Penn State basketball has an important recruiting weekend coming up as head coach Pat Chambers and his staff host a handful of future and potential Nittany Lions on official and unofficial visits.
Among those prospects already committed, 4-star guard Josh Reaves will join forward Deividas Zemgulis this weekend in Happy Valley for official vists according to a source. Zemgulis committed to Penn State in May of 2014 with Reaves following a few months later in July. Both players will join fellow 2015 commit, 6-foot-8 center Mike Watkins.
More importantly for Penn State, Chambers and company will host two high profile prospects in 2016 guard and Philadelphia product Tony Carr and 2015 guard Levan Alston.
Alston will be taking in Penn State one final time on an official visit before he is reportedly set to announces his college decision at an early morning press conference on September 30.
For Penn State, a commitment from Alston would give Chambers the final piece to what would become –and may already be– undisputedly the best recruiting class in the modern era of the program.
Penn State is currently in a close recruiting battle with Temple for Alston’s services and while he is considered a Temple lean, sometimes being the final impression is all it takes to swing the pendulum your way.
Either way in terms of the big picture, Alston would give Penn State a third Rivals Top 150 recruit in the 2015 class with Reaves and Watkins already having committed. Zemgulis’ outside shooting and size added another dimension to what could be an impressive four man recruiting haul. One good enough for Penn State’s class to be ranked 14th best in the nation by the 247Network.
Not to be overlooked, Carr’s unofficial visit to Penn State marks a continuation of future recruiting as Chambers begins to focus on the 2016 class. In early August that ball began to roll as 4-star talent and 6-foot-6 forward Joe Hampton committed to Penn State. Hampton’s commitment gave Chambers three total future Nittany Lions in the Rivals’ Top 150 and at the four star level by one or more recruiting services.
Carr is considered to be one of the Top 20 point guard’s in the 2016 recruiting class according to the 247 Composite rankings. He also played alongside now current Nittany Lion Shep Garner in high school.
Overall this weekend could prove to be a critical moment for the 2015 and 2016 recruiting classes at Penn State with one final pitch to land Alston and Carr’s continued introduction of what Penn State has to offer.
If either or both were to eventually commit, it would go a long way towards continuing recruiting momentum that the Penn State basketball program has never seen before.
2015 Recruiting Class: 1 scholarship remains
- *Mike Watkins: 6-8, C, Rivals 150 (118)
- Official Visit: *Deividas Zemgulis: 6-6 SF
- Official Visit: *Josh Reaves: 6-5 SG, Rivals 150 (128)
- Official Visit: Levan Alston G, Rivals 150 (104)
2016 Recruiting Class: 4 scholarships remain
- *Joe Hampton: 6-6 PF, Rivals 150 (70)
- Unofficial Visit: Tony Carr, G
*Verbally committed.
