Keith Pompey in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
A Philly-area team? Don’t laugh, but Penn State could become one of the Philadelphia area’s unofficial teams for basketball.
After hiring Pat Chambers as head coach, the Nittany Lions are having success luring local players to State College.
D.J. Newbill, a product of Strawberry Mansion, transferred from Southern Mississippi to Penn State last month.
Then on Monday, Tabernacle resident Brandon Taylor gave an oral commitment to the Nittany Lions. The 6-8 senior post player commutes 45 minutes each way to attend and play at Trenton Catholic High School.
Taylor chose Penn State over Temple, Drexel, Richmond, Miami and South Florida, according to his father, Byron Taylor.
“They were the first school he visited,” Byron said of Penn State. “I think he also liked Penn State’s campus and proximity. For instance, Florida and Richmond aren’t very close.
“Temple and Drexel, I don’t think Brandon was willing to go to a city school. He wanted more of a suburban atmosphere.”
via Recruiting Central: Temple recruit draws rave reviews | Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/07/2011.
I’ve been a bit surprised at the parochialism in the Philly media since Coach Chambers was hired. Times have changed in the 30 or so years when I haunted that media environment – talk radio, the Web, probably some other stuff. Lots more identification with Philly as opposed to identifying with a national sports scene.
–tjb