Bleacher Report - Articles by Aaron Yorke

The Big Ten: Top Young Stars to Watch

Aaron Yorke — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:01:32 -0500

Everyone knows that Eric Gordon is the best freshman baller in the Big Ten. The problem is, the future professional's outstanding play has been taking attention away from the rest of the conference's young stars.

Here's a rundown of some other Big Ten newbies worth watching.

Robbie Hummel and E'Twaun Moore, Purdue

The Boilermakers have come out of nowhere this season to reach the top of the Big Ten standings and these two guys are a big part of the reason.

Moore is a sharpshooter with high percentages from every part of the floor. He leads Purdue in scoring with 11.9 points per game in just 29 minutes per game.

Hummel is a guy who can do almost anything. His ability to score from anywhere and rebound the way he does betrays his slender frame. An incredible basketball player, his only weakness may be his inability to guard larger forwards on defense.

Manny Harris, Michigan

Harris is the leader of a young Michigan team.

Although he is a bit reckless at times (lots of missed FGs), he's hard to stop when he gets hot. His aggressiveness ends up paying off when he decides to take it to the rim and draw contact.

Harris leads the Wolverines in points and assists per game. Anyone who watched Michigan's upset of Ohio State can see the potential of Harris and his other young teammates.

Michigan could be next year's Purdue.

Kalin Lucas, Michigan State

Lucas is quite simply one of the fastest point guards in college basketball right now. He's a human blur whose drives to the hoop are incredibly fun to watch.

Travis Walton's inability to produce at the point guard position has made Lucas' contributions all the more important to the Spartans.

Talor Battle, Penn State

When Geary Claxton went down with an ACL tear earlier this season, many wrote off the Lions' postseason chances. Talor Battle wasn't one of those people.

While PSU's NIT hopes are still in question, Battle has fought hard in every game, playing outstanding defense while rising to the occasion as a secondary scoring option behind Jamelle Cornley. Battle's three-point shooting could still use some work, but like Lucas, his ability to attack the basket gives his team another much-needed scoring threat.

Kosta Koufos, Evan Turner, and Jon Diebler, Ohio State

Thanks to these three, the Buckeyes could be the dominant team in the Big Ten sometime in the near future. Koufos is already adept at scoring inside, and he's not afraid to pull the trigger from outside either.

Still, Koufos is at his best when posting up or shooting mid-range jump shots. His seven rebounds per game leads Ohio State.

Turner and Diebler are role players for Ohio State, but they play those roles very well. Turner is a swingman-type small forward who is at his best when driving to the hoop, but can also shoot the three.

Meanwhile, Diebler is all about shooting the three. While he has gone through some rough shooting patches, Diebler has shown potential as of late, hitting on 12/26 shots in his last four games.

I'm sure there's some young talent that I'm missing here. Feel free to chime in with your own thoughts. Just remember that when Eric Gordon leaves for the NBA, these are the guys left behind to carry the Big Ten into the future.

Penn State Football: 2008 Recruiting Class

Aaron Yorke — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:38:29 -0500

It's February in Happy Valley.

Trekking through sub-freezing temperature to get to class is no fun. What's even less fun is listening to all the criticism surrounding the Penn State recruiting machine.

Is there reason to be upset that PSU has yet to recruit a QB this year? Yes. Does that mean it's the end of the world?

Well, if you ask the writers at Laschout.com, then it is the end of the world.

But realistically, there's no reason to panic.

First of all, PSU has a fresh batch of linebackers to terrorize opposing offenses for the next three to four years. Mike Yancich, Michael Zordich, and Michael Mauti are all highly rated players and three of the top five Nittany Lion recruits. Not surprisingly, linebacker was the strongest position in PSU's 2008 class.

Two other highly ranked defensive recruits are Jack Crawford at DE and D'Anton Lynn at safety. Hopefully both of these guys can help bolster a Penn State pass defense that was inept at points in the 2007 campaign.

A strong pass defense would be swell, because PSU's army of linebackers should ensure an impenetrable rush defense for years to come.

Helping out in both rush and pass defense will be massive DTs James Terry and Brandon Ware, listed at 294 and 340 lbs., respectively. These guys don't have the best ratings (two stars each on rivals.com), but PSU could use the help, considering DT Chris Baker is unlikely to return to the team next year.

Pete Massaro is a higher ranking DT, but is only listed at 245 lbs. Nowadays, that weight is considered to be more fitting for defensive ends, but we'll see.

On offense, the Lions did a good job acquiring some depth for the offensive line, recruiting Mike Farrell, Deon'tae Pannell, and Matt Stankiewich, the last of whom played in the Under Armour All-American game.

With all five 2007 O-line starters returning this year, PSU fans will be unlikely to see any of the new guys until 2009.

Wide receiver was a pressing need for the Lions this year, as Deon Butler, Derrick Williams, and Jordan Norwood are all set to graduate after the 2008 season.

Unfortunately, the Lions could only convince one WR prospect to join the team this year: A.J. Price.

