The [autotag]Mike Rhoades[/autotag] era is officially underway in Penn State as he and his staff start hitting the recruiting trail. Rhoades is an accomplished recruiting and is looking to translate what he did at VCU to State College. While at VCU, he brought in the highest ranked recruiting classes in the history of the program and put two of his players in the NBA.
After securing their lone commitment from the 2023 class, their attention has moved to the class of 2024.
Rhoades and his staff have started to extend some scholarship offers to players who fit the profile of the program that they’re looking to build. Long, rangy guards, wing players who can shoot and big centers have typically been the type of player that fits his archetype.
On Wednesday, they offered top 100 guard in the class of 2024, Austin Swartz. The four-star prospect is a 6’5″ 180 pound shot making guard from North Carolina.
I am blessed to receive an Offer from Penn State Universityđź’™ pic.twitter.com/owdCLKkVsm
— austin swartz (@austin_swartz23) May 18, 2023
On3’s industry rankings has Swartz as the number 95 player in the country and 21st best shooting guard. The interest in Swartz has grown following his strong showing in the Nike EYBL Session 1 in late April.
He currently has 13 scholarship offers on the table. Notable schools extending an offer are Notre Dame, Tennessee, Illinois, NC State South Carolina and Georgia.
Right now, On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has South Carolina as the favorites to land the North Carolina prospect with a 37.5% chance. Georgia is second at 22.2% and NC State is third with 10.0%. Penn State comes in at less than one percent, but their process with Swartz is just beginning.
Getting the caliber of player like Swartz into the program in Rhoades’ first real recruiting cycle would be a huge start for his tenure in State College.
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