I’ve spent some time looking back on analyzing past recruiting classes, but we’re just wrapping up fall recruiting before the season starts. It’s time to get caught with all that is happening on the recruiting trail today.
When I last blogged about recruiting, the staff had filled 2 of 5 open scholarships for the 2011 class – Trey Burke and Peter Alexis. However, Burke has since decommitted and gave his pledge to Michigan. He cited coach insecurity as the reason and then went to Ann Arbor. Pretty big loss because the guy is going to be a monster. I just don’t quite understand the seemingly lateral move from PSU to UM. Especially as a Columbus, OH kid. Whatever. He’s old news.
This fall has been a busy one for the coaching staff, as they’ve tried to recapture some recruiting momentum they lost with last year’s subpar season. Alexis has been solid from day one. There’s not too much out there on the guy because he’s from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area. Not a prime location for AAU ball, so I’m not sure how much time he’s spent on the circuit.
The staff has since landed 3 other prospects (there will be much more on them later)
- Trey Lewis – Another PG prospect from OH. His recruitment dropped off once Burke was committed, but PSU went after him hard again. A plan B recruit, but I’ve liked a lot from what little I’ve seen from Lewis. He’s a great, vocal kid, who can be a nice ambassador for the program. Trey committed back in early August. Here are a couple Youtube Vids.
- Pat Ackerman – 6’11″ 215 lb C prospect from Worcester, MA. Ackerman was somewhat of a late bloomer, raising his stock in the AAU circuit this summer. In this interview with UMHoops, you can get a sense for Ackerman’s game (defense and rebounding) and how his recruitment went. Pat committed in early September after visiting the weekend of the first football this season.
- Ross Travis – Probably the most hyped recruit so far, Travis is a 6’7″ SF prospect from MN. He has been ranked as the best prospect in MN this year. He’s had health issues with his back recently, so that could’ve stunted his recruitment a little bit. From what I’ve gathered, he’s an athletic and versatile wing who could use some work on his shooting range. Youtube
So that’s where the class stands right now. Some decent prospects that are going to be depended upon to contribute right away. The staff still has one scholarship available for this class. Some past targets that they were after hard, but have already committed elsewhere are George Fant (Western Kentucky) and Keaton Miles (West Virginia). One prospect that has an offer is Jarelle Reischel, a 6’6″ F from NJ by the way of Germany. It sounds like he will be deciding between PSU and SHU in the next week or so, but if not, he will wait until the Spring period.
Reischel’s decision will not make or break this recruiting class. If you check out the scholarship matrix, the Nittany Lions already have a youthful, balanced roster for next season. I would almost rather the staff keep the scholarship for 2012. The way certain occurrences have fallen (mostly Oliver and Borovnjak’s injuries), there’s not much balance among the classes, which makes transitioning from season to season much harder. Some 2012 prospects to keep an eye on, since they have visited this fall are Savon Goodman, who would be the biggest recruit in this school’s history, Matt Christiansen, and Sean Sheldon.
Fall signing day for the 2011 class is a week from today (Nov. 10th), so these 4 verbals should be making it official then.
