. Sessoms averaged 11.6 points per game last season with the Nittany Lions.

Penn State has plenty of returning players, with senior [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] and fifth-year senior [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag]. Pickett was the team’s leading scorer last season and his coming back to Penn State is huge. He averaged 13.3 points per game in the 31 games he played.

The Nittany Lions have five talented freshmen coming in this season. One to keep an eye on is [autotag]Jameel Brown[/autotag].

Brown was a Top-100 prospect out of high school and the number five overall recruit in Penn State men’s basketball history, according to 247 Sports Composite Rankings.

One area where Penn State excelled last season was scoring defense, finishing with the Big Ten’s best scoring defense. They allowed an average of 65 points per game. That was Penn State’s best defensive season in the past 11 seasons.

If there is another area where Penn State excelled, it’s free throws. Well over half of the Nittany Lions shot over 70 percent of their free throws last season.

Now, one area where Penn State could use more consistency is its shooting. They only had four players who averaged double-digit points last season, one of them being Harrar.

Penn State brings plenty of experience to the table. If there is anyone to step up, it’s the veteran guard [autotag]Myles Dread[/autotag], who averaged just 6.2 points per game. That was Penn State’s fifth-leading scorer. Fifth. That isn’t ideal for a team that is filled with veteran experience.

In his first season, Shrews had a promising year at Penn State. He took them to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament, the first time any first-year B1G head coach has done that since 2008.

Penn State lost some key talent in Harrar and Sessoms. But, with their veteran experience still present, they are poised to pick up right where they left off from last season.

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Eagles sign WR Keric Wheatfall

Philadelphia Eagles sign former Fresno State wide receiver Keric Wheatfall after his tryout during the teams rookie minicamp

The Philadelphia Eagles opened up their rookie minicamp with five NFL draft picks and 12 undrafted free agents.

Team GM Howie Roseman is always looking for a hidden gem or two and with Philadelphia surrendering six picks during the draft weekend via trade, the organization invited 19 players to the camp as well for a tryout.

After that evaluation period, the Eagles have agreed to a deal with wide receiver Keric Wheatfall, a rookie out of Fresno State who participated in the Rookie Minicamp on a tryout basis.

Wheatfall started his college career at Blinn College before transferring to Fresno State. At Blinn, Wheatfall had 798 yards and six touchdowns on 47 receptions in 2018, including four 100-yard receiving games.

In 2021 with the Bulldogs, Wheatfall played in all 13 games, starting in eight games, as he finished as the team’s third-leading receiver with 38 receptions for 616 yards and four touchdowns.

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Top 42 photos from Day 1 of Eagles rookie minicamp

Top photos from Day 1 of Philadelphia Eagles rookie minicamp where five draft players, 12 undrafted free agents, and 19 invited prospects gathered at the NovaCare Complex

Eagles rookie minicamp began on Friday for five draft picks, 12 undrafted free agents, and 19 selected players invited to try out for the 2022 squad.

Day one was held inside because of the weather conditions, but that didn’t stop Jordan Davis, Cam Jurgens, Nakobe Dean, Kyron Johnson, Grant Calcaterra, Carson Strong, Noah Elliss, and others from taking the first steps to reaching their ultimate dreams.

With Day 2 less than 16 hours away, here are the top-42 photos from Day one.
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Eagles invited 19 players to tryout during rookie minicamp

The Philadelphia Eagles 2022 rookie minicamp is underway and here’s a list of 19 players invited to tryout

The Philadlephia Eagles opened up their rookie minicamp on Friday with five NFL draft picks and 12 undrafted free agents.

Team GM Howie Roseman is always looking for a hidden gem or two and with Philadelphia surrendering six picks during the draft weekend via trade, the organization invited 19 players to the camp as well for a tryout.

One name not familiar to many Eagles fans is the son of a franchise legend.

5 takeaways from 1st-day of Eagles rookie minicamp

5 takeaways from the 1st-day of Philadelphia Eagles rookie minicamp with notes and observations from Nick Sirianni addressing the media

The Eagles have three of their five 2022 NFL draft picks under contract, but that didn’t stop the entire class, 12 undrafted free agents and a host of other tryout hopefuls from hitting the field on the first day of rookie minicamp.

Only the beginning of the session was open to the media, and afterward, head coach Nick Sirianni addressed the media, saying all the right things after Day one.

Here are five takeaways from the first day of rookie minicamp, along with notes and observations.

Eagles invite Penn State basketball player to tryout at tight end

Penn State basketball’s John Harrar is trying out this weekend for the Philadelphia Eagles. You read that right.

