Penn State Basketball: Recruit Brandon Austin Looks Forward to Joining Nittany Lions in 2013

Sitting all alone in his team’s locker room, junior shooting forward Brandon Austin quietly dribbled a basketball despite having a bag of ice on his hand.

The remains of a celebration could be found on the floor as Austin’s 13 points and 13 rebounds helped lead Imhotep Charter to a 56-54 PIAA Class AA championship Saturday in overtime against Beaver Falls in the Bryce Jordan Center.

“It felt good,” Austin said. “I’m going to Penn State for college, so I’m getting a feel for the court, I haven’t lost yet on this floor, I’m just trying to keep it going.”

Even with a season still remaining in his high school career, Austin’s anticipated arrival at Penn State was evident as current Nittany Lions, DJ Newbill and fellow 2013 class verbal commit Geno Thorpe, made the trip to the Jordan Center to support their future teammate.

Penn State coach Pat Chambers also was in attendance to watch Austin play in the state title game.

“There wasn’t any pressure,” Austin said about playing in front of his future coach and teammates. “I went out and approached it like any other game.”

Despite his soft-spoken nature, it became clear throughout the game why Chambers, a fiery energetic coach, pursued Austin, and why Austin picked Penn State.

“I just said it wasn’t over yet,” Austin said about his team’s four-point deficit in the fourth quarter, echoing Chambers mantra of playing with attitude and determination.  “We’ve been in tough games before and we just had to play our game. I never thought it was over.”

‘He’s the kind of player that could be a coach,’ Austin’s coach Andrew Noble said. ‘You can tell by the kinds of questions that he asks where his mind is as a basketball player.’

This offseason, Austin will play with Team Philly, an AAU squad that has quickly become a go-to for Chambers and his staff on the recruiting trail. Austin is also doing his part, trying to get some of the state’s top talent to come to Happy Valley with him, including his cross court counterpart, Sheldon Jeter.

“I said, `Come to PSU,’ ” Austin said. “He said, `You’re going to see me up here, so look out for that.’ ”