Roman Catholic's Stevens not feeling pressure from Penn State teammates

Lamar Stevens (above) could become the third current Roman Catholic player headed to Penn State next fall. (Photo: Josh Verlin)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Nazeer Bostick and Tony Carr both say they won’t say too much to high school and AAU teammate Lamar Stevens regarding his college decision.

Bostick, a 6-foot-4 wing guard who committed to Penn State in April, had plenty of chances to push the school on Carr and Stevens this summer, with the Nittany Lions hard on the recruiting trail of both the 6-4 point guard and 6-6 wing forward. But he didn’t, letting his friends handle their recruitments at their own pace--and on Monday, Carr joined his friend and year-round teammate in committing to head coach Pat Chambers and staff.

“He didn’t try to recruit me, or try to shade me one way,” Carr said.

Now, though, there are two future Nittany Lions on Roman’s roster--and try as hard as they might, the topic is certainly going to come up on occasion.

But there’s only so much they can say that Stevens hasn’t heard from the PSU staff since they offered him over a year ago. Like Carr’s decision, his will have to be one that comes naturally from his final eight schools: Temple, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Villanova, Penn State, Indiana, Maryland and Southern Methodist.

“I already like Penn State a lot, but just having them talking to me could push me a little more,” Stevens said just a few minutes after Carr made his decision. “But I know it’s my decision, and Tony’s my best friend, so he knows that I need to do what’s best for me. If that’s Penn State, that’s great, but I know they’ll be happy for wherever I go.”

So far, Stevens has planned two out of a maximum of five official visits, to Pittsburgh (Aug. 23) and Marquette (Sep. 18); a visit to Penn State is likely to come between those trips, and he also mentioned that he “might use one” with Temple, one of two local schools in the mix (along with Villanova) and the only other one of the schools that was also in Carr’s top five.

Stevens added that he might not make his final choice until October or November, and that’s just fine with his teammates.

“I’m not into rushing people...I just took my time with the process and just took everything slow, so I’m going to let my friend Lamar do the same thing,” Carr said, though of course he added “hopefully he chooses Penn State at the end of the process.”