Amaechi set to speak at Hoops Club banquet

The 28th Annual Nittany Lion Hoops Club Banquet, honoring this year's senior players Ben Luber and David Jackson and managers Adam Fisher, Pete Bordi, D. J. Black, and Marc Cusat, will be held on Friday, April 20 at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel.

Former Nittany Lion standout and NBA player, John Amaechi, will be the guest speaker at the banquet.

The cash bar reception is at 6 p.m. and dinner follows at 7 p.m.

Tickets for the event are available by calling 814-865-5494. Tickets are $30 for Club members and $45 for non-members. The deadline for reservations is Monday, April 16.

Yonushonis honored with Big Ten award

The Big Ten Conference office announced April 3 honorees from each of its 11 wrestling squads for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior.

Penn State senior All-American James Yonushonis was the Nittany Lion recipient of the honor.

Yonushonis, an All-American at 174 in 2006, went 30-6 this year and leaves Penn State with an 83-50 career record.

In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

Honorees for wrestling are Illinois' Cassio Pero, Indiana's Angel Escobedo, Iowa's Eric Luedke, Michigan's Casey White, Michigan State's Franklin Gomez, Minnesota's Jayson Ness, Northwestern's Eric Metzler, Ohio State's Chris Vondruska, Penn State's James Yonushonis, Purdue's Jake Patacsil and Wisconsin's Tyler Turner.

These 11 student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year