Jonathan Graham Picks Penn State

Hi guys,
I’m a freshman at Maryland and I went to the same high school as Jon (and Juan Dixon, for that matter), so I’d figure I’d share some of what I know. First off, he is as great of a kid and teammate as you will find. There are no character issues there. He is a relentless worker and never takes a play off. About his abilities, he was as good of a low-block scorer as anyone in Baltimore his last 2 years of high school. He has good post-up moves and is able to back down players and finish under the rim. Towards his senior year he started to somewhat develop an outside shot (although thats not what his role should be in college). I think he started to do that because he realized he isn’t nearly physically stong enough to be a big-time center. But with that experience shooting from the perimeter comes more range and he is not limited to dunks and layups. His rebounding/hands are also excellent. Hardly do balls ever leave his hands from passes and rebounds. If he gets his hands on it, its his rebound. I guess the only negative is his physical size. He is a tweener for sure. Has the height/stature of a small forward but has always been the big man on his team, so his game tends to be more like a power forward. 6’8’’ is a good size for a 4, he just needs to bulk up some to become a legitimate post threat in the Big Ten. A player I would compare him too is fellow Baltimore Catholic League alum and UMD player Dino Gregory. He is 6’7", but played big man in high school. He was a junior this past season and really became a solid college player. He came in as a lanky tweener like Jon, but has bulked up became our best rebounder off the bench and was even able to take 2-3 15 footers a game, and make them. What you can expect from Jon for the first 2 years or so is a few points here and there, but more likely to grab some key rebounds, play very good defense, and hopefully polish his mid-range/outside jumper to become a pretty good player in the Big Ten. You guys got a player that was underrated in my (albeit somewhat biased) opinion. He isn’t Derrick Favors, but he will be a better than advertised 4 year player who will represent Penn State as well as any student-athlete can.