Tag: Mike Watkins

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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Three Penn State players Badger fans need to know

Wisconsin hits the road to take on No. 20 Penn State on Saturday. Badger fans should be sure to know these three opposing players.

Wisconsin enters Saturday’s contest against No. 20 Penn State in State College having won 12 straight against the Nittany Lions, but this could very well be the second game in a row the Badgers see an impressive head-to-head winning streak come to a close after snapping a run of 15 straight victories against Illinois in Wednesday’s loss to the Illini in Madison.

Head coach Pat Chambers has his squad ranked in the AP Top 25 poll for the first time in 24 years, and the Nittany Lions look like a pretty safe bet to get back to the NCAA Tournament after an eight-year hiatus. Before falling at Rutgers on Tuesday, Penn State had put together a five-game winning streak that including home victories over No. 4 Maryland and No. 23 Iowa. It’s clear at this point in the season that this is the best group Penn State has had in a very long time.

With that being said, here are the three players on the other side who Badger fans should keep a close eye on throughout Saturday’s contest.

Lamar Stevens – Forward

Current stats: 16.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.4 spg, 1.2 bpg, 46.1 FG%

One of the all-time great players in the history of Penn State’s program, Stevens is capping off a marvelous career with an outstanding senior season.

The 6-8 forward from Philadelphia was named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 list that was released earlier this week and is looking like a top contender for Big Ten Player of the Year honors as the conference’s No. 5 scorer and No. 13 rebounder. Stevens is also one of Penn State’s top defenders, ranking second on the team in both blocks and steals.

The Nittany Lions may have lost both matchups to the Badgers last season, but Stevens certainly was not to blame; he scored 22 points in both contests.

Mike Watkins – Forward

Current stats: 11.1 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 3.3 bpg, 1.0 spg, 62.8 FG%

Dec 14, 2019; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions forward Lamar Stevens (11) and forward Mike Watkins (24) react to a play against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second half at the Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

At this point, you have to sympathize a bit with Nate Reuvers and Micah Potter. The two bigs have had to bang with two of the Big Ten’s most formidable post players in Ohio State’s Kaleb Wesson and Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn in Wisconsin’s last two games, and the trend is set to continue on Saturday against Watkins.

While the 6-9, 254-pound senior isn’t as dangerous a scorer as those two, he’s just as much of a dominant force in the paint. One of the Big Ten’s top defenders, Watkins leads the conference in blocks per game, and he’s a monster on the boards as well (No. 6 in rebounds per game).

While racking up points isn’t exactly what he does best, Watkins is still more than capable of getting his on that end of the floor. At 61.9 percent, his career field goal percentage ranks second among all active Big Ten players.

Myreon Jones – Guard

Current stats: 14.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.3 spg, 44.4 FG%, 41.1 3P%

After averaging 4 points in just 10.8 minutes of action per game as a freshman last year, Jones’ production has skyrocketed in year two.

Thee 6-3 guard out of Birmingham has added more than ten points to his scoring average as a sophomore and has been Penn State’s best offensive player not named Lamar Stevens this season. He ranks behind only Stevens in scoring and is also the team’s top facilitator at just shy of three assists per game.

Jones is one of the Big Ten’s top marksmen from long-range, boasting the No. 10 three-point percentage in the Big Ten.