They guarded each other, matched up inch for inch and played 36 minutes of outstanding basketball.
And maybe one day they’ll be on the same team. However, for one final contest, Beaver Fall’s Sheldon Jeter and Imhotep Charter’s Brandon Austin battled point for point in the PIAA AA boys championship, with Austin’s Panthers outlasting Beaver Falls, 56-54 in overtime to win a second-consecutive state championship.
Austin has already committed to Penn State as a member of the 2013 class. Jeter has yet to make a decision, though he has received an offer from the Nittany Lions to play there next season.
And Austin may have shed some light on Jeter’s thoughts after the game.
‘I said to him, ‘Come to PSU,’ ‘ Austin said. ‘And he said he’s going to see me up there.’
Austin was soft spoken and mild after the game, in which he scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
‘We got down a little bit in the fourth quarter but just kept fighting back to get it,’ Austin said.
With Austin’s commitment already in the bag, the attention now turns to Jeter, who will graduate at the end of this year.
‘I could see myself playing here, and I could see myself playing with Brandon Austin. I could see that,’ Jeter said. ‘I’m going to take my last two visits after I take a couple days off, and then I’ll take a long week during signing day and announce a day before signing day.’
The 6-foot-8 senior has a few potential suitors and has a visit with Florida State coming up as well as offers from Temple, St. Joseph’s, Penn State, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Seton Hall.
With roughly three weeks until signing day on April 11, it won’t be long before Penn State basketball fans learn if they will get to witness Jeter again on the Bryce Jordan Center floor, this time in blue and white.
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