When you hear that the Philadelphia Eagles are inviting a former Penn State player to their rookie minicamp this weekend, you would probably assume that former Nittany Lion put on shoulder pads and take a few reps on the field in Beaver Stadium. Instead, this former Penn State player was representing the university on the basketball court. [autotag]John Harrar[/autotag], the big man on the Penn State men’s basketball roster the last few years, has accepted an invitation to try out for the Eagles at tight end this weekend.

The 6’8″ basketball player does have some football experience to recall from his high school days at Strath Haven, so he isn’t completely new to the idea of catching a football as an offensive weapon. And the Eagles do appear to be addressing their tight end depth going into the new season. The Eagles used one of their later draft picks in the 2022 NFL draft to select Grant Calcaterra out of SMU.

At one point, Harrar was considering playing college football as well. Harrar had previously accepted an offer to Army to play tight end. But he eventually changed his mind and opted to pursue basketball at Penn State. Perhaps it is funny how life works out sometimes.

We’ll see what the reports on Harrar out of the Eagles minicamp this weekend. Could this be a surprise story in the making? Only time will tell for sure.

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Big Ten Tournament: Penn State basketball goes down swinging against Purdue

Penn State won two games and put up a solid fight against Purdue, but the season has come to a close after the Big Ten tournament loss Friday night.

There was no second-half magic for Penn State in their third game in three nights in the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, but the Nittany Lions showed plenty of fight against one of the best teams in the Big Ten as they were eliminated from the conference tournament. Penn State came up short against No. 9 Purdue on Friday night, with the Boilermakers advancing to Saturday’s semi-final round. Penn State’s season, in all likelihood, has officially come to an end.

Penn State trailed Purdue 35-31 at halftime and did everything it could to keep pace with Purdue in the second half, but the Boilermakers slightly out-paced Penn State after halftime to build on to its lead. But Penn State did push Purdue in a competitive effort, creating a one-game possession late in the game before Purdue held off the upset bid.

John Harrar recorded another double-double in his final game in a Penn State uniform. Harrar provided Penn State with 15 points and 12 rebounds in a tough matchup. And Jalen Pickett and Sam Sessoms each provided the scoring spark for the Nittnay Lions to keep things within reach.

But the player of the game was in a Purdue uniform, that being Jaden Ivey. Ivey led all players with 17 points scored in the Purdue win.

Penn State’s season ends with an overall record of 14-17 and 7-13 in Big Ten play. Despite the losing record in the first season under Micah Shrewsberry, the future outlook of the program is already looking to be trending upward. Penn State got a glimpse of the future with a late second-half run ignited by Dallion Johnson and Jaheam Cornwall, and Shrewsberry has already started to get to work on one of the better recruiting classes Penn State has built for the program in a long time.

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Penn State pulls B1G upset of Buckeyes to advance in Big Ten tournament

For the second night in a row, a big second-half led Penn State to a victory in the Big Ten Tournament, this time against Ohio State.

Penn State capped off the second day of the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament with a big win, pulling off a 71-68 upset of Ohio State in the second round of the conference tournament. After trailing the Buckeyes by nine at halftime, the Nittany Lions turned in an impressive second-half effort to dig out of the hole and come away with a surprising victory.

Sam Sessoms led the Nittany Lions with 18 points, and Jalen Pickett added 16 points and five assists. John Harrar and Myles Dread each contributed 12 points as well as Penn State got a fully well-balanced team effort at the best possible time. Harrar and Pickett combined for 17 of Penn State’s 29 rebounds.

Penn State is making its first appearance in the Big Ten quarterfinals for the first time since 2018.

Next up for Penn State is a third-round matchup against the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue, ranked No. 9 in the nation coming into the game, is the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament. The Boilermakers are looking to solidify at least a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament as they begin their Big Ten tournament run. The game is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET but will tip 25 minutes after.

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Penn State pushes past Minnesota for Big Ten tournament win

Jalen Pickett helped lead Penn State to a big second half to top Minnesota in the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament. Up next, Ohio State. Story…

After trailing Minnesota at halftime in their first-round matchup in the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament, Penn State put together a much more consistent second-half to advance into the second round of the tournament. Penn State’s 60-51 victory was led by a 22-point effort from Jalen Pickett.

ticket may enjoy playing Minnesota. His last 20-point game came against the same program back on February 17. John Harrar helped give Penn State an edge on the boards with a game-high 12 rebounds.

Penn State’s defense held Minnesota to just 51 points, marking the fewest points allowed by a Penn State team in the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament since allowing just 48 points to Michigan State in a 2011 semifinal game.

Penn State will now face Ohio State in the second round of the Big Ten tournament on Thursday night. Penn State will challenge Ohio State at ap[proximately 9:00 p.m. ET in Indianapolis. The Buckeyes took both games in the regular-season series with the Nittany Lions.

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