CHICAGO - I have 2-year-old twins, and it's been emotionally difficult being away from them for a mere three days covering Big Ten football in the Windy City.James Franklin has been living apart from his wife and two daughters for seven months, which would be a nightmare for just about any ...

CHICAGO - Bill Belton admits he needed to grow up, to work harder, to not feel entitled.College football players who don't learn those lessons and try to rely solely on their talent usually fizzle out fast. And there is a long, long list of such players.Belton wasn't going to be one of those ...

CHICAGO - The addition of Rutgers and Maryland to the Big Ten were a major focus at Monday's conference media days, and the Penn State camp believes those teams will be good rivals for years to come.The Nittany Lions will get to see Rutgers early this season as they travel there for a night ...

CHICAGO - One of the best things about new Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour - if you're a basketball fan - is that she has a lot of experience working at schools where basketball actually matters.Fingers crossed that she can have a big impact in helping that finally be the case at ...

UNIVERSITY PARK - It's just a bizarre hire. A major head-scratcher in so many ways.Whether it will turn out to be good or bad, nobody knows at this point. That will take years to find out.Sandy Barbour was forced out a month ago as Cal's athletic director. They called it a resignation and ...

UNIVERSITY PARK - Football coach James Franklin had no input on Penn State's decision to hire Sandy Barbour as the new athletic director, but he said he has "tremendous faith and excitement moving forward" with his new boss.The poor graduation rate of the Cal football program during Barbour's ...

UNIVERSITY PARK -- Penn State made a surprising hire Saturday in naming Sandy Barbour as its new athletic director.Barbour was forced out as AD at California in June after 10 years on the job there. She left with the school's athletic department facing several major issues, according to ...

Penn State released something that looks similar to a depth chart Thursday night, but it doesn't actually reveal any answers about the Nittany Lions' depth entering preseason camp.The depth chart is broken down based entirely on seniority at every position, with upperclassmen listed first ...

UNIVERSITY PARK - Penn State linebacker Mike Hull was selected preseason first-team All-Big Ten by Athlon Sports, with four additional Nittany Lions on the second-team.Athlon also selected coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lion coaching staff as the nation's No. 9 coaching staff among the ...

Penn State got closer to completing its 2015 football recruiting class on Saturday.The Nittany Lions also got a jump on 2016.New Jersey rising senior receiver Irvin Charles and Woodland Hills junior-to-be running back Miles Sanders both gave verbal commitments while at Penn State, which had a ...

UNIVERSITY PARK - When Geno Lewis arrived at Penn State in 2012, Allen Robinson took him under his wing and served as his mentor.At the time, no one knew Robinson was about to explode, since he had caught only three passes the year before as a freshman. Then A-Rob set a school record with 77 ...

CHICAGO, Ill - Four women's soccer players will have the opportunity to represent Penn State on the international stage.Brittany Basinger, Rose Chandler and Emily Ogle will compete for spots on the U.S. Under-20 and Under-18 Women's National Teams, and Raquel Rodriguez is a member of the Costa ...

UNIVERSITY PARK - Mike Hull couldn't give his full focus to making big plays last year, not after suffering a knee injury in the opener and dealing with it all season."There's a point where you're just out there trying to survive rather than play your best and focus on what's ahead of you," ...

UNIVERSITY PARK - Penn State baseball coach Rob Cooper, who was announced as the Rod Dedeaux USA Baseball Coach of the Year in October, is set to be presented with the award today.The presentation will take place at the Rod Dedeaux Foundation Dinner hosted at the downtown Jonathan Club in Los ...

The possibility of Penn State's helmets featuring numbers on the sides popped up Monday when a Nittany Lion player posted a picture on Instagram of a helmet with the number 24 on it.Coach James Franklin squashed the rumor late Monday night, though, when he told statecollege.com that the helmet ...

UNIVERSITY PARK - The Penn State track and field/cross country team has announced its final lineup of recruits to join the Nittany Lions for the 2014 fall semester.With the addition of 23 more newcomers to the program, there will be 36 new Nittany Lions starting in the fall."Our incoming class ...

UNIVERSITY PARK - He's affectionally called a freak, which is appropriate when considering his immense size, strength and athletic ability.Penn State tight end Jesse James is a tremendous physical specimen at 6-foot-7 and a chiseled 272 pounds. He's also incredibly strong, bench pressing 225 ...

UNIVERSITY PARK - Penn State's offensive line suffered a major blow in the spring when guard Miles Dieffenbach went down with a knee injury, but he said Saturday he hopes to come back and play near the end of his senior season."Knee's feeling really good, and I'm definitely hopeful to get ready ...

UNIVERSITY PARK - Christian Hackenberg probably won't have much time to throw the ball this season because of a suspect offensive line, which means he will have to find some new ways to protect himself and be effective.Penn State's star sophomore quarterback already is being billed as a future ...

TIPTON - The annual Penn State men's basketball summer outing will be held at DelGrosso's Amusement Park at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18.Nittany Lion coach Patrick Chambers and selected members of the team will be on hand to meet and greet fans and field questions following a chicken dinner ...