While Penn State basketball hasn’t taken the court in over a month, that doesn’t mean that coach Pat Chambers and his staff have taken any days off.
In need of players to replace the losses Cam Woodyard, Trey Lewis, Matt Glover, Peter Alexis and Billy Oliver, Chambers has been busy looking for suitable replacements in the 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes.
Chambers has insisted that he isn’t looking for a quick fix and would be happy to play next season with the current roster, which would include two incoming freshmen.
That being said, there are still a few names out there that could end up in Happy Valley next season. These are not Chambers’ only options, or recruits with offers, but rather three of the most active in the past week.
2012 Recruiting Targets
Sheldon Jeter: 6-foot-6, 185-pound shooting forward, Beaver Falls, Pa.:
The recruitment of Sheldon Jeter is set to come to a close May 3 and is currently a toss-up between Wisconsin, Penn State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Jeter will take an official visit to Penn State on Thursday, when Chambers and his staff will likely pull out all of the stops. It’s too close to call, but Penn State and South Carolina seem to have a slight lead in the race.
StateCollege.com has covered Jeter’s recruitment rather extensively. You can read the most recent report here.
Terence Jones: 6-foot-2, 185-pound guard, three-year starter for Texas A&M Corpus-Christi.
Chambers hosted Jones last week for a workout and he left Happy Valley with an offer. The most immediate perk would be his ability to play next season without sitting out a year per NCAA rules. The downside, however, is Jones has only one year of eligibility remaining.
Jones was planning to visit Virginia Tech but canceled his plans after the firing of coach Seth Greenberg. Jones will also visit UAB this week, but while Jones hasn’t given much of an indication where he would like to end up, it seems hard to pass up on the chance to play in one of the strongest conferences in the nation.
Penn State gave him a nice tour of campus, which included pictures on the 50-yard line in Beaver Stadium, an impressive sight for any recruit.
Jerome Harris: 6-foot-3 guard, transfer from Olive Harvey College, Ill.
Don’t let his current location fool you, if it wasn’t for a few odd injuries suffered in practice, Harris would still be playing at Mississippi Valley State. If that doesn’t impress you, even after taking a year off, Harris is hearing from Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Maryland and Washington as he looks to get back into the game.
Harris has two years of playing time left and would, like Jones, be eligible to play in 2012. He already holds an offer from Penn State and will visit Happy Valley this weekend.
Moving forward, the path Chambers and his staff takes on the recruiting trail will have a lot to do with Jeter’s decision. A verbal commitment by Jeter could slow the pace down and allow Chambers to hold on to scholarships for the 2013 class, which is already strong.
If Jeter doesn’t commit, it would put a little more pressure on Chambers to land some immediate help like Harris or Jones.
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