When former four-star recruit and Dayton guard Juwan Staten announced he was transferring to Penn State last month, it was a real shot in the arm for a program losing five seniors, assistant coach Lewis Prestion and once-prized recruit Taran Buie.
However, now that Ed DeChellis has up and left for the United States Naval Academy, Staten might be following him out of the Nittany Lion program as Justin Young of the Natonal Hoops Report writes.
"Juwan picked Penn State because it is a guard-friendly style of play and Ed DeChillis is a guard-friendly coach," Mr. Staten said. "That’s what enticed Juwan to go there."
With the coaching change, Mr. Staten said things are back to square one. Waiting to see who takes over the program is not a luxury that the family wants to consider.
"With a new coach, you just don’t know their system. Coaches all see players differently. One may see one thing, another may see something else. For Juwan, he was already going to have to sit out an entire year. I don’t know if he wants any more time wasted. There could be opportunities that dry up if we decide to wait. He learned that the hard way when he committed to Dayton out of high school," Mr. Staten told the National Hoops Report.
If Staten has formally enroll with Penn State, he'd be unable to sign with another Division-1 program per NCAA rules. If he has yet to enroll, though, as his father's words suggest, then he could got anywhere he wants.
Staten isn't the only player expressing concern over his future with DeChellis gone. Hot guard prospect Trey Lewis, expected to be big piece of Penn State's future, also appears pretty upset.
%20#131516;padding:20px;%7D%20p.bbpTweet%7Bbackground:#fff;padding:10px%2012px%2010px%2012px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px%20!important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px%7D%20p.bbpTweet%20span.metadata%7Bdisplay:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px%20solid%20#fff;border-top:1px%20solid%20#e6e6e6%7D%20p.bbpTweet%20span.metadata%20span.author%7Bline-height:19px%7D%20p.bbpTweet%20span.metadata%20span.author%20img%7Bfloat:left;margin:0%207px%200%200px;width:38px;height:38px%7D%20p.bbpTweet%20a:hover%7Btext-decoration:underline%7Dp.bbpTweet%20span.timestamp%7Bfont-size:12px;display:block%7D</style>%20<div%20class='bbpBox72751579995967488'><p%20class='bbpTweet'>Just%20got%20some%20terrible%20news<span%20class='timestamp'><a%20title='Mon%20May%2023%2019:51:42%20+0000%202011'%20href='http://twitter.com/#!/Treylew3/status/72751579995967488'>less%20than%20a%20minute%20ago</a>%20via%20<a%20href=%22http://twitter.com/download/android%22%20rel=%22nofollow%22>Twitter%20for%20Android</a>%20<a%20href='http://twitter.com/intent/favorite?tweet_id=72751579995967488'><img%20src=){kind=link}
Just got some terrible newsless than a minute ago via Twitter for Android 
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Trey Lewis
Treylew3
It looks like at least one recruit is taking the news in stride, however. Derek Levarse of the Times Leader tweets forward Peter Alexis is staying put in Happy Valley (Tweet 1, Tweet 2)
Holy Redeemer's Pete Alexis tells The Times Leader that he is still set on playing basketball at #PennState despite DeChellis' departure. Alexis: "It doesn’t change my mindset at all. #PennState is still #PennState. It’s a great atmosphere. I love the school."
It's hard not to feel for these guys. They went through the meat-grinder that is the college recruiting process and came out the other end hoping to play basketball for Ed DeChellis at Penn State. Now, he's gone and their futures are back up in the air. Tough situation for all involved. Here's hoping all find themselves good fits, whether that's Penn State or another school.