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Big Ten Announces Players Set to Attend 36th Annual Kickoff Luncheon
July 17, 2007
PARK RIDGE, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference office announced today the list of 32 student-athletes scheduled to appear at the 2007 Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon, a group that includes 19 All-Conference selections and the past three Big Ten Freshman of the Year award winners. The annual event, which also features all 11 head coaches, is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 1, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, beginning at 10 a.m. CT with the player and coach autograph and photo session. The luncheon is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. with the Big Ten Network's Dave Revsine serving as the master of ceremonies. Last season Michigan offensive lineman Jake Long was a consensus All-American, the Big Ten's Offensive Lineman of the Year and a first-team All-Big Ten selection, and will head into the Luncheon as a leading candidate for the Outland Trophy and Rotary Lombardi Award. Three quarterbacks highlight the group in Michigan's Chad Henne, Penn State's Anthony Morelli and Purdue's Curtis Painter. Henne, a second-team All-Conference selection in 2006, led his Wolverines to an 11-2 record and a Rose Bowl berth last year. Painter is the Big Ten's top returning passer, having averaged 284.6 yards per game through the air and a conference-best 292.3 yards per contest in total offense. Last year he set a Big Ten record with 3,985 passing yards in his first full-season as the starter in West Lafayette, breaking the previous mark of 3,983 yards set by fellow-Boilermaker Drew Brees in 1998. Painter's primary target will also be in attendance as receiver Dorien Bryant completed his 2006 campaign as the Big Ten's leading wideout in receptions (6.21) and yards (76.3) per game. On the defensive side of the ball, five of the conference's seven top tacklers will be attending the Luncheon, led by Illinois' J Leman. Last season Leman led the Big Ten with 152 total tackles for an average of 12.7 takedowns per game. The Illini defender earned first-team All-Big Ten by the media and was a second-team selection by the coaches. Iowa's Mike Klinkenborg, a second-team All-Conference linebacker in 2006, ranked second in the Big Ten with 10.8 tackles per contest during his junior season and was followed by fellow Luncheon attendees Dan Connor (8.7) of Penn State in fifth, Minnesota's Mike Sherels (8.0) in sixth and Michigan State's Otis Wiley (7.8) in seventh. Also attending the event will be Indiana running back and return specialist Marcus Thigpen, who led the nation with an average of 30.1 yards per kickoff return and posted a Big Ten record three touchdowns during the 2006 season. His teammates, receiver James Hardy and cornerback Tracy Porter, were second-team All-Conference picks in 2006 along with Ohio State lineman Vernon Gholston. A complete list of players scheduled to attend the Kickoff Luncheon follows. The Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon annually draws some of the most interesting and talented names in college sports. The list of former Kickoff Luncheon attendees includes coaching legends like Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes, along with each of the Big Ten's Heisman Trophy winners in the last 36 years - Archie Griffin, Desmond Howard, Eddie George, Charles Woodson, Ron Dayne and last year's winner Troy Smith. In all, over 660 of the conference's finest players, more than 50 head coaches and 38,000 supporters have made the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon a yearly stop in their preseason college football schedules. Illinois Indiana Iowa Michigan Michigan State Minnesota Northwestern Ohio State Penn State Purdue Wisconsin
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