|
It’s never too early to look at what’s to come. During the next few weeks, we will give you a peek of what’s ahead for teams in the Power 5 conferences and some other teams expected to be players on the national scene. Next up: Penn State. For years, Penn State basketball has been a sort of athletic wonder of the world. With such a rabid fan base and decent facilities, one couldn’t help but wonder why the Nittany Lions couldn’t be better. Traditionally, the shadow of football certainly have had something to do with it, but the real issue for Penn State long has been where the program gets its players. Since joining the Big Ten, the school has been in a recruiting abyss -- unable to beat out schools such as Michigan State, Michigan and Ohio State in Big Ten strongholds such as Detroit and Chicago, yet challenged to make inroads in Philadelphia, with Big East and ACC schools owning that ground. With this year’s incoming class, Patrick Chambers finally might have solved the riddle. The Penn State head coach signed three players from Philadelphia Catholic League traditional power Roman Catholic High School, signings that not only instantly make the Nittany Lions better but as important, give the program a legitimate footprint in Philly and a hope for the future. Because if this quartet, a class currently ranked 25th in the nation, performs well, there's no doubt other Philly kids will consider making the quick trip west on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to play basketball. Now or never might seem a bit dramatic, but really if not now, when will Penn State change the tune on its basketball program?  At the end of last season, athletic director Sandy Barbour gave Chambers her vote of confidence, which typically doesn’t signal things are going well for the head coach. Chambers is 72-91 in five years at the school, but an improved 34-32 in his last two. The challenges are monumental at the school, something Barbour seems to understand, but at some point challenges have to give way to victory.
The truth is, Chambers worked a miracle eking out seven Big Ten victories and a .500 record a year ago. But with this recruiting class making headlines and offering so much, more understandably will be expected. Can they deliver? It’s a big ask of freshmen in the tough Big Ten, but in Tony Carr, Lamar Stevens, Nazeer Bostick (the Roman trio combined to win a state title this year) and Oak Hill forward Joe Hampton, Chambers has the sort of players who should be able to get things turned around. Carr, a four-star recruit, is a quintessential Philly point guard -- tough, smart and fearless. Stevens, though an undersized forward at 6-foot-7, is a terrific scorer -- he finished with a team high 27 points in Roman’s state title game. Bostick is an athletic wing who also loves to play defense. Hampton, who went through a commit/decommit/recommit tap dance with the Nittany Lions, has been dogged by a where-does-he-fit question his entire career. He’s 6-6, caught between power forward and small forward, but he’s also capable of playing in the low post and knocking down a trailing 3-pointer. They join a PSU team that returns Shep Garner, the start of the Roman Catholic pipeline. The point guard averaged 14.3 points and 3.4 assists per game last season, as well as Payton Banks, the team’s third-leading scorer with 9.4 points per game. The big absence will be Brandon Taylor. The senior, who averaged 16.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, not only provided so much of the Nittany Lions’ offense, but its leadership as well. Someone -- likely Garner, because he’s the team’s quarterback -- will have to step into that void and guide the freshmen if change really is going to happen. And that, of course, is really the question for Penn State. Is it for real this time? Is change going to happen?
|