Price is no slouch, but more could have been done here considering the current group of aging wideouts. The failure of former uber-recruit Derrick Williams to break out amongst Big Ten receivers probably played a role in keeping young receivers away from Penn State.

The bright side is that Penn State did sign the #13 tight end in the country, Mark Wedderburn. Hopefully Wedderburn won't be a huge disappointment like TE Andrew Quarless was. If he is, DE Jack Crawford can be moving to TE.

PSU did not do much at tailback, netting only Brandon Beachum, who is sometimes listed as a LB. PSU fans shouldn't sweat this too much, considering RB Evan Royster is set to start this year as a sophomore and will be backed up by fellow sophomore Brent Carter and freshman Stephon Green.

The big question mark is at quarterback.

PSU has no one so far. Did they put all their eggs into the Terrelle Pryor basket? Doing so would put a lot of pressure on highly-touted sophomore Pat Devlin to be the QB of the future. However, there seems to be a better and better chance that the Lions may actually land Pryor.

If he REALLY wanted to go to Ohio State, he wouldn't have gotten cold feet in the last minute and delayed his decision.

Even without Pryor, Penn State built a good foundation for the future with solid linebackers and O-line recruits. The biggest questions (besides Pryor) are the WR and DB positions.

Still, the Lions can use next year to fill these holes.

Either way, there's no reason to go nuts with either optimism or pessimism, as recruits never seem to pan out the way they're supposed to (Paul Posluzny got three freakin' stars on rivals.com).

Only time will tell how this year's class ranks.

Lions and Aggies: The 2007 Alamo Bowl

Aaron Yorke — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 12:58:32 -0500

On Saturday, Dec. 29 the Penn State Nittany Lions will roll into San Antonio to take on the Texas A&M Aggies in a battle of teams coming from opposite season finales.

After blowout losses at Oklahoma and Missouri, A&M finished the year with a 38-30 triumph against archrival Texas. On the other hand, Penn State looked to roll over Michigan State in their last game, only to see a 24-7 third quarter lead evaporate.

Both results show a major opportunity for Texas A&M's offense in the Alamo Bowl. That's because Aggie QB Stephen McGee had his best passing game of the year with a sterling 10.1 yard per attempt average during the victory. In Penn State's loss, their pass defense was torched by Spartan QB Brian Hoyer.

Although the Lions succeeded in silencing other pocket passers they faced, such as Wisconsin's Tyler Donavan and Purdue's Curtis Painter, the more McGee-like Kellen Lewis was a different story. The athletic Indiana quarterback threw for 318 yards and three TDs against the Lions.

When A&M has the ball, the big question will be whether or not State can put pressure on McGee. PSU's secondary has shown that they are not good enough to stay with receivers when the quarterback has time to pass. They've had problems against the Big Ten's premier receivers. Both Indiana's James Hardy and MSU's Devin Thomas had monster games against Penn State. Tight end Martellus Bennett, who leads the Aggies in receptions, will look to have a big day.

I know, I know—A&M's big thing is running the ball. That's what they like to do. However, if they want to win the Alamo Bowl, they'll get away from that a little bit to take advantage of PSU's weakness vs. the pass.

It's the same thing Indiana did with Kellen Lewis when they scored 31 points vs. Penn State back on Oct. 20. Usually Lewis throws the ball about three times more than he runs with it, but against the Lions, the Hoosiers had success by running Lewis only nine times and throwing it 48 times. McGee had success in a pass-heavy game vs. Texas. A similar gameplan versus Penn State would be appropriate.

A&M's passing game will be so important because I don't expect their running attack of McGee and running back Jorvorskie Lane to be very effective. Penn State's front seven, including star linebackers Dan Connor and Sean Lee, are a group of the best run-stoppers in the Big Ten.

When Penn State has the ball, we should see a heavy dose of runs and play-action passes. PSU senior running back Rodney Kinlaw has had a great year, gaining 5.3 yards per run with five 100-yard games. Freshman Evan Royster should also see some carries. He averages 6.1 yards per carry in a more limited role. Most of A&M's opponents have had success running the ball, so look for PSU to take advantage.

While PSU's running game has been a model of consistency in 2007, quarterback Anthony Morelli has been just the opposite. He had a nice three-game stretch vs. Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin when he kept his yards per attempt average in the high sevens, which is pretty good.

After that, Morelli has been mediocre or worse. In the season finale vs. MSU, he completed just 46 percent of his passes. Although Morelli has been a disappointment for Lions fans, he is still capable of making big plays off of play-action, especially when PSU's running game is effective.

Vegas is giving the Aggies five points in this one. I'd lay them, as I think the Lions will win by about a touchdown. Still, it all depends on how the Lions play the pass. Penn State's defensive ends Maurice Evans and Josh Gaines against A&M's O-line will be an important matchup, as will the PSU secondary against Bennett and WR Kerry Franks.

This game is hard to predict because of State's ability to play the pass really well one week (vs. Purdue and Wisconsin) and really poorly the next (vs. Indiana and MSU). Either way, State will be able to run the ball, so I'll take them minus five points.