Penn State Basketball Recruiting: Looking Ahead to 2017 & 2018 Classes

If there is one thing Pat Chambers has excelled at during his tenure at Penn State, it's been landing his recruits before signing day in November each year. His staff has always maintained an aggressive approach by consistently being one of the first programs to recruit certain players. They aren't afraid to start early and develop relationships with high school juniors and sophomores.

While the staff capped another remarkable summer with Tony Carr's and Lamar Stevens' commitments, recruiting never slows down for PSU. We know they're still chasing a potential big man for 2016, but they're also looking to get a jump on the 2017 and 2018 classes. This is an advantageous position to be in as other programs are still focusing their efforts on wrapping up the 2016 class.

In fact, if you look at recent history, Penn State could have a 2017 commitment any day now. The first verbal in the last three classes was made before Labor Day of their high school junior year. However, that's not likely to happen in 2017, since there's somewhat of a scholarship jam due to the dissolution of the original 2013 class.

The 2016-2017 roster does not include any seniors, as we've reiterated before on this blog. If Penn State lands another commitment for 2016, there won't be any scholarships on paper for the 2017 class. There will be three players entering their fourth collegiate season next year, but right now it's worthless to speculate that far down the road. Overall, Penn State's looking to fill 5-6 scholarships over the next two classes, with only 1 or 2 players expected to draw from the 2017 class.

Class of 2017: 1-2 Scholarships

Guards

PLAYER	HOMETOWN	HT / WT	STARS	NOTES	TOP OFFERS
Lonnie Walker	Reading, PA HS: Reading HS AAU: Team Final	CG 6'5" 180 LB		Offered?	Ohio State Indiana Villanova UCLA
Quade Green	Philadelphia, PA HS: Neumann Goretti AAU: We-R1	PG 5'11" 155 LB		Offered 4/12/15	Syracuse Michigan St Maryland Villanova
Aaron Thompson	Fairfax, VA HS: Paul VI (VA) AAU: Team Takeover	PG 6'1" 165 LB		Offered 8/21/14 Attended Elite Camp	Virginia Tech Nebraska Miami FL Georgia Tech
David Beatty	Philadelphia, PA HS: St. Benedict's (NJ) AAU: Philly Pride	CG 6'3" 195 LB	NR	Offered 11/8/14 Visited 11/8/14	Georgetown South Carolina Miami FL Kansas St
Andrew Platek	Guilderland, NY HS: Northfield Mt. Hermon (MA) AAU: Albany City Rocks	SG 6'4" 175 LB	NR	Offered 6/15/15	Miami FL Davidson St. Joseph's George Washington
Naji Marshall	Atlantic City, NJ HS: Eleanor Roosevelt (DC) AAU: DC Premier	SG 6'5" 185 LB		Attended Elite Camp	Virginia Tech Rutgers Rhode Island

Guards are not a need for Penn State in the 2017 cycle. With Carr and Terrence Samuel joining the team next year, the Lions can pass on backcourt players, assuming the core four guards stay in the program (Garner, Reaves, Carr and Samuel). Walker and Green are listed here to illustrate the quality of talent in PA, but Penn State does not appear to be viable contenders for either. Let's pray they stay out of the Big Ten. Thompson and Beatty are more realistic targets, but neither fill a need for Penn State anymore. Platek is a light out shooter, but if Zemgulis can fill that niche role for the Lions, not sure where Platek would factor in.

Wings

PLAYER	HOMETOWN	HT / WT	STARS	NOTES	TOP OFFERS
Aamir Simms	Dyke, VA HS: Blue Ridge School AAU: Team Loaded	6'7" 200		Offered 6/27/15 Attended Elite Camp Visited 10/10/15	Virginia Tech Cincinnati Xavier VCU
Kodye Pugh	Baltimore, MD HS: Blair Academy (NJ) AAU: We-R1	6'8" 185		Offered 7/16/15 Scouting Visit 9/21/15	Stanford Northwestern Florida Georgetown
Myles Douglas	Baltimore, MD HS: Paul VI (VA) AAU: Team Takeover	6'6" 190		Offered 8/1/15	Maryland West Virginia Virginia Tech Xavier
Najja Hunter	Montclair, NJ HS: Westtown HS (PA) AAU: PSA Cardinals	6'5" 185	NR	Offered 9/19/14 Visited 2/14/15	Minnesota Temple Iona Drexel

Penn State has been hot after a few wing targets on the perimeter, even though they added Stevens, Joe Hampton and Nazeer Bostick for 2016. Aamir Simms is an emerging prospect out of Virginia who Penn State has already positioned themselves well for. He was one of the best prospects at this summer's Elite Camp in June, which earned him an offer, and he was slated for a return trip to State College this past weekend for homecoming. Penn State has also increased their interest in Kodye Pugh after he re-classed down to 2017 and transferred to Blair Academy. Myles Douglas seems like a less viable target as a Maryland lean, but he hails from the same HS and AAU program as Josh Reaves.

