2014–15 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team


The 2014–15 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team represented Pennsylvania State University. Head coach Pat Chambers coached his fourth season with the team. The team played its home games in University Park, Pennsylvania, US at the Bryce Jordan Center and were a member of the Big Ten Conference.

2014–15 Penn State Nittany Lions men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record18–16 (4–14 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaBryce Jordan Center
Seasons
2014–15 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Wisconsin 16 2   .889 36 4   .900
No. 12 Maryland 14 4   .778 28 7   .800
No. 23 Michigan State 12 6   .667 27 12   .692
Iowa 12 6   .667 22 12   .647
Purdue 12 6   .667 21 13   .618
Ohio State 11 7   .611 24 11   .686
Indiana 9 9   .500 20 14   .588
Illinois 9 9   .500 19 14   .576
Michigan 8 10   .444 16 16   .500
Minnesota 6 12   .333 18 15   .545
Northwestern 6 12   .333 15 17   .469
Nebraska 5 13   .278 13 18   .419
Penn State 4 14   .222 18 16   .529
Rutgers 2 16   .111 10 22   .313
2015 Big Ten tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The Nittany Lions finished their non-conference portion of the season at 12–1. The 12 wins set a school record for most non-conference victories, as well as their best overall start since the 1995-96 team jumped to a 13–0 record.[1][2]

Previous season

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The 2013–14 Penn State Nittany Lions finished the season with an overall record of 16–18, with a record of 6–12 in the Big Ten regular season for a three-way tie to finish in tenth place. In the 2014 Big Ten tournament, the Nittany Lions were defeated by Minnesota, 63–56 in the first round. They were invited to the 2014 College Basketball Invitational, in which they defeated Hampton in the first round before losing to Siena in quarterfinals.

Off season

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Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Graham Woodward 3 G 6'0" 170 Freshman Edina, MN Transfer to Drake
Tim Frazier 23 G 6'1" 170 RS Senior Houston, TX Graduated
Zach Cooper 24 G 6'1" 200 Senior Ijamsville, MD Graduated

Incoming transfers

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Devin Foster 3 G 6'2" 195 Junior Dayton, OH Vincennes University

Incoming recruits

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Shep Garner
PG
Philadelphia, PA Roman Catholic 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jun 15, 2013 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN: 
Isaiah Washington
SG
Williamsport, PA Williamsport 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Apr 1, 2012 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    RivalsN/A   247Sports:     ESPN: 
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 26, 2014.

Personnel

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Roster

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2014–15 Penn State Nittany Lions men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 0 Payton Banks 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Fr Lutheran HS Orange, CA
G 1 John Johnson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr Life Center Acad/Pittsburgh Philadelphia, PA
G 2 D. J. Newbill 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Sr Strawberry Mansion HS Philadelphia, PA
G 3 Devin Foster 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Jefferson Township HS/Vincennes Dayton, OH
F 5 Donovan Jack 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Berks Catholic High School Reading, PA
F 10 Brandon Taylor 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Trenton Catholic Acad Tabernacle, NJ
G 11 Samuel Halle (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr West Springfield High School Springfield, VA
G 13 Geno Thorpe 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Shaler Area HS Pittsburgh, PA
G 14 Kevin Montminy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Penns Valley Area Centre Hall, PA
G 21 Isaiah Washington 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Williamsport Area HS Williamsport, PA
C 32 Jordan Dickerson 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr IMG Academy/Abraham Lincoln HS/SMU Brooklyn, NY
G 33 Shep Garner 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Roman Catholic HS Philadelphia, PA
F 34 Alan Wisniewski 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Sr Bishop Foley Catholic High School Sterling Heights, MI
F 43 Ross Travis 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Chaska HS Chaska, MN
F 44 Julian Moore 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Fr Germantown Acad Fort Washington, PA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Coaching staff

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Position Name Year Alma mater
Head coach Patrick Chambers 2011 Philadelphia University (1994)
Associate head coach Keith Urgo 2011 Fairfield University (2002)
Associate head coach Brian Daly 2011 St. Joseph's University (1992)
Assistant coach Dwayne Anderson 2013 Villanova University (2009)
Director of Basketball Operations Ross Condon 2011 Villanova University (2007)
On campus recruiting coordinator David Caporaletti 2011 Philadelphia University (1993)
Athletic trainer Jon Salazer 2001 Penn State (1993)
Director of player development Ryan Devlin 2013 Philadelphia University (2005)
Strength and conditioning coach Brandon Spayd 2013 Juniata College (2010)
Graduate Manager Nicholas Colella 2013 Penn State (2013)
Graduate Manager D.J. Irving 2014 Boston University (2014)

