It’s been a trying week for the Penn State basketball program. The head coach leaving, players hitting the transfer portal and player decommitments have put a damper on the positive momentum that was surrounding the team.
Friday, the program got some news they desperately needed. Four-star forward [autotag]Royce Parham[/autotag] cut his list of top schools down to four. Penn State was included in the list of the Top 100 player out of Pennsylvania.
On3 has the 6’9″ 200 pound prospect ranked as the 81st player in the country for the class of 2024. After receiving 14 scholarship offers, Parham decided to cut his list of schools to focus on before his senior year.
The news may come as a surprise to Penn State fans and others across the country as there is no head coach as of now. The coaches and staff involved in his recruiting process could potentially all be in new locations by the time Parham make’s his decision.
However, it’s still a positive sign to be in the mix for a Top 100 talent.
The three other schools on his list are Pittsburgh, Xavier and Marquette.
Top 4 Schools pic.twitter.com/poQoOaBS3M
— Royce Parham (@RoyceParham) March 24, 2023
Despite the unknown at head coach, On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine still has Penn State favored to land Parham. The Nittany Lions are listed with a 33.6% chance to get the four-star, while Notre Dame is second with 17.8% and Marquette third with 15.3%.
The machine hasn’t been updated since Parham cut his list to four schools, so it’s to be seen if Penn State are still the favorites when factoring in the coaching changes.
However, the decision could come down to more than just who is leading the program. Parham spoke about Penn State with Joe Tipton of On3 saying, “Having PSU be a local school and my mom being an alma mater, it’s been a really important school for me my whole life. I’ve built a great bond with the players coaches and seen the whole campus too.”
With the current state of the program being unknown, landing a talent like Parham would go a long way for Penn State basketball.
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