Bigs

PLAYER	HOMETOWN	POSITION	STARS	NOTES	TOP OFFERS
Mohamed Bamba	Harlem, NY HS: Westtown School (PA) AAU: PSA Cardinals	6'11" 205 LB		Offered 9/19/14 Scouting Visit 9/18/15	Kentucky Duke Kansas Syracuse
Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree	Philadelphia, PA HS: Neumann-Goretti AAU: Team Final	6'9" 200 LB		Offered 7/14/15	Syracuse Villanova Providence VCU
Ejike Obinna	Ashburn, VA HS: Virginia Academy AAU: Uncommon Bulls	6'9" 220 LB		Attended Elite Camp	LSU Miami FL Xavier Virginia Tech
Josh Carlton	Winterville, NC HS: DeMatha Catholic (DC) AAU: Team Loaded	6'9" ?	UR	Offered 6/28/15 Attended Elite Camp	Old Dominion

Mo Bamba has had a tremendous rise to prominence since Penn State offered the Harlem native a little over a year ago. His gargantuan 7'8" wing span has piqued the interest of every major college program and NBA scouts alike. He can go to school wherever he wants as a junior already, but we're writing about him here simply because he's an incredible individual, and Penn State was the first high major program to offer. It may seem hopeless, but Chambers continues to stay involved.

As for the others, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree is the best big man prospect currently in Philadelphia, but with offers already from Syracuse and Villanova, the Lions won't have an early advantage. Ejike Obinna had a huge summer after attending Elite Camp, but he surprisingly hasn't received an offer from Penn State. That's even more puzzling when you realize Josh Carlton, who earned an offer at the same camp, did not bring in nearly as many offers this summer. Carlton has transferred to DeMatha Catholic in the WCAC, so we'll have to see how he progresses in one of the country's toughest high school leagues and if his recruitment picks up with more exposure.

Class of 2018: 4 Scholarships

PLAYER	HOMETOWN	HT / WT	STARS	NOTES	TOP OFFERS
Cameron Reddish	Philadelphia, PA HS: Westtown School AAU: Team Final	CG 6'5" 180 LB		Offered 10/21/14	Auburn
Dwayne Cohill	Cleveland, OH HS: Holy Name AAU: Ohio Basketball Club	CG 6'2" 170 LB		Offered 6/12/15 Visited 6/12/15 Visited 9/11/15 Scouting Visit 9/30/15 Attended Elite Camp	West Virginia Xavier
Robby Carmody	Mars, PA HS: Mars HS AAU: Ohio Basketball Club	SG 6'4" 185 LB		Offered 7/15/15 Visited 10/10/15 Scouting Visit 9/30/15	Pittsburgh Purdue Cincinnati Xavier
Sean Good	Camp Hill, PA HS: Trinity AAU: Team PA	C 6'10" 195 LB	NR	Offered 9/11/15 Visited 9/11/15 Attended Elite Camp	N/A
Drew Friberg	State College, PA HS: State College AAU: Team Takeover	SF 6'5" 195 LB	NR	Offered 7/31/15 Visited 10/10/15	N/A

Names to Watch: Jahvon Quinerly (G), Noah Locke (G), Eric Ayala (G), Kenneth Nwuba (C), Koran Moore (F), Keldon Johnson (G), Aaron Cash (F), David McCormack (C), Sincere Carry (G), Darius Bazley (F), Tyree Pickron (G), Marcus Littles (C)

This will be the next big class for Chambers, and they've wasted little time getting started. While most of these prospects may not even be finished growing, the staff has extended scholarship offers to four in-state prospects already. That's a promising sign for a PA class that may be deeper than normal, especially with Good and Friberg already hailing from regions not known for producing D-1 talent.

The staff has also continued its apparent package-deal strategy by offering multiple kids from the same AAU programs. The Lions' are getting after a bunch of players from two of Adidas' biggest AAU teams - Team Loaded (North Carolina/Virginia region) and Ohio Basketball Club. Carmody and Cohill are teammates with OBC, and the backcourt duo appears to be Penn State's most coveted players at this time. PSU has also offered a trio of players from Team Loaded in Johnson, McCormack, and Cash.

As for the Philadelphia class of 2018, only Cam Reddish has caught national attention from the recruiting industry so far. The athletic swing man transferred to the Westtown School this season after spending last season with Lamar Stevens at Haverford. But the city will undoubtedly have more division-1 prospects emerge, and Tyree Pickron and Marcus Littles could be next in the Team Final pipeline for PSU.