Junior forward Amanda Brown has been selected to the Canada Women's Basketball Senior National Team's training squad. The Quebec native is one of 15 players that have been named to the team. Later this month Canada Basketball will announce the 12-member Senior National Team that will travel to four different countries and play in the FIBA World Championships Qualification Tournament in September.
Brown, the only returning upperclassmen on the Penn State women's basketball 2005-2006 roster, started 28 of 30 games last season, averaging 7.2 ppg and 6.2 rpg.
Brown spent time last summer training with the Canada Senior National Team, appearing in two exhibition games vs. Japan.
Penn State football fans will once again get the opportunity to rally inside Beaver Stadium the night before the Nittany Lions' first game as the second edition of "Penn State Football Eve" will kick off festivities for the Nittany Lions' season opener against South Florida.
Christening the 2005 season, the event is set for Friday, September 2 in Beaver Stadium. More than 20,000 fans attended last year's event.
This year, the event will include a pep rally with coach Joe Paterno and the squad, performances by the Penn State Blue Band, cheerleaders, and the Penn State dance team. Friday night's celebration will also be an opportunity to meet the 2005 Nittany Lion Football team, capped off once with a fireworks display.
There is no admission or parking fee for "Penn State Football Eve," and the 2005 Penn State Football poster, featuring a painting by senior defensive end Matthew Rice, will be away.
Festivities outside the stadium will start at 6:30 p.m. Events inside the stadium are scheduled to begin at 8:00 pm. Fans are directed to use Stadium Gates A & B to enter the stadium.
She's opting for a change of scenery.
Penn State assistant women's golf coach Leighann Rastede has learned all she could here in Happy Valley.
Earlier this week Rastede announced her departure from Penn State after officially becoming the new head women's golf coach at the University of Richmond.
"The ultimate goal of an assistant is to the build the program that you are with and then to eventually become head coach," Rastede said.
"Richmond is a new program, and they are growing in leaps and bounds. They are in their fourth year and I hope to continue that."
Rastede will become the second women's golf coach in Richmond's history, replacing the founder of the program, LaRee Sugg.
At age 25, Rastede will now be one of the youngest head golf coaches in the country.
During Rastede's two-year tenure with head women's golf coach Denise St. Pierre and the Nittany Lions, she also served as the head instructor for Penn State golf camps.
"I had an amazing experience under Coach St. Pierre," said Rastede.
"I respect and hold up the Penn State values of being a student-athlete, and I will take those values everywhere with me."
Rastede won't be the lone Nittany Lion in Richmond, though.
Adam Decker, men's golf head coach, was a former Penn State All-American student-athelet and assistant coach, both under current head Penn State men's golf coach Greg Nye.
While Decker's presence in Richmond had nothing to do with Rastede's decision, it is definitely a bonus to see a familiar face coming into work everyday, she said.
-- by Katie Graham
