Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/83706
MEN'S BASKETBALL Nittany Lions land California guard As anticipation grows for the second year of the Patrick Chambers era, Penn State's head coach continues to build the future of the program. This month, Chambers has wel- comed recruits for every Penn State football home game, including un- committed Rivals100 small forward Josh Hart, a four-star recruit from Sidwell Friends High in Silver Springs, Md. Chambers also landed a third verbally committed recruit for the Class of 2013. Payton Banks, a senior small for- ward from Lutheran High School in Orange, Calif., verbally committed to play for Penn State before returning to the West Coast from his official vis- it to campus in September. The Rivals.com three-star prospect picked the Nittany Lions over Auburn, Pepperdine, Oregon State and Nevada. He was also receiving in- terest from Southern California, Col- orado and Washington State. "He is just such a great kid. Penn State really got a special player in Payton," said Etop Udo Ema, Banks' coach with the Compton Magic, an AAU team. "A lot of schools have mis- evaluated him in my opinion. He could be a legit Pac-12 player." The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Banks av- eraged more than 16 points per game as a junior, earning All-CIF Southern Section Division 1A first-team and All-Orange County second-team hon- ors. He joins shooting guard Geno Thorpe and big man Julian Moore in Chambers' 2013 recruiting class. One scholarship remains available. Banks encouraged fans to "get ready for Penn State basketball, be- cause we really are getting ready to do it big in the four years I'm going to be here. Please come out and support us. Coach Chambers is getting some great players here. We're about to be something special. We're about to be legit." BLOGS THE MONTH I N. . . The student section showed up on time and ready to go. The official attendance [for Navy] was 98,792, which was even more than the first game against Ohio. That's pretty remark- able to think about, considering the team's 0-2 start. The 3:30 kickoff time had something to do with it for sure, but the stu- dent body is firmly behind this team, even if they don't win that many more games. KEVIN HORNE ONWARD STATE OPINIONS Not one Penn State player, coach or employee will be at fault for the punishment they endure. Not to mention, the NCAA carried out these penalties without a single citation of rule vio- lation. So, for these reasons and more, you should root for re- covery. You should root for healing. You should root for Nittany Lion football because it will bring both of those things about for a deserving community. A community that is now rooting for a new group of coaches, in charge of a resilient bunch of players. ANDREW CALLAHAN THE (UCONN) DAILY CAMPUS So, with [Allen] Robinson's star shooting in full view and an impressive [Navy] win making everyone happy, I couldn't help but think: How weird. The more anyone stands out for this team, the more they will be preyed upon by other schools. Whatever justice one may deem of the other sanctions, this is- n't right. I asked Robinson about that, and his response was immediate and emphatic: "I'm definitely here with Coach O'Brien and Penn State. Because Coach O'Brien, he knows exactly what he's doing.' " DAVID JONES THE (HARRISBURG) PATRIOT-NEWS Defense has always been a hallmark at Penn State and, with an unsteady kicking game, Saturday's domination of Navy was more than O'Brien's first career win. It was a sign the Li- ons should be competitive with most of the teams on their schedule. QUOTES –N.B. NEIL RUDEL ALTOONA MIRROR I said something joking around. We were watching Patriots film and [tight end] Aaron Hernandez caught a lot of balls that game, and I said, 'Coach, that's me,' just joking around. Then we had a talk, and he said, 'Well, you should try.' I said, 'Sure, I'll try.' I didn't want to [at first]. I talked to him some more, then I said, 'I'll do it.' Monday I tried it, and that Tuesday af- ternoon I told him I'll play it. PAUL JONES ON HIS MOVE FROM QUARTERBACK TO TIGHT END