City of Basketball Love

Marley Paul (@MarleyPaul22)
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UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State’s three-man 2015 recruiting class was poised to be the first stepping stone in head coach Pat Chambers' rebuilding of the Nittany Lions program. That recruiting class, however, will be without one-third of its original cast as forward Mike Watkins has not been cleared to play this season by the NCAA, Chambers announced Saturday.

Chambers opened his postgame conference with the news, after Penn State beat VMI 62-50, and Watkins did not appear on the team’s bench. Watkins, a Philadelphia native, was joined by four-star recruit Josh Reaves and Lithuanian forward Deividas Zemgulis in the highly touted 2015 class that was the highest rated Penn State class before Chambers’ 2016 class replaced them.

“We are working with the NCAA very closely,” Chambers said. “The most important thing for Mike is his adjustment to college, us surrounding him with care, and helping him on his journey.

"We want to make sure that he’s going to strive on and off the floor and we feel really god about it. Mike’s done a good job to date."

Chambers did not provide a timeline of when Watkins will return to the court or practice, saying its entirely up to the NCAA. “I wish I could give you a definitive timeline but I have no idea," the coach said.

In his final season at Phelps High School -- where he transferred after attending Math, Civics and Sciences -- Watkins finished with averages of 14 points, 11 rebounds and 6.5 blocks per game game during his final high school en route to winning the 2015 PAISSA Championship against Westtown. He was a four-star ESPN recruit, 90th in the ESPN 100, and the third-ranked player in the state of Pennsylvania.

“Things happen for a reason and I’m looking forward to Mike excelling on an off the floor,” Chambers added.