Reading’s 6-9 Donovon Jack has committed to Penn State. Jack originally committed to Duquesne in the fall, but was released after a coaching change.

Jones:

“[Donovon] might have chosen Penn State originally had he had the opportunity,” said his father, Curt Jack, on Wednesday night. “Pat Chambers and his coaches recruited Donovon at Boston University and then when they came to Penn State. But they received a commitment [from 6-7 forward Brandon Taylor] and they had no scholarships left.”

Jack’s commitment further accentuates an unprecedented presence of Penn State both around the Commonwealth and especially in the extended Delaware Valley talent hotbed. He is added to commits and signees D.J. Newbill Philadelphia Strawberry Mansion, Brandon Austin Philadelphia Imhotep Charter, Taylor Trenton Catholic, Geno Thorpe Shaler and Isaiah Washington Williamsport.

Beaver Falls 6-6 senior forward Sheldon Jeter, who also has been heavily recruited by Penn State, is expected to announce his commitment on Thursday with late-comers Vanderbilt and South Carolina challenging Wisconsin and PSU.

via Duquesne emigre Donovon Jack commits to Penn State | PennLive.com.

Williamsport sophomore Isaiah Washington has committed to Penn State, according to Black Shoe Diaries:

Likely the youngest verbal commitment in this programs history, Isaiah pledged to Chambers shortly after taking his third visit to Penn State in the last three months. He had previously visited for both the Indiana and Michigan home games. This past Tuesday he returned again to check out campus life before Chambers finally gave him an offer.

via Oh, Hello: PA SG Isaiah Washington Commits To Penn State – Black Shoe Diaries.

Discussion here.

From StateCollege.com:

The full transcript of the press conference is available at Penn State’s website.

TTBC is back again, since district champions have been crowned and state playoffs are set to begin this week….

Tracking The Basketball Commits: State Playoff Edition – Black Shoe Diaries.

From Brandon Austin’s Twitter feed:

I Just Committed To Penn State !!!

via Twitter / @blackjesus_1: I Just Committed To Penn S ….

Alex Kline has more on the commitment.

He was portrayed as a saint and derided as a phony for as long as I knew about him. As always, it was more complicated than either extreme.

The fact is, his players would get in scuffles, have a few beers, run into girl trouble and otherwise be stupid kids, and pay with a short trip to the doghouse.

But God forbid they skip a class.

For that alone, among coaches who also win football games, he was unique, and a treasure.

He reported a couched account of a child sexual assault perpetrated by a former employee to his superiors promptly, and directed them to the eyewitness. He should have done more, and said that he wished he had. Alone among the principals, he took ownership of that.

But as the most visible symbol of Penn State, he also took nearly all the heat from the media and the public. (Not from the attorney general prosecuting the case, who praised him). And he handled that like you would predict, too.

He should have lived long enough for justice to be served, for the dust to settle, and for his role in this terrible, terrible thing be considered proportionately.

He was a great man.

– Tim Beidel

Sure, Talor Battle wont be there taking threes from the half court line and sinking them. He won’t slip through Bill Coles or DJ Richardsons defense any more, and he won’t beat the Illini on a final possession ever again, but it also means I won’t get to see, inch for inch, one of the best Big Ten players I’ve ever seen in person.

via Talor Battle, A Retrospective On Basketball Trolling. – Hail to the Orange.

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via App Store – Penn State Sports.

Welcome, Geno Thorpe. From the Post-Gazette:

Geno Thorpe, a standout basketball player at Shaler Area High School, has decided to play at Penn State.

Thorpe is a junior but made a verbal commitment this morning to Penn State. He told new Penn State basketball coach Patrick Chambers the news when Chambers called Thorpe at 6 in the morning to wish him a happy birthday.

Thorpe is a 6-foot-3 guard who chose Penn State over Wisconsin and Pitt. He can’t sign a binding letter of intent with Penn State until November of his senior year.

“With Pitt, I still love the Oakland Zoo and I’m still trying to get them to forgive me on Twitter,” Thorpe said with a laugh. “But I just made my decision because at the end of the day, I just felt different about the way Penn State was recruiting me. I just felt better about Penn State and more comfortable.”

via Shaler Area basketball standout picks Penn State.

Jeff Rice kicks it off:

A Penn State student contorted his body in the middle of the gym floor as his fellow students hollered their approval from the Rec Hall bleachers.

Patrick Chambers leaned against the side of those bleachers, just out of view, and watched, smiling. The breakdancing competition on the floor was only part of Hoops Madness, the sort of bouncy, fan-friendly event that ushers in the start of the college basketball season at so many schools around the country each year but has only been held sporadically on a campus that is typically consumed with football in early November.

This night was part of Chambers’ larger plan. So was donning a jersey and eye black to rally the student body before football games, driving through campus on a golf cart and making appearances at student dining halls. Chambers knew when he took over the Penn State men’s basketball program in early June that what his team accomplishes between the whistles this season will be what ultimately wins over a long-dormant fan, base but that a big part of his job was to build that fan base away from the floor.

The Nittany Lions will play Slippery Rock in a 4 p.m. exhibition game this afternoon in the Bryce Jordan Center, marking Chambers’ Penn State debut.

via Nittany Nation beginning Chambers era | Sports | CentreDaily.com.