City of Basketball Love

Marley Paul (@MarleyPaul22)
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In recent years, Penn State has long been an outsider looking in when it came to the Philadelphia basketball circuit, despite the presence of coach Pat Chambers, a Philly native who spent four seasons at Philadelphia University in the early 1990s under the tutelage of Hall of Fame coach Herb Magee. 

Chambers arrived to Penn State (7-3) in 2011, two seasons removed from a five-year tenure at Villanova, which included a 2009 appearance in the NCAA Final Four as associate head coach and since then, has led the Nittany Lions to two games in the “Cathedral of College Basketball,” or better known as The Palestra. 

Splitting the first two contests at the illustrious arena, a 2013 victory over Penn eludes Chambers’ mind when reflecting on recent visits, while a 25-point loss against La Salle the year before looms large.

As Penn State faces Drexel (1-7) on Saturday, it will boast a growing program, with two promising Philadelphia products on the court in sophomores Shep Garner (Roman Cahtolic) and Julian Moore (Germantown Academy), both three-star recruits leaving high school.  

While he continues to evolve each week into the player Chambers wants him to be, Garner is all smiles this week, as he awaits an anticipated homecoming matchup, with a familiar foe in the Dragons’ lineup adding additional fuel to motivate the Chester native. 

“My first home game, I’m looking forward to it. I’m playing against one of my former teammate, so it’s going to be great.”

The 6-foot-1 guard will find himself matched up against fellow sophomore guard Rashann London, who, like Garner, was a 1,000-point scorer at Roman under head coach Chris McNesby. London averaged 16 points, five assists, four rebounds in his senior campaign, sharing the backcourt with Garner as the Cahillites, annual state contenders, posted a 23-5 record.

Six years later, Garner’s first visit to The Palestra is still a vivid memory that will likely stay on his mind for quite some time despite over eight trips to the arena since.

“Ninth grade, playoffs, Final Four, against Neumann-Goretti,” he recalled, “we lost by one, buzzer beater. I remember like it was yesterday.”

One of several powerhouses in Philadelphia hoops, Neumann-Goretti is currently home to Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, a 6-foot-8 big man who received a scholarship offer from Chambers over the summer in the 2017 class.

A good showing in Philadelphia could further bolster Penn State’s reach in the City of Brotherly Love, after picking four-star big man Mike Watkins in 2015 and following with a Roman Catholic trio of Nazeer Bostick plus four-star prospects Lamar Stevens and Tony Carr.

However, it’s unclear exactly who exactly will be able to take advantage of the Nittany Lions’ road trip to the city as Chambers said travel schedules will prohibit a few targets from being in the viewing audience. 

“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of games on the road,” Chambers said. “A lot of high school kids that we would hope to come to that game are going to be somewhere else, but they know who Penn State basketball is, and I think that’s the first time in a long time for us.”

Chambers said Watkins, who was not cleared to play this season by the NCAA, will not be allowed to travel with the team for the game; though, the freshman has made his coach proud with his performance in classroom following his first semester.

After two games at an energetic Rec Hall last week, Garner said he expects a full house on Saturday at the 8,722-seat arena, which, in all likelihood, will help the program in the long run.

“Going back home and playing well … Philly kids actually see why you can actually go there and play good and succeed,” Garner said. “It’s definitely a recruiting tool, seeing that a lot of the Philly guys from my school are actually coming here … it’s great to come home and put on a show for your family and friends.”