Blue White Illustrated

MEN'S BASKETBALL P enn State head coach Patrick Chambers hinted at his year-end press conference that challenging opponents would be in- cluded on his program's schedule next season. He said nothing of the Duke Blue Devils, though. "It's going to be a tough schedule," said Chambers, "one of the toughest we've ever had. I can tell you that." Sure enough, Chambers' words were backed up by a recent report from CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein. The Nittany Lions will reportedly meet Duke in the 2016 Hall of Fame Classic at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., with the tournament dates still to be decided. Coming off a 16-16 finish this past sea- son, including a 7-11 mark against Big Ten competition, the Nittany Lions will square off against a Duke team that went 25-11 and 11-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, capped by a run to the Sweet 16. Duke's season was ended with a 68-62 loss to Oregon in the third round of the NCAA tournament. Next season's Duke team is, of course, likely to look much different from its most recent edition, as freshman All- American Brandon Ingram recently an- nounced his decision to enter the NBA Draft. But the Blue Devils boast Rivals.com's second-ranked recruiting class, including three of the top 10 prospects in the country. Penn State will also be drastically changed, as four incoming freshmen are getting set to join redshirts Mike Watkins and Terrence Samuel next season. Asked why he would create a challenging non- conference schedule for his youthful Nit- tany Lions, Chambers said he wanted to prepare the team's newcomers as quickly as possible. "I want to test them early and often to prepare us for the Big Ten," he said. "I don't have a crystal ball in front of me, so I don't know [how quickly they'll jell), but I trust in my staff and I trust these guys that we have in this program right now." Recruits earn All-State honors Chambers might not have a crystal ball, but the quality of his incoming class of recruits was further confirmed following the 2015-16 high school boys' basketball season. After guiding Philadelphia Roman Catholic to the PIAA Class AAAA title in March, all three of Penn State's Cahillite recruits received first-team All-State recognition from the Pennsylvania Sports Writers. The highest of the honors were be- stowed upon point guard Tony Carr, a Rivals.com four-star prospect ranked No. 47 overall in the Class of 2016. His 14.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game led to a berth on the All- State team, as well as his second Class AAAA Player of the Year award. Later in April, USA Today named Carr its Penn- sylvania Player of the Year, adding to an expanding list of honors that also includes Philadelphia-centric blog City of Bas- ketball Love's High School Player of the Year. Teammate Lamar Stevens, a 6-foot-7 finesse forward who averaged 15.0 points per game, also earned first-team Class AAAA honors from the Pennsylvania Sports Writers, as well as a spot on USA Today's Pennsylvania second team. Rounding out the group from Roman Catholic that is set to join the Nittany Lions for the university's second summer session in June, 6-4 winger Nazeer Bo- stick was also named to the Class AAAA first team by the Pennsylvania Sports Writers after averaging 11.6 points per game. The final member of Penn State's Class of 2016, forward Joe Hampton of Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, missed his final high school season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Frazier shines for Pelicans Although Penn State's highly regarded Class of 2016 has yet to step foot on campus, the developmental abilities of the Nittany Lion coaching staff were on display the final two months of the NBA season. Waived by the Portland Trailblazers to make room for a trade, point guard Tim Frazier bounced back to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA D-League where he'd won its Rookie of the Year honors the sea- son before. Excelling again, Frazier joined the team at the end of February for eight games and averaged 15 points, 9.1 rebounds, 9.4 assists and a 40 percent 3-point shoot- ing average to prompt a trip back to the NBA. Picked up by the New Orleans Pelicans on March 16 for a 10-day contract, Frazier opened eyes. His numbers were good enough for the Pelicans to sign him for the remainder of the 2015-16 season, as he played the final 16 games coming off the bench. Frazier poured in 13.1 points and 7.5 assists per game in 29.3 minutes of action, and his 3-point percentage reached 41.9, the highest of his three stints with NBA franchises. In the Pelicans' final two games of the season, Frazier set personal records for points (20) and assists (15) in losses to the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timber- wolves, respectively. ■ Nittany Lions reportedly set to play Duke N O T E B O O K |

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