March 10, 2005

CHICAGO - For a freshman in the Big Ten Conference there is no better place to make a name for yourself than at the Big Ten Tournament. That's just what Penn State guard Geary Claxton did here on Thursday despite Penn State's 72-69 loss to Ohio Sate.

The 6'5" guard knocked in 20 points to match his career high and added a career-high 13 rebounds in the Nittany Lions first round bout with the Buckeyes. Not only is Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis pleased with Claxton's performance in the game but with his play during the entire season.

"Geary really played well played well this entire season," DeChellis said. "He was consistent as a freshman, he scored, he rebounded, he played defense on the other team's wing players and was on par with the other freshman in the league this season.

Against head coach Thad Matta's Buckeyes, Claxton was above par. In their first encounter, Claxton put up 18 points and nine rebounds in what turned out to be a 68-62 loss to OSU. Claxton and the Nittany Lions would get another shot versus the Buckeyes on February 12th. The West Haven, Connecticut native again busted out for a big game with 14 points and a then career-high 12 boards. Unfortunately, Penn State was not able to pull-off the win in the sequel, falling 66-56 to OSU.

Claxton's stock has been rising as the 2004-05 season has progressed. The true freshman started all 30 of PSU's games this season and was named to the Big Ten Conference All-Freshman Team after averaging 12.4 points-per-game and 6.1 rebounds-per-game in his first campaign in Happy Valley.

"I really don't care about me individually," Geary said. "I'm worried about improving my team. I'm looking forward to next season, I'm going to continue to work hard in the off-season and work hard next season."

More impressive than Claxton's numbers his shooting percentage on the season. From the floor Claxton was shooting 42.7 percent coming into the Big Ten Tournament. Claxton can also be deadly from the free-throw line after hitting on nearly 70 percent of his free-throws in the regular season. In Thursday's game Claxton converted all seven of his free-throw attempts

Claxton fouled out with 4.2 seconds remaining in the first-round game to end his inaugural season with the Nittany Lions. After he returns to University Park, coaches around the league have no doubt that Claxton will be gearing up for his sophomore campaign of what looks to be a successful collegiate career.