Penn State women's volleyball coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley on the red carpet before the ESPYs in Los Angeles. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Penn State Best Bets of the Week: An Inspiring Nittany Lions Story

Originally posted on Penn State Nittany Lions on SI
By Mark Wogenrich | Last updated Jul 19, 2025 12:39 PM ET

Penn State football returns next week, in talking form at least. The Nittany Lions are headed to Las Vegas for Big Ten Football Media Days, a three-day event to kick off the 2025 season. Penn State coach James Franklin joins quarterback Drew Allar, center Nick Dawkins and safety Zakee Wheatley for Wednesday's media session.

Until then, we're highlighting the best Penn State stories of the week. They include a remarkable moment for Penn State women's volleyball and an interview with the head of Happy Valley United, Penn State's NIL collective. Check out our picks.

Katie Schumacher-Cawley's powerful appearance at the ESPYs

Penn State women's volleyball delivered the most impactful story of the 2024-25 college sports season. The Nittany Lions won the NCAA women's volleyball title in the most stirring way. They claimed the program's eighth NCAA title while their coach, Katie Schumacher-Cawley, underwent treatment for breast cancer.

Schumacher-Cawley inspired not only her team but also a sport. She became the first female head coach to win an NCAA women's volleyball title. She kept her team focused and positive despite being five points from getting swept by Nebraska in the semifinals. Schumacher-Cawley then led Penn State to a 3-1 win over Louisville in the NCAA final on Louisville's home floor.

Schumacher-Cawley's speech at the ESPYs was every bit as poignant and inspirational as the coach was last season. It deserves to be seen and shared again and again. Here it is.

Katie Schumacher-Cawley wins the 2025 Jimmy V Perseverance Award ❤️

A powerful story and even more powerful speech pic.twitter.com/HiV6XMC1pJ
— ESPN (@espn) July 17, 2025

The show at the shore goes on

Allar, Dawkins and Wheatley won't get much time in Las Vegas. They're scheduled to make a quick turnaround after the Wednesday media session, crossing the country again to join Franklin at Happy Valley United's "We Are ... at the Shore" event in New Jersey on Thursday.

The event is a big fundraiser on HVU's calendar. It's also something the newly formed College Sports Commission wants to change. According to the CSC, athletes no longer should be permitted to make paid appearances solely on behalf of collectives. because such appearances do not carry a "valid business purpose," the commission said.

Since Happy Valley United had existing contracts with the players scheduled to appear, the event is unaffected. However, Rich Stankewicz, HVU's director of operations, said that collectives have a lot of questions as to what constitutes a "valid business purpose."

"I'm honestly surprised there haven't been lawsuits yet, to be 100 percent honest," Stankewicz said in an interview. "I think that's going to be in the August, September timeframe when we start to really hear about that, because they are going to be turning down things that are real deals."

It's an interesting perspective about the future of collectives.

TEN days till We Are… at the Shore

Join us for our BIGGEST event of the year at the Union League National Golf Club on July 24 from 6-10 PM

Don’t miss out on the chance to meet Coach Franklin, Drew Allar and more ‼️

Ticket and auction link below

Register:… pic.twitter.com/11gkN9XO8K
— Happy Valley United (@HappyValleyUtd) July 14, 2025

More season tickets coming to Beaver Stadium

Penn State currently is installing more than 7,000 temporary seats at Beaver Stadium for the 2025 season. Some of them will be available as season tickets. Penn State announced that it is selling a limited number of single-year season tickets in 2025, and some are located in the temporary seating on the stadium's under-renovation West side.

In addition, Penn State is dropping some temporary seats on East concourses that were expanded in 2024. Pricing is pretty reasonable. The cheapest seven-game plan is $469, a bargain considering the Penn State-Oregon costs more than $300 alone. One key note: these are one-year plans and not renewable.

Penn State announced additional season tickets available for purchase for this season only.

Above gates A and E are the new/temp seating areas that will be bleachers for the season. Price structure below: pic.twitter.com/wsXbW38pQp
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) July 17, 2025

Summer workout update

Who has made strides during summer workouts? Penn State strength coach Chuck Losey said a trio of freshmen defensive ends have been "incredibly impressive" during workouts. Losey's summer update at the Lasch Football Building was informative, as usual. He also predicted a big season from guard Vega Ioane and gave a positive update on linebacker Tony Rojas.

Watch Losey's complete session courtesy of Blue-White Illustrated.

Penn State stories you might have missed

Men's basketball coach Mike Rhoades signed his fourth international player, and second from Slovenia, this week. Meet 6-9 forward Tibor Mirtic.

Former Penn State quarterback Beau Pribula begins his next phase at Missouri with a "chip on his shoulder."

Penn State men's hockey coach Guy Gadowsky discussed the process of bringing Gavin McKenna to Hockey Valley.

Olivia Smith, who played one season at Penn State, set a record for the largest transfer fee in women's professional soccer. Arsenal reportedly paid $1.3 million to sign Smith from Liverpool.

Penn State baseball player Bryce Molinaro announced that he is returning to the Nittany Lions after the Washington Nationals selected him in the 17th round of the MLB Draft. Molinaro was among a record-tying five Nittany Lions drafted.