Recruiting in Philly becomes priority:
“In the tri-state area, there are two hot spots for basketball talent. The obvious one is New York City, with its five boroughs and its famous streetball legacy. Penn State infiltrated The Big Apple two years ago with the signing of Bronx native and current Nittany Lions guard Marlon Smith.
“Even with the plethora of talent and the successful recruitment of Smith, New York is still a hard area to crack for a school with a low national prestige like Penn State, so the Lions’ recruiting staff has to look elsewhere for hidden gems.
“To find that place, Penn State only has to cast a glance 200 miles to the southeast for the other hotbed of basketball talent — Philadelphia, a city that has also produced some of the greatest and most recognizable players in the NBA. …”