Penn State lands two Europeans:
“Penn State’s men’s basketball program is again mining Europe to fill its yawning needs for big men.
“Head coach Ed DeChellis confirmed yesterday that PSU has received verbal commitments from two big Euros — one from Finland, the other from Serbia & Montenegro in the former Yugoslavia.
“Though DeChellis did not name the players, The Patriot-News learned the Fin is Joonas Suotamo, a 6-9, 225- pound forward who is said to be well built, springy and active. UCLA and Utah were recruiting Suotamo in the fall period before getting commitments from other players and dropping off.
“That left Penn State as the major suitor. PSU lead assistant Kurt Kanaskie has been working hard to find European players since his arrival on the PSU staff. This one, he liked.
“When Kanaskie and DeChellis saw Suotamo in person on a quick visit last month, they could not speak to the player because it was a ‘dark’ non-contact period under NCAA guidelines. But they extended a scholarship offer.
“Suotamo visited Penn State over the Christmas holiday and liked what he saw. …”