Blue White Illustrated

coming class has been hailed as the best that Penn State has ever recruited, and Chambers said he has already seen good things. "They're working hard. Obviously, there's going to be a lot of pressure on these young kids because of that – being the best class that we've brought in so far," Chambers said. "But they're working hard, they're into our culture, they're lis- tening to our veterans, they're competing at a high level. They're making mistakes and they're being coachable, which is critical. They want to be coached, they want to get better and they want to help this team be successful. "Josh is everything that you've read about, or wrote about, and then some. Mike is everything that you thought he was, just an incredible athlete who is blocking shots and rebounding and owning the glass. And Davis just drills threes out of nowhere. It's fun to watch and to see. They have a long way to go. But so far, their attitude has been great, their ap- proach has been great, and they have to continue that to see minutes." Chambers said that Reaves will have to work to earn a starting role in the backcourt, but the fact that the Oak Hill Academy graduate from Fairfax, Va., is even in the conversation is an indication of the coach's excitement. Reaves weighed 186 pounds when he arrived at Penn State at the start of the second summer semester, and he obeyed the coaches' mandate, which was "to eat." When preseason practice started, he weighed 205. The rest, Chambers said, is up to Reaves. "Josh has got to go out and take it," the coach said. "He's done very well and he's been here both summer sessions, which has definitely put him ahead. Doing the summer, preseason, it's defi- nitely helped. He's put on weight, he looks terrific, but he has to earn it every single day." The arrival of Watkins, listed at 6-foot- 8 but looking an inch or two taller, is likely to be similarly useful for the Nittany Lions. He may be a bit rougher around the edges than Reaves, but he has one quality that needs no re9nement: deter- mination. "He competes and he rebounds. He has a nose for the basketball like I've never seen before. And he's a heckuva shot blocker," Chambers said. "If you can do those things and you can anchor our de- fense and you can own the paint, then you have a chance to play some significant minutes. We lost Ross Travis, he was the third-leading rebounder in the history of Penn State basketball, so we have to make up those rebounds and it's going to be by committee, but... whoever is going to defend, whoever is going to re- bound and is going to give us the best chance for success, they're going to be on the floor." All of which leads to the question of how Penn State is going to look as a team this season in the absence of a proven scorer like Frazier or Newbill or Talor Bat- tle. Since the 2010-11 season, Penn State's leading scorers have averaged 20.7, 17.8, 14.9, 16.3, 16.3, 19.6 and 20.2 points per game. In most of those seasons, there was an obvious heir apparent ready to 9ll any scoring void that opened up due to grad- uation or injury. That's not the case this year. Players are all too aware they won't be able to lean on Newbill anymore, and Travis's depar- ture has deprived them of points and re- bounds. In the absence of those two play- ers, the Nittany Lions need their returning upperclassmen to step up. "It was weird being so comfortable with them being here, and those are guys who I've grown up with in college," senior forward Brandon Taylor said. "Now that they're not here, I'm the guy, I'm the senior, I'm the guy the freshmen are . NO NAME POS ELIG HT WT HOMETOWN HIGH SCHOOL 0 Payton Banks F So. 6-6 220 Orange, Calif. Lutheran 1 Deividas Zemgulis F Fr. 6-6 220 Kaunas, Lithuania St. Mary Ryken (Md.) 3 Devin Foster G Sr. 6-2 205 Dayton, Ohio Jefferson Township 5 Donovon Jack F Sr. 6-9 210 Reading, Pa. Berks Catholic 10 Brandon Taylor F Sr. 6-6 225 Tabernacle, N.J. Trenton Catholic 11 Sam Halle G Jr. 6-0 185 Springfield, Va. West Springfield 13 Terrence Samuel G Jr. 6-4 205 Brooklyn, N.Y. Victory Collegiate 21 Isaiah Washington G R-Fr. 6-3 160 Williamsport, Pa. Williamsport 23 Josh Reaves G Fr. 6-4 205 Fairfax, Va. Oak Hill Academy 24 Mike Watkins F Fr. 6-8 245 Philadelphia, Pa. Phelps School 32 Jordan Dickerson C Sr. 7-1 245 Brooklyn, N.Y. IMG Academy 33 Shep Garner G So. 6-1 185 Chester, Pa. Roman Catholic 44 Julian Moore F So. 6-10 235 Philadelphia, Pa. Germantown Acad. 2 0 1 5 - 1 6 R O S T E R

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