Penn State basketball got a much needed victory in Philadelphia this past Sunday against Michigan.
This was their second trip to The Palestra in as many seasons, but this time, they came away with a 79-72 win in front of a sold-out crowd.
It didn’t seem like that was in the cards early on as they entered halftime with a 10 point deficit. But, they exploded in the second half, scoring 52 points, to leave The Cathedral of College Basketball with a victory, pushing their season record to 8-7 and 2-2 in conference play.
[autotag]Ace Baldwin[/autotag] had his best game since joining Penn State, finishing with his Big Ten career high 25 points and adding four assists and three steals.
While this is certainly a moral booster for the players currently in the program, it also could give the Nittany Lions momentum for one of their top class of 2025 recruits, [autotag]Matt Gilhool[/autotag], who was in attendance.
The 6’10” forward is listed as the 94th player in the country and No. 4 in Pennsylvania according to 247Sports’ composite rankings.
He spoke with Dushawn London of 247Sports about his recruitment and where he stands with Penn State (subscription required).
Gilhool said he’s a fan of how the Nittany Lions play and how they envision his role as a versatile big man with the team. He’s been in contact with the coaching staff but was looking forward to seeing them in person again when he attended their game at The Palestra in an unofficial fashion.
As of now, the only place he’s taken an official visit to is Syracuse, but he’s not narrowing his focus onto any one school or group of schools in particular at this moment.
He told London his recruitment is very open right now and is listening to every school who is interested in him before ultimately cutting his list down in the spring or early summer.
That timeline is a rough estimate, but he said he’d like to give a commitment in the fall during his senior year.
Gilhool would be a great addition for Penn State, adding size and versatility, while landing a Top-100 player in the country and one of the best in the state.
This recruitment process will be one to continue monitoring.