Penn State Basketball - Recruiting Big Board 12.17.14

Penn State doesn't have a game until Saturday afternoon in Allentown, but that doesn't mean Pat Chambers is taking the week off. It's a guarantee that he and his staff are using this down time to their advantage by hitting the recruiting trail, and it's also a safe bet that they'll have a presence in D.C. and Philly for a few days before they begin preparing for Drexel. We can't know for sure where they'll be, but here's who we think they're after:

Class of 2015 - 1 Scholarship Available

Targets

PLAYER	HOMETOWN	POSITION	STARS	NOTES
Traci Carter	Burlington, NJ HS: Life Center Academy (NJ) AAU: We-R-1	Point Guard 6'2" 170		Offered Visited 9/15/12
Kipper Nichols	Lakewood, OH HS: St. Edward HS AAU: King James Shooting Stars	Small Forward 6'6" 200		Offered Skills Camp Attendee
Khalil Iverson	Delaware, OH HS: Delaware Hayes HS AAU: Ohio Varsity	Guard/Forward 6'5" 200	NR	Offered Visited 6/7/2014

Names to Watch: G Brandon Childress, F Shawntrez Davis, G Malik Ellison, G Milik Gantz, F Tyler Kohl

Gone: Tyler Lydon (Syracuse), Donte Divincenzo (Villanova), Jamil Hood (Long Island), Jackie Davis (Washington St), Justin Jenifer (Cincinnati), Kevin Dorsey (Minnesota), Sam Miller (Dayton), Levan Alston (Temple), Bryant Crawford (Wake Forest), Samir Sehic (Vanderbilt), Matt Holba (Lehigh), Derrick Jones (UNLV), Justin Robinson (Va Tech), Aaron Falzon (Northwestern), Levan Alston (Temple), Kerry Blackshear (Va Tech), Evan Bordreaux (Dartmouth), Samir Doughty (St. John's)

Not a ton of activity here, at least based on the information available. That's because most of Penn State's top remaining targets have committed elsewhere, and partly because of the benefits of having a scholarship available for the upcoming summer, when transfers and late-signees are hot commodities. Of course, any commitment from what's left of the 2015 group would be extra credit for Chambers, who has the top recruiting class in recent program history signed and sealed.

Doughty, who committed to Steve Lavin's St. John's program after a visit last month, was one of the last top targets for Penn State. None of the three remaining prospects on our big board are expected to join PSU's 2015 class, but each had substantial interest from the Nittany Lions at one point. Carter was one of the staff's top targets at the beginning of the cycle, but after a summer away from the grassroots scene due to injury his recruitment remained quiet. It has since picked up with the news that Louisville's Rick Pitino is highly interested in the point guard. The Cardinals are now widely considered to be the frontrunners for Carter's services after a push from Tennessee, where head coach Donnie Tyndall is facing scrutiny from the NCAA.

Now, onto the fun part.

Class of 2016 - 5 Scholarships Available

Commits

PLAYER	HOMETOWN	POSITION	STARS	NOTES
Joe Hampton	Hyattsville, MD HS: Oak Hill AAU: DC Premier	Forward 6'7" 265		Committed 8/2/14

The lone commit in Penn State's 2016 class so far, Joe Hampton has made a good start to his career at Oak Hill Academy. After transferring from DMV powerhouse DeMatha Catholic in the offseason, the 6-7 power forward has impressed many with his maturity and improving physique (listed at 280 lbs in Oak Hill's media guide, many who saw him play at this past weekend's National High School Hoops Festival mentioned that he appears to have lost some of that weight). He's slipped to a three-star designation in the 247 Composite, but that should change if he continues his strong play against Oak Hill's national schedule (two games of which you can watch on ESPN networks in January).

