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Penn State Basketball Recruiting: July Live Period, Day 2 Update

Thursday was an excellent day for two of Penn State's current commits, but how did some of the Nittany Lions' top targets look on the second day of the live period?

By Chad Markulics
David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

There's a lot to get to today, so let's dive right in. In case you missed it, here's Wednesday's recap.

Commit Watch

We didn't get Josh Reaves' numbers from Wednesday's results until Thursday morning, and his reputation as an active defender seems to have preceded him:

But yesterday was another day, and Reaves displayed why he's such a prized recruit. He led his "Duke" squad to victory over "Kansas" early Thursday with 17 points on 7-10 shooting (3-5 3pt) and onlookers came away impressed:

After spending the afternoon in Philadelphia, Pat Chambers joined Dwayne Anderson to watch Reaves' second game of the day, in which the Oak Hill guard scored 14 and added six rebounds in a victory:

Meanwhile, it was another good day for Mike Watkins, his second at the Reebok Breakout Classic, and the 6'9" forward was the recipient of even more plaudits:

It's not crazy to think another big rise in the rankings is coming for Watkins, which is all kinds of exciting and scary and AHH WHAT'S THAT DID YOU HEAR THAT IT SOUNDED LIKE JIM BOEHEIM WITH AN OFFER SHEET oh never mind it was just a naked mole rat rolling around in my trash can. Whew. Here's some video highlights from Philly U, featuring a Pat Chambers cameo at 0:25 and Watkins throwing down an alley-oop from Samir Doughty at 0:54:

Yesterday we noted there wasn't any info about Deividas Zemgulis' whereabouts this week, but this tweet of his may have provided an answer (English is his second language, give him a break guys):

If it's a recent photo, the Hoop Group jersey indicates he's at their Elite camp at Albright College in Reading, PA. I haven't seen any reports to confirm that, however, so I'll just leave it at that.

2015 Targets

As mentioned above, Samir Doughty played with his high school/Team Philly teammate Watkins, and by all accounts acquitted himself well against some tough competition:

Doughty is looking to secure offers from more high-majors this month, but Penn State should be in pretty good standing come the end of the period. He appears to be close friends with Watkins and the Nittany Lions were the first power conference team to extend an offer. Doughty isn't a true point guard, but he is a gifted scorer and there's always a spot for a player like that on a Big Ten roster. There is some thought that his offer may no longer be "committable" after Reaves chose PSU just a few days after the Advanced Skills Camp in State College, but I'm not one to dismiss Chambers' penchant for combo guards in this instance.

Three-star small forward Markis McDuffie received an offer from Penn State after the April evaluation period, and he still appears to be considering the Nittany Lions, according to Zagsblog. The St. Anthony's product had a solid day at Breakout:

A few fringe targets from New Jersey probably played their way out of PSU's sights on Thursday. Guard Donovan Mitchell landed offers from Louisville and Memphis after a strong session at Breakout, and Malik Ellison (son of Pervis Ellison) appears to have eyes for Maryland.

A new name did pop up from Thursday - Develle Phillips, a 6'8", 190lb forward from Maryland claimed a PSU offer in the Breakout Classic's official blog. West Virginia, Kansas State, ECU, DePaul, Wichita State, and Xavier have also offered.

2016 Targets

Joe Hampton is one of Penn State's top targets in the 2016 class, and while he's sitting out the July period with an injury, his transfer to Oak Hill for his final two seasons of high school ball is newsworthy. He'll team up with Reaves in Mouth of Wilson, along with the usual all-star cast for which Oak Hill is famous. Hampton talks about his transfer in this video, from @CapitolHoops:

Hampton's now former DeMatha teammate Alani Moore is camping at Philly U, and it sounds like his lack of physical growth is scaring some teams off. City of Basketball Love reports Moore is hearing from a lot of mid-majors at the moment, despite some good showings on Thursday:

PSU has been on Moore for almost a year now, having hosted and offered the 5'10" point guard last November. Anderson is leading his recruitment, and while his "stunted" growth isn't ideal, it might work out in Penn State's favor if they choose to look past that issue - Moore is a hell of a player, as evidenced by his four-star rating from ESPN, and Chambers will certainly be in the market for a point guard in 2016 with at least four scholarships to work with.

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