skip navigation

2016 F A.J. Brodeur commits to Penn

07/06/2015, 2:30pm EDT
By Garrett Miley

Garrett Miley (@GWMiley)
--

Penn is quickly developing a recruiting pipeline at one New England prep school.

After officially announcing its incoming freshman class for the 2015-16 last week, featuring two Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.) alums in Jackson Donahue and Colin McManus, the Quakers will have another NHM player in the fold next year.

A.J. Brodeur, a 6-foot-8 forward with numerous high-major offers, has committed to new head coach Steve Donahue.

The decision for Brodeur was narrowed down in recent weeks and his desire to play in the Ivy League and attend a high level academic school came to the forefront. And just a day before the live period, he had already decided what was the perfect fit.

“He knew he wanted to go Ivy, and for the past two weeks he's visited Harvard, Yale and Penn and he narrowed it down to those three," Brodeur’s high school head coach John Carroll told CoBL. “I think that's the timing, he knew the open period wasn't going to change that, that desire to go Ivy.

“It's Philadelphia, it's the University of Pennsylvania, it's the Palestra, it's coach Donahue,” Carroll went on to say.

Brodeur the first commitment for Donahue since the former Cornell and Boston College head coach was named the successor to Allen in April, and it’s certainly a good one for the Quakers. Donahue had offered Brodeur once before, when he was at Boston College.

Notre Dame, Davidson, Saint Joseph’s, George Washington and others had offered over the last two years.

Brodeur has the ability to play in the post and on the wing and is a nice, versatile fit for Donahue on both ends of the floor. His game is certainly attractive for Donahue and Penn and the type of offense that the head coach plans to implement in his first year at the school

But, Penn was just as attractive to Brodeur.

“I chose Penn because I am a firm believer in coach Donahue and his vision for UPenn,” Brodeur said. “I wanted to be a part of it and am looking forward to achieving great things in a beautiful city and in front of a packed Palestra day in and day out.”

His high school coach sees the fit on the court that Penn fell in love with.

“We run a very similar offense to Donahue at NMH and A.J. really likes the way that offense runs with him in it," Carroll said.

Steve Donahue is no stranger to recruiting NMH players. In addition to Brodeur, McManus, and Jackson Donahue (no relation to the coach), the Penn head coach has been eyeing Carroll’s offense and roster since the beginning of his coaching days at Cornell seven years ago. The NMH program has sent more than 50 players to Division I programs and a breeding ground for Ivy League players because of the high academic players on their roster.

Penn basketball fans are certainly hoping that Donahue’s familiarity with the New England hoops scene from his time at Cornell and Boston College will pay dividends in recruiting top Ivy League talent.

After the Jerome Allen era (65-104, 38-46) ended in supreme disappointment for Penn fans and alumni, Donahue is working to restore the prestige of Penn basketball and reassert its former dominance of the Ivy League.

It’s been eight years since Penn’s last Ivy League Championship and three since their last postseason appearance, a bid to the CBI that ended in a loss to Butler in 2012. But, edging out Yale and Harvard--who finished first and second on the conference last season and both extended offers Brodeur--for a New England kid and their first 2016 recruit is a step in the right direction for Penn basketball.


Recruiting News:

HS Coverage:

Tag(s): Home  Garrett Miley