With mad ups, long arms, Claxton born to play:
“It seems appropriate that his doctor detected abnormally long arms when Geary Claxton was in his mother’s womb.
“It’s interesting that he’d jump off his bunk bed and dunk on his mini basketball rim when he was 4 years old.
“It’s hard to believe Connecticut, Syracuse and Villanova demanded that he attend a prep school for a year before playing for their Division I programs.
“It’s fortunate for Penn State, though, that Claxton, the high-flying forward with an 85-inch wingspan, realized he was good enough to play at the collegiate level immediately after high school graduation.
“‘I guess [other schools] wanted to polish my game up and improve on some areas, but I didn’t agree with that,’ Claxton said. ‘I wanted to go to a school that would give me a chance right away.’
“The West Haven, Conn., native deserved that chance after Penn State assistant coach James Johnson watched the swingman lead Hill Regional Career High School to victory against the top team in the state. Claxton recorded 43 points and left a pretty good impression on the Penn State coaching staff. …”