May 16, 2008

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Eighty-three Penn State student-athletes are scheduled to graduate during Commencement exercises this weekend on the University Park campus.

Student-athletes from 22 of the 25 varsity sports (track and field/cross country are combined) are among the 83 student-athletes that have been approved to graduate.

Among the graduates are the female recipient of Penn State's 2007 Ernest B. McCoy Award, Molly Crispell (swimming & diving), and 2008 national champion wrestler Phil Davis. Two-time All-Big Ten selections Geary Claxton (men's basketball) and Amanda Brown (women's basketball) will also receive their diplomas.

Also graduating are 10 student-athletes whose teams have captured national championships during their Penn State careers, including Vladi Klurman (men's gymnastics), Arthur Urman (fencing), Kate Price (women's volleyball), and Travis Foltz (men's volleyball).

Molly Crispell

Three members of the Nittany Lion football team will be graduating prior to their senior seasons wide receivers Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood and linebacker Tyrell Sales. Fullback Matt Hahn, guard Ross Muir, cornerback Brendan Peretta and quarterback Kevin Suhey are among the 13 members of the 2007 football squad who are earning their degrees this weekend.

Also graduating is former Nittany Lion tight end Troy Drayton (1989-92), who completed his degree in Labor and Employment Relations via Penn State's World Campus and surprised his mother, Stella Drayton, just before Mother's Day with his graduation announcement. Click here for story.

Some of the other graduates include: Jen Acunto, a four-year starter at shortstop on the softball team; Ryan Badaracco (men's soccer), who will graduate with the highest GPA among male student-athletes; Brian Ernst (baseball); All-American heptathlete Gayle Hunter (women's track & field); two-time All-Big Ten honoree Michael James (men's tennis); Ron Jules (men's track & field); Aslynn Satterfield (women's gymnastics), a two-time All-Big Ten honoree; Linsey Shea (women's lacrosse), a 2008 All-ALC selection; SAAB President Jenny Shular (women's tennis) and Brad Spicer, who helped the men's gymnastics team to a national title in 2007 and a Big Ten championship in 2008.

Penn State's student-athletes, who have captured 12 Big Ten Championships and four NCAA titles the past two years, consistently have been among the nation's most successful in earning their degrees. Among some of the recent academic accomplishments are:

- Eight Nittany Lion student-athletes were selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® team in 2006-07, with four more honorees during the 2007 fall semester.

- Among the 2000-01 entering freshman class, a record-tying 83 percent of Penn State student-athletes earned degrees within six years, compared to 63 percent for all Division I institutions, according to NCAA data released last fall.

- Penn State's 82 percent four-year graduation rate is well above the national average of 62 percent for student-athletes. The four-year average was second highest in the Big Ten to Northwestern.

- Of the Penn State student-athletes in the NCAA studies from 1991-92 through 2000-01 who exhausted their eligibility, 95 percent earned their diplomas.