State College, Pa. - April 13, 2002 - Three Penn State Nittany Lion seniors were honored tonight at the annual Penn State Nittany Lion Senior Awards Banquet, held at the Penn Stater and hosted by the Nittany Lion Hoops Club.

Tyler Smith (Lake Bluff, Ill.), Ken Krimmel (State College, Pa.) and Sam Crenshaw (Youngstown, Oh.) all received their senior awards while head coach Jerry Dunn handed out the hardware in the form of the annual team awards.

Sophomore Sharif Chambliss (Racine, Wisc.) was named the Most Improved Player this season. Chambliss led the Nittany Lions with a 14.6 ppg mark, which was tenth in the Big Ten. Chambliss was tops in the conference in three-pointers per game (3.54) and free throw shooting (.891) and was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten pick.

Freshman Daren Tielsch (McKees Rocks, Pa.) was named the team's Scrappiest Player, given to the toughest player on the team, physically and/or mentally). Tielsch, a part-time starter as a freshman, averaged 4.0 ppg and 3.4 rpg for the Lions this year.

Sophomore Ndu Egekeze (Augusta, Ga.) was named the team's Unsung Hero. Egekeze, a tireless worker for the Lions this season as he battled early season knee problems, 2.8 ppg and 1.9 rpg for PSU this season and started 12 games.

Krimmel won the Most Inspirational Award. The senior back-up point guard, was a four-year letterman at Penn State. Krimmel played in every game for Penn State this year, starting two. He averaged 1.6 ppg and 1.0 rpg. A third-time Academic All-Big Ten selection this year, Krimmel won the team's Scholastic Award as well.

Smith was named Mr. Defense and was honored with the prestigious Coaches Award. The outstanding leader and four-year letterman helped guide a young Penn State team through the season. He averaged 11.8 ppg and 4.3 rpg this year, both career highs. His .448 field goal percentage was tops on the team and he hit .400 from three-point land as well.

Smith, a member of this past summer's medal winning team from the World University Games, was an Academic All-Big Ten pick for the third time and was a third team CoSIDA Academic All-American. He was a first team Academic All-Region pick. Smith ends his career with 718 points and 420 rebounds to go along with 73 starts in 123 games played. He and Krimmel were both presented with their Captain Awards as well.