UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State men’s basketball hires Penn State’s all-time leading scorer Taylor Battle as an assistant coach, the University announced Thursday, April 3.
Battle has five years of coaching experience in the Big Ten. He spent the 2024-25 season at Ohio State, three years with Northwestern and one season in the 2020-21 with Penn State.
“My family and I are excited and grateful for the opportunity to join Coach Rhoades’s staff in Happy Valley,” Battle said. “I’m ready to get to work alongside these guys at this University that means so much to me.”
While with the Wildcats, Battle helped Northwestern reach their second ever NCAA Tournament in 2023-24. He was in charge of the backcourt which included Chase Audige and Boo Buie, one of the best guard duos in the country.
“We are thrilled to welcome Talor and his family back to Happy Valley,” head coach Mike Rhoades said.
“One of the all-time great Nittany Lions, Talor’s passion and appreciation for Penn State, this program and this community are unmatched. He knows the Big Ten in-and-out and his experience as both a player and coach in this conference will be highly beneficial. I have no doubt he will serve as a great leader for our players.”
Battle graduated from Penn State in 2011 with 2,213 career points, the most in Penn State history. He was also an Associated Press honorable-mention All-American.
He led the Nittany Lions to a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship in 2009 and the team’s first ever NCAA Tournament appearance two years later.
Despite his prolific college career, Battle went undrafted. He ended up spending seven years playing professionally abroad. This included stints with the Hapoel Tel Aviv, Petrol Olimpija and Cholet Basket.
