Tuesday, May 26, 2009
It's hard to believe this is the 46th year New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski has put out his annual pre-summer Eastern Survey for the top 200 rising senior and prep school prospects in the East.
Here's a look at the players Konchalski selected as elite 5 star prospects:
C.J. Aiken, 6-9 power forward, Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Pa. High; [list edited] ... Taran Buie, 6-2 g, Albany, N.Y. Bishop Maginn (Penn State).
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Thursday, May 21, 2009
PIAA basketball is staying at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center for the next three seasons. ...
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; May 20, 2009 - Nittany Lion point-guard Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) has accepted an invitation to join 15 of the nation's top collegiate players at the 2009 USA Basketball Men's World University Games Team training camp to be held June 16-24 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Battle, a rising junior who was a first-team All-Big Ten, USBWA and NABC All-District selection last season, will look to become part of the 12-member USA Team that will compete at the World University Games July 2-12 in Belgrade, Serbia. University of Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan has been selected by USA Basketball to serve as head coach of the 2009 USA Men's World University Games Team. Ryan's two assistant coaches are to be announced....
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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
BWI: Can you describe your game?
[Sasa] Borovnjak: I play a lot in the post because I was 4/5 on my high school team so I have real good skills to post up guys and all.
But, if some guy is really stronger than me or taller, I take him outside and I have a quick first step so I can play from outside one on one and take him to the hole or step up and shoot.
I got those skills for dribbling and a fast first step because I was playing guard like the three before because I wasn't that tall four years ago. So, when I started playing basketball in Serbia, they focus a lot on technique so we like practiced every day our technique, dribbling in drills, so I have those skills from when I was like young like three or four years ago.
Then I grew up in height and as I came to high school, I grew up more and more....
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Monday, May 18, 2009
BWI: What was it like seeing Penn State succeed this year along with your own accomplishments?
Frazier: A lot of people would ask, Why did you choose Penn State? You always get that but as the season went on and Penn State was winning games and won the NIT, everybody was like, Now I know why you chose Penn State. It wasn't really where I had to explain because Penn State and the team and Talor [Battle], they all pretty much described it themselves on TV. Especially watching them beat Notre Dame where one of my teammates in high school was going there, that was great. Everything is just set on the table for me. I'm coming right into a great team, great people that are going to be there, and an up and rising program. ...
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Thursday, May 14, 2009
BWI: What is Jermaine [Marshall] like?
Coach Scott Slayton: As a player, he's very versatile. He can play a number of different positions. In fact, he's played all five positions for us at some point over the course of his career. He's extremely unselfish. He cares obviously first about team moreso than any kind of individual glory, although he had a lot of accolades passed down to him through local media and everything throughout his three years that he was able to play for us.
The most dangerous thing about him is the things that he's able to create for the other players on the floor. Not just a creator but be able to be a finisher as well and create for himself. With his unselfishness and yet his ability to still be able to create for himself makes him very, very dangerous on the basketball court. ...
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Wednesday, May 13, 2009
[Coach Wayne] Jones: Yeah. Tim [Frazier] is by far one of the best all-around guards in this country. Tim has one of the best understandings of the game of any kid I've ever coached. Tim is as quick with and without the basketball as any guard probably in this country. He led us in just about every statistical category that we had this season. He was named the No. 1 player in the state of Texas. He was named the No. 1 player in the greater Houston area and he also made the class 5A all-state team.
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009
BWI: Is [Sasa Borovnjak] a kid that's ready to contribute right away or do you think he needs a redshirt year?
[Veritas Christian Coach John] Jordan: I think the way he scores with his size he'll be able to contribute right away. I really do and I say that from a standpoint where I just had a 7-2 kid go to Clemson and hardly played this year and he's a top fifty kid. But Bobo wasn't ready. He physically wasn't ready for the ACC and that type of thing. Sasa is a different story. Sasa is ready and like I said, I think it's going to be hard to keep him off the court just because he's such a scoring threat. ...
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Thursday, May 07, 2009
Jamelle Cornley and Geary Claxton recently ascended to fourth and sixth place, respectively, on Penn State’s all-time scoring list with a combination of consistency, athleticism and drive.
Being matchup nightmares for opposing defenses didn’t hurt, either.
Wednesday, the Nittany Lions signed another player who could leave Big Ten defenses scratching their heads. Bill Edwards Jr., a 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward from Middletown, Ohio, chose Penn State over Miami of Ohio and Central Florida and signed a letter of intent during a news conference at Middletown High School.
Showing the ability to step out and hit 3-pointers or take it inside against smaller players, Edwards averaged just under 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists per game this winter for the Middies, who went 19-3 and lost in the second round of the Ohio state playoffs. He was co-player of the year in the Greater Miami Conference and a first-team Division I all-state selection....