Targets

PLAYER	HOMETOWN	POSITION	STARS	NOTES
Alani Moore	Hyattsville, MD HS: Montrose Christian HS AAU: DC Premier	Point Guard 5'10" 160		Offered Visited 11/3/13
Tony Carr	Philadelphia, PA HS: Roman Catholic HS AAU: Team Final	Point Guard 6'3" 170		Offered Visited 9/27/14
Anthony Cowan	Bowie, MD HS: St. John's College HS AAU: DC Assault	Point Guard 6'0" 170		Offered Visited 9/6/14
Lamar Stevens	Jenkintown, PA HS: The Haverford School AAU: Team Final	Small Forward 6'6" 190		Offered Visited 10/25/14
Nazeer Bostick	Philadelphia, PA HS: Roman Catholic HS AAU: Team Final	Guard/Forward 6'4" 175		Offered Visited 10/12/13
A.J. Wilson	Lanham, MD HS: Montrose Christian HS AAU: DC Premier	Small Forward 6'6" 180	NR	Offered Visited 11/9/13
DeAndre Hunter	Philadelphia, PA HS: Friends' Central School AAU: Philly Pride	Small Forward 6'7" 180		Offered Visited 10/23/14
Amarveer Singh	New Orleans, LA HS: St. Peter's Prep (NJ) AAU: New York Lightning	Small Forward 6'7" 180		Offered
Ian Sistare	Northfield, MA HS: Northfield Mount Herman HS AAU: Rhode Island Hawks	Shooting Guard 6'3" 185		Offered Visited 6/11/14
Dylan Painter	Hershey, PA HS: Hershey HS AAU: Team PA	Power Forward 6'9" 215	NR	Visited 11/16/14

Names to watch: C Abdul Ado, C Barrett Benson, G Jair Bolden, G A.J. Brodeur, G Amir Coffey, G Rakym Felder, C Derek Funderburk, G Daryl Gerald, G C.J. Hedgepath, F Willie Jackson, C Sedee Keita, F Paul Newman,  F K.J. Santos, G Josh Sharkey, G Breein Tyree

Gone: G Randall Broddie (Memphis; Reclassified to 2015)

Penn State is in just about the same position heading into the thick of the 2016 cycle as they were a year ago - a headline member of the class already in tow, and a sandbox of uncommitted prospects and four available scholarships (assuming Hampton will take one). Chambers and staff can be a little picky with eleven months until signing day, and they've already laid a great foundation with many of the players listed above. The Nittany Lions were the first high-major offers for Alani Moore, Nazeer Bostick, and A.J. Wilson, and it seems that they are in very good standing for the former two.

Shep Garner has started every game at the point in his first season, but looking at the positions Chambers is hitting hard in 2016, there could be an eventual move to the two down the road for the freshman sensation. Moore, Tony "Tone" Carr, and Anthony Cowan are all true point guards and all are priority recruits for Penn State. Moore is undersized for the high-major level at 5-10, but he's one of the top pure point guards out there. It certainly doesn't hurt Penn State's chances that he's supposedly great friends with Hampton.

Carr, Garner's former Roman Catholic teammate, is also hearing a lot from Maryland and most of the Big 5. He's already told City of Basketball Love that having Garner around gives PSU "some upside":

"Shep Garner goes there now, so that kind of gives Penn State some upside," Carr said. "I wouldn't say that it's more appealing. I think it would just be easier making the transition there. It would be just like the Roman transition."

Ed DeChellis, if you're reading this, that's what is known in the business as a "pipeline."

Cowan appears to be the point guard of choice for a few DMV-area programs, with Maryland setting their sights on him early in the process.

The best player on the board is likely Haverford swingman Lamar Stevens, who is highly coveted by Indiana and Villanova in addition to Penn State. Chambers was in attendance for the Fords' matchup with Roman a few weeks ago, watching a number of targets. DeAndre Hunter is the other priority recruit at small forward; PC was scouting him at his HS weeks before the season began. Hunter also has offers from Oklahoma State, NC State, and three Big 5 schools.

As always, these big boards are not totally indicative of the staff's actual strategy. BSD's big board in September 2013 had little mention of Josh Reaves and no mention of Davis Zemgulis, both of whom are signed members of Penn State's 2015 class. This is merely a composite sketch of their intentions based on the (free) information available. Thanks for reading. Here's a Scholarship Matrix for your troubles:

Redshirting
^Used a redshirt year