Blue White Illustrated

December 2015

Penn State Sports Magazine

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star point guard and the No. 46 overall player in the Class of 2016 according to Rivals. Carr is one of the leaders of a Roman Catholic team that won Philadel- phia's Catholic League title last season and went on to claim a state championship. For his e@orts, the 6-foot-3, 170-pound prospect was named the PIAA Class AAAA Player of the Year. While Carr's signing was a huge coup for the program, the coaching sta@ ex- pended just as much energy in its pursuit of the others. And now that they have signed their letters, the sta@ won't have to do a lot of traveling to keep tabs on its future players. In fact, the coaches won't need to leave the Roman Catholic gym- nasium to see three of the four compete as seniors, as Bostick teamed with Carr last season to help the Cahillites win their state title, and Stevens recently enrolled at the school for his senior year. The three players also belong to the same AAU squad, Team Final. Listed at 6-6, 215 pounds, Stevens spent the past two seasons at Haverford, where he earned third-team All-State recognition as a sophomore and second-team notice last season. A four-star recruit, he is the nation's 80th-ranked player according to Rivals, and by all accounts he has developed into a strong combo forward with the ability to create mismatches both inside and on the perimeter. Bostick, a 6-4, 170-pounder nicknamed "Horse," is unranked by Rivals but earned a three-star rating and brings the will of a >erce competitor to the Lions' recruiting class. Said Chambers, "He's a winner and he'll do whatever it takes to win. He's just a jack of all trades, does it all." Harking back to his previous career stops as an assistant coach at Villanova and later as head coach at Boston University, Chambers said it can be advantageous to recruit talented prospects who have ex- perience playing together at the high school level. Such players have already established "cohesion, chemistry and ca- maraderie" before stepping foot on campus as freshmen, he said. Penn State's Roman Catholic players have already shown they hit it off, on and off the court. "They love each other, they love hanging out together, they re- cruited themselves here," Chambers said, crediting sophomore guard Shep Garner, a former Roman Catholic standout, for helping with the recruiting process. "It definitely puts you a little bit further ahead than if you got four guys from dif- ferent areas or different arenas and they come here and don't really know anybody on the team. There's definitely a con- nection." The fourth member of the Nittany Li- NAZEER BOSTICK RIVALS ★★★ POS F HT 6-4 WT 170 HOME Philadelphia, Pa. SCHOOL Roman Catholic WHAT HE DID Bostick helped lead Ro- man Catholic to a PIAA Class AAAA championship with a 31-2 record as a junior. WHAT HE WON Was a third-team PIAA Class AAAA All-State selection last season and a three-star recruit accord- ing to Rivals.com. Bostick did not re- ceive a national or position ranking from Rivals. CHAMBERS SAYS "Nazeer's nickname is 'Horse' for a reason – he takes pride in doing the heavy liAing and the dirty work. He is the heart and soul of this Ro- man Catholic team, driven by being a >erce competitor with a tremendous amount of passion for the game." R E C R U I T I N G B I O S TONY CARR RIVALS ★★★★ POS G HT 6-3 WT 170 HOME Philadelphia, Pa. SCHOOL Roman Catholic WHAT HE DID Carr was the point guard on Roman Catholic's Class AAAA state championship team as a junior. WHAT HE WON Was a >rst-team PIAA All-State selection as a junior and the Pennsylvania Class AAAA Player of the Year. He is a four-star player ac- cording to Rivals.com and the 47th- best player nationally. CHAMBERS SAYS "Tony is the leader of his team – like a quarterback who is steady and poised while working to make everyone around him better. He can undoubtedly score, but his focus is on being a pass->rst point guard and on creating winning plays." JOE HAMPTON RIVALS ★★★ POS F HT 6-7 WT 275 HOME Mouth of Wilson, Va. SCHOOL Oak Hill Academy WHAT HE DID Hampton transferred to Oak Hill Academy aAer spending his >rst two seasons at DeMatha and led his new team to a 47-1 record as a jun- ior, playing alongside future Lion teammate Josh Reaves. Hampton re- ceived o@ers from DePaul, Virginia Tech and Xavier in addition to PSU. WHAT HE WON Was rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com but does not have a national or position ranking. CHAMBERS SAYS "Joe is a skilled big man, who can shoot 3's and also get in- side. With a high basketball IQ, he simply has a knack for scoring and stretching the ?oor while playing hard at all times."

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