Penn State Basketball: Levan Alston Spurns Nittany Lions; Where Does Pat Chambers Go From Here?

Blood proved to be thicker than water for Penn State's top target Levan Alston this morning, as the four-star guard from Philly decided on Temple, his father's alma mater:

Alston wearing an old school Temple jersey. Second commitment for the Owls in 2015. pic.twitter.com/awZiKHXQIs

— Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) September 30, 2014

It doesn't change what Pat Chambers and the Nittany Lions have already accomplished on the recruiting trail, though - barring any decommits before the November 12th early signing period (/knocks on all available wood in sight), Penn State will bring in their best recruiting class for some time. But what to do with that final scholarship? Let's go to the big board:

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
Samir Doughty	Philadelphia, PA HS: Math, Civics & Sciences HS AAU: Team Philly	Combo Guard 6'3" 170		Offered Skills Camp Attendee
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
Brandon Childress	Baldwin, MI HS: Baldwin Senior HS AAU: P45	Guard 6'3" 185	NR	Offered

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)

No Longer Considering PSU: F Kerry Blackshear, G Justin Robinson, F Markis McDuffie

Names to watch: G Milik Gantz, F Aaron Falzon, G R.J. Jones, F Tyler Kohl, C Jimbo Lull, F Tony Anderson, F Evan Boudreaux

The high school pickings have become quite slim in recent weeks, and it's showing on this big board. To top it all off, it's difficult to say just how much mutual interest there is between these five players and Penn State. The Recruit Scoop got the first Traci Carter update we've had in a few months, mentioning Tennessee and SMU as the two schools who are actively pursuing the point guard. Samir Doughty, whose most recent offer is from UNC-Wilmington, looks like another who might see his recruitment pick up after the early signing period. Penn State may have lost an edge in his recruitment this summer when former Math, Civics & Sciences teammate and PSU commit Mike Watkins transferred to the Phelps School.

Not to insinuate that Penn State would be settling for any of these kids, who by all accounts are fine young gentlemen who are very good at basketball, but it might be best for Pat Chambers to pocket that lone remaining scholarship for a summertime addition, especially an experienced one. Barring transfer, the Nittany Lions will have four seniors on the roster in 2015-16, but only one senior, Geno Thorpe, in 2016-17. With the amount of player movement that takes place in the offseason these days, there's bound to be a few players that will pique Chambers' interest, and having that open spot helps avoid any of those icky carefrontations. And if worst comes to worst, the staff is already working hard on the 2016 class (more on that in the near future) - having space to add any number of talented kids to team up with Joe Hampton ain't such a bad proposition.