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Local trio commits to PSU-Harrisburg

04/17/2015, 11:45am EDT

By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Penn State-Harrisburg got a trio of frontcourt commits on Wednesday night. Central's Gbolahan Alliyu and Kahlil Williams joined Father Judge's Pat Mulville in committing to head coach Don Friday and the Lions.

Alliyu, at 6-foot-6 and 200 pounds, and Willams, at 6-3, 210, were the starting frontcourt for the Lancers this season, helping Central to a 13-10 (8-4 Public League) record.

"We felt the same in our decision," Williams said. "Coach Friday feels like we can do a lot immediately, especially together."

Playing for Friday, who's got 25 years of coaching experience, was a common theme among the trio. He's spent plenty of time in the Division I ranks, both as an assistant at Bucknell (1994-2003) and as head coach at St. Francis (Pa.), from 2008-12. He's had success at the Division III level, winning a MAC Freedom championship with Lycoming in 2004.

Mulville, a 6-2 forward, averaged 5.3 ppg for the Crusaders but played a key role as a versatile defender and post scorer who could hold his own against bigger opponents. He picked the school over Moravian and Mount St. Mary's.

"Playing for coach Friday was the main thing that made me want to go there," said Mulville, who plans on studying psychology. "I love how positive and enthusiastic he is about everything he does."

They're all joining a PSU-Harrisburg squad coming off a tough 3-22 season, including a 3-15 mark in Capital Athletic Conference play.

It was the second year in the CAC for PSU-Harrisburg, who only restarted its athletics programs in 2005 after 10 years without sports. It spent the prior six seasons in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC), and the change in conference appealed to the recruits.

"I like the fact that they took the challenge of moving to a harder division," Williams said. "I want to be a part of taking it over."

Alliyu, Williams and Mulville are currently the only three incoming freshman for PSU-Harrisburg's recruiting class.