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 14*
7:00 pm
Morgan State W 61–48  1–0
Bryce Jordan Center (7,402)
University Park, PA
Nov 16*
5:00 pm, BTN
Fordham W 73–54  2–0
Bryce Jordan Center (8,607)
University Park, PA
Nov 20*
5:30 pm, ESPNU
vs. Charlotte
Charleston Classic quarterfinals
L 97–106 2OT 2–1
TD Arena (2,517)
Charleston, SC
Nov 21*
9:00 pm, ESPN3
vs. Cornell
Charleston Classic consolation round
W 72–71  3–1
TD Arena (2,430)
Charleston, SC
Nov 23*
3:30 pm, ESPN3
vs. USC
Charleston Classic 5th place game
W 63–61  4–1
TD Arena (1,220)
Charleston, SC
Nov 25*
7:30 pm, ESPN3
Akron W 78–72  5–1
Bryce Jordan Center (6,703)
University Park, PA
Nov 28*
4:00 pm
at Bucknell W 88–80  6–1
Sojka Pavilion (4,257)
Lewisburg, PA
Dec 3*
7:15 pm, ESPNU
Virginia Tech
ACC–Big Ten Challenge
W 61–58  7–1
Bryce Jordan Center (7,326)
University Park, PA
Dec 6*
6:00 pm, CBSSN
at Marshall W 73–69  8–1
Cam Henderson Center (5,158)
Huntington, WV
Dec 10*
9:00 pm, BTN
Duquesne W 64–62  9–1
Bryce Jordan Center (6,565)
University Park, PA
Dec 14*
12:00 pm, ESPN3
George Washington W 64–51  10–1
Bryce Jordan Center (9,991)
University Park, PA
Dec 20*
2:00 pm, ESPN3
vs. Drexel W 73–68  11–1
PPL Center (4,914)
Allentown, PA
Dec 22*
4:00 pm
Dartmouth W 69–49  12–1
Bryce Jordan Center (6,127)
University Park, PA
Big Ten regular season
Dec 31
1:00 pm, BTN
at No. 4 Wisconsin L 72–89  12–2 (0–1)
Kohl Center (17,279)
Madison, WI
Jan 3
7:30 pm, ESPN2
at Rutgers L 46–50  12–3 (0–2)
The RAC (7,158)
Piscataway, NJ
Jan 6
7:00 pm, BTN
Michigan L 64–73  12–4 (0–3)
Bryce Jordan Center (5,342)
University Park, PA
Jan 13
7:00 pm, BTN
at Indiana L 73–76  12–5 (0–4)
Assembly Hall (17,472)
Bloomington, IN
Jan 17
1:00 pm, ESPNU
Purdue L 77–84 OT 12–6 (0–5)
Bryce Jordan Center (8,949)
University Park, PA
Jan 21
7:00 pm, BTN
at Michigan State L 60–66  12–7 (0–6)
Breslin Center (14,797)
East Lansing, MI
Jan 24
12:00 pm, ESPNU
Rutgers W 79–51  13–7 (1–6)
Bryce Jordan Center (8,281)
University Park, PA
Jan 28
7:00 pm, BTN
Minnesota W 63–58  14–7 (2–6)
Bryce Jordan Center (6,100)
University Park, PA
Jan 31
1:00 pm, BTN
at Illinois L 58–60  14–8 (2–7)
State Farm Center (14,597)
Champaign, IL
Feb 4
8:30 pm, BTN
at No. 17 Maryland L 58–64  14–9 (2–8)
Xfinity Center (14,195)
College Park, MD
Feb 7
4:00 pm, ESPNU
Nebraska W 56–43  15–9 (3–8)
Bryce Jordan Center (11,702)
University Park, PA
Feb 11
7:00 pm, BTN
at No. 23 Ohio State L 55-75  15–10 (3–9)
Value City Arena (13,262)
Columbus, OH
Feb 14
8:30 pm, BTN
No. 19 Maryland L 73–76  15–11 (3–10)
Bryce Jordan Center (8,303)
University Park, PA
Feb 18
7:00 pm, BTN
No. 5 Wisconsin L 47–55  15–12 (3–11)
Bryce Jordan Center (7,132)
University Park, PA
Feb 21
3:00 pm, ESPNU
at Northwestern L 39–60  15–13 (3–12)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,317)
Evanston, IL
Feb 28
6:00 pm, ESPNU
Iowa L 77–81 OT 15–14 (3–13)
Bryce Jordan Center (9,894)
University Park, PA
Mar 4
6:00 pm, BTN
No. 23 Ohio State L 67–77  15–15 (3–14)
Bryce Jordan Center (8,745)
University Park, PA
Mar 8
1:00 pm, BTN
at Minnesota W 79–76  16–15 (4–14)
Williams Arena (12,412)
Minneapolis, MN
Big Ten tournament
Mar 11
4:30 pm, ESPN2
vs. Nebraska
First round
W 68–65  17–15
United Center 
Chicago, IL
Mar 12
2:30 pm, BTN
vs. Iowa
Second round
W 67–58  18–15
United Center 
Chicago, IL
Mar 13
2:30 pm, ESPN
vs. Purdue
Quarterfinals
L 59–64  18–16
United Center 
Chicago, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Source - [1]

See also

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References

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