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Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Ohio Senior Player of the Year becomes fourth signee in class of 2009May 6, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; May 6, 2009 - Ohio Senior Player of the Year Bill Edwards (Middletown, Ohio) signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Nittany Lion basketball team at a Wednesday morning press conference at Middletown High School bringing the number of signees in Penn State's 2009 recruiting class to four.
Edwards, a 6-6, 240-pound wing, joins fellow late-period signee Sasa Borovnjak (Fletcher, N.C.), a 6-9, 230-pound forward, and early period signees Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas/Strake Jesuit), a 6-2 guard, and Jermaine Marshall (Etters, Pa./Red Land), a 6-5 shooting guard.
'We are very excited to have Bill joining a very strong 2009 recruiting class,' Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis said. 'He is a very strong kid that can play any perimeter spot and also use his strength to post up defenders. He is a very good ball-handler and passer, a strong perimeter shooter and has that Big Ten prototype body.'
Edwards was named a first-team Ohio Division I All-State selection after averaging 17.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game for Middletown. He also earned first-team all-district and district Player of the Year honors, was named the co-Player of the Year in the Greater Miami Conference and was nominated as a McDonald's All-American. Edwards finished his career ranked seventh all-time on the school's career scoring chart with 1,129 points. That chart is headed by basketball legend Jerry Lucas.
'Bill played for a great program and was well coached by Bob Ronai at Middletown,' DeChellis said. 'He is a very competitive young guy who wants to win and has played on winning high school and AAU teams his whole career.'
The Middies posted a 12-0 conference record and went 19-3 overall in Edward's senior season before being upset in the second round of the state playoffs. They finished ranked No. 3 in the state of Ohio. The team improved from 7-15 in his freshman season to 13-9 in his sophomore year and 15-8 in his junior season, and Edwards is one of three senior Middies to sign letters of intent to play college basketball so far this year.
'Bill is a very skilled player who sees the floor extremely well and has a very multi-faceted game,' Ronai said. 'He led our conference in assists playing a kind of power point-guard. He's like a chess player in that he sees two or three moves ahead and he can score in a variety of ways shooting, going to the hole, or posting up.
'He is a very good three-point shooter and has great range on his jumper,' Ronai continued. 'Bill is a very coachable kid who is just touching his potential. But, as good as his game is, he is an even better person. He is going to be a leader and will get involved in the community and all the things around the Penn State program.'
An honor student and three star rated recruit by Rivals.com, Edwards is the son of Bill Edwards, Sr. who was a standout at Wright State University (1990-93) before going on to a 12-year professional career in Europe. Known as 'Dollar Bill' during his playing career, Edwards, Sr. is Wright State's all-time leading scorer and played briefly with the Philadelphia 76ers before becoming a top scorer and rebounder playing in upper division leagues in Italy, Greece, France, Spain, Israel and Germany. He also earned a bronze medal playing for the United States in the 1998 FIBA World Championships.
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MIDDLETOWN — Bill Edwards Jr. reached to the middle one of three hats placed on the table in front of him Wednesday morning, May 6, and announced his college decision.
“I want to thank my teammates, family and friends for helping me get through this,” the 6-foot-7 Middletown High School senior forward said as held back tears. “It’s been a hard decision for me. It’s been hard on my family answering the phone every day, but my choice is ... Penn State.”
The Nittany Lions were 26-11 last season and were crowned the NIT champions.
Loyalty was a big factor in Edwards’ decision. He was courted by many of the top schools in the country, but when he suffered injuries as a sophomore and a junior that caused him to miss a combined 16 games, Penn State stuck by his side as others lost interest.
“That loyalty meant a lot to me,” Edwards said, adding that Miami University also expressed the same loyalty. “No other schools compared.”
Growing up in Ohio, Edwards said he always dreamed of playing in the Big Ten Conference.
Now he’s getting that chance....
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Penn State has a lot of players on the current roster capable of playing the small forward spot – David Jackson, Jeff Brooks, Billy Oliver, Chris Babb or Cammeron Woodyard – but no one who has proven he can provide consistent offensive production.
So even though coach Ed DeChellis had said earlier this spring that the Nittany Lions planned to give their final remaining scholarship to a big man, Wednesday’s addition of Middletown, Ohio, forward Bill Edwards, Jr., increases the odds that production from that spot will be better next season.
The 6-foot-6, 225-pounder, who chose Penn State over Miami of Ohio and Central Florida during a news conference at Middletown High School, gives DeChellis another frontcourt hybrid – a versatile left-hander with perimeter skills....
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Middletown senior forward Bill Edwards has committed to play basketball at Penn State, Middletown athletic director Gary Lebo said this morning.
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“He just announced – 11:15 – Penn State University,” Lebo wrote in an e-mail."
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