STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Shortly after winning in the National Invitation Tournament, Penn State scored what might have been an even bigger long-term victory.
Taran Buie, one of the nation’s top high school juniors, verbally committed to the Nittany Lions for the 2010-11 season. Buie is perhaps the most coveted recruit to commit to Penn State’s men’s basketball program.
Buie, a guard from Albany and the half-brother of Penn State’s star point guard, Talor Battle, made his decision last Thursday in the moments after the Lions’ 69-63 win over Baylor at Madison Square Garden. And to punctuate his selection, Buie climbed aboard the Nittany Lions’ team bus to inform Coach Ed DeChellis and the players.
“I haven’t had any second thoughts about my decision,” Buie said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “I’m pretty confident about my decision. That’s the place I want to be and the people I want to be around.”
Denise Murphy, Buie’s mother, said: “I asked if he got caught up in the moment. But he said he caught the right moment — he didn’t get caught in the moment. He thinks the legacy is going to go on, and this is going to continue.”
Buie, who was also considering Maryland, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Marquette, said he would try to persuade some of his Amateur Athletic Union teammates to join the Nittany Lions.
Buie’s commitment will reverberate for years at Penn State, which has long been noted for its football prowess and its basketball futility. …