Paterno Among Several Penn Staters To Be Honored at Sunday's Dapper Dan Dinner

Two women's volleyball players also honored at the event

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., April 27, 2006 -- Joe Paterno will be among several Penn Staters who will be recognized at the 70th Annual Dapper Dan Dinner and Sports Auction on Sunday, April 30. The sold out event will be held at the Pittsburgh Hilton & Towers.

Proceeds from all Dapper Dan Charities events fund the youth sports programs of Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania.

In his 41st year as head coach of the Nittany Lion football team, Paterno will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. He previously has been honored by Dapper Dan Charities as Sportsman of the Year in 1982 and 1998. Paterno was inducted into the Pittsburgh Hall of Fame at the 2001 Dapper Dan event. Golf legend Arnold Palmer received the Lifetime Achievement Award last year.

Paterno is second in all-time victories among major college coaches and fourth in wins across all four NCAA divisions. A member of the Penn State coaching staff for 56 years, he owns a 354-117-3 (75.0) career record and has been selected the AFCA Coach of the Year and unprecedented five times, including last year. Paterno has led Penn State to national championships in 1982 and '86, five unbeaten and untied seasons (1968, '69, '73, '86, '94) and is the all-time leader in bowl appearances (32) and victories (21-10-1 record).

A 1950 graduate of Brown University, Paterno also has produced more than 300 NFL players, 71 first team All-Americans, 32 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans (24 first team), 14 National Football Foundation Hall of Fame Scholar Athletes and 18 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners during his legendary career.

Paterno and his wife, Sue, have contributed more than $4 million to Penn State for several academic and athletic building projects and to endow scholarships and faculty positions.

Paterno will receive the History Makers Award Friday night in Pittsburgh, presented by the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center.

In addition to Paterno, four current Penn State student-athletes will be honored at the Dapper Dan event:

    * Junior linebacker Paul Posluszny was a nominee for the 2005 Sportsman of the Year. A product of Aliquippa and Hopewell High School, Posluszny was a consensus All-American in 2005, helping lead the Nittany Lions to an 11-1 record and the Big Ten and FedEx Orange Bowl titles. Penn State's first two-time team captain since Mike Reid and Steve Smear in 1968 and '69, Posluszny won the 2005 Butkus and Bednarik Awards. He also earned first team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America accolades in 2005.

    * Senior women's volleyball standout Kaleena Walters was a nominee for the 2005 Sportswoman of the Year. A product of Mount Lebanon High School, the libero was an honorable mention AVCA All-America selection and the 2005 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Walters earned her second consecutive All-Big Ten award after receiving four Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors in 2005, becoming just the fourth player in Big Ten Conference history to be honored four times in the same season.

    * Freshman women's volleyball middle hitter Christa Harmotto was the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Female High School Athlete of the Year for 2004-05. Also an Aliquippa native and Hopewell HS standout, Harmotto was selected an honorable mention AVCA All-American, joining teammate Nicole Fawcett as one of four freshmen ever to be named to the All-Big Ten team. Harmotto became only the second Penn State freshman in school history to earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors.

Walters and Harmotto were instrumental in helping Coach Russ Rose's squad to a 31-3 record, winning its third consecutive Big Ten title with a perfect 20-0 mark.

    * Freshman linebacker Sean Lee was the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Male High School Athlete of the Year for 2004-05. A first team AP Class AAAA all-state selection at Upper St. Clair High School, Lee played in the final seven games last season as a true freshman for the Nittany Lions. He recorded 11 tackles for the season, including a season-high five against Florida State in the FedEx Orange Bowl when Posluszny left the game with an injury.

Pittsburgh Steelers' running back Jerome Bettis and University of Pittsburgh Women's Basketball Coach Agnus Berenato will be honored as the Sportsman of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year, respectively, on Sunday.

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Jen Armson

Penn State Athletic Communications

101 Bryce Jordan Center

University Park, PA 16802

www.GoPSUsports.com

jma19@...

"It's amazing what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit." -- Dean Smith