Jonathan Graham commmited to Penn State Thursday

I guess you can actually promise these guys immediate playing time when there are only 8 scholarship players held over from last year’s team, only one of whom has actually distinguished himself as a legitimate starter.

Jonathan Graham is a 6’8, 215-pound power forward who should immediately challenge rising sophomores Sasa Borovnjak and Billy Oliver for the role of backup forward to Jeff Brooks and Andrew Jones.  Scout gives 3 stars, and ranks him the #40 power forward in the nation.  Rivals offers three stars, and ESPN’s Scouts, Inc. grades Graham an 86, grading out the same as Tre Bowman, Penn State’s other late-period signee.

Though the recruiting services roughly agree on his skillset, they are very inconsistent in listing the other offers Graham received.  Scout cites scholarships from VCU and Seton Hall, Rivals lists “interest” from such schools as Florida State and Davidson, and ESPN reported that among Graham’s top choices were Rhode Island, Wright State, and UAB.  Meanwhile, the Sun article claimed that Graham selected Penn State over, primarily, Duquesne.

So here’s what we know about the Baltimore, Maryland native:

His father is something of a legend at Maryland, so he may have some mixed emotions when Penn State takes the floor against the Terps this fall.  He failed to gain the same notoriety as his father did, as Ernie Graham was a high school wunderkind before moving on to the college game.  Still, he was the standout performer on a 21-7 team that won the Baltimore Catholic League championship, averaging 17 points and 9.9 rebounds a game in his senior season.  Perhaps most importantly for the Penn State team he’s set to join in the fall, Graham averaged 3.4 blocks per game, which is, shall we say, a smidge more than the .5 blocks per game that Jeff Brooks had to pace the Lions in the 2009-10 campaign.

Here’s a nice read about Graham, from ESPN. Admittedly, it comes from a biased source (his high school coach), but it should at least describe the kind of kid we’re getting:

“Schools are concerned with his lateral movement, but they love his demeanor and attitude,” coach John Bauersfeld says of the 6-8, 225-pound forward.

Graham, a late bloomer, could push out an additional 2 inches, Bauersfeld says. Graham also is fundamentally sound, can put the ball on the floor, can defend the post and shoots a hook shot with both hands.

The article went on to list interest from such schools as St. Joseph’s, Temple, South Florida, and the aforementioned Maryland, each of whom was taking their time before offering a scholarship.

Those skills are similar strengths to those described by Scout, who offers up such positives as “post play,” “rebounding,” and “low post scorer,” while taking points off for his “explosiveness” and for “playing below the rim.”

Named an all-league performer in a league that has graduated such standouts as Juan Dixon, Rudy Gay and Donte Green, Graham is a good get for Penn State.  Sure, he wasn’t the coaching staff’s top choice, but he has the potential to be a starting big man on a competitive team, which is more than you can say about some of the forwards on Penn State’s roster over the past few years.

Earlier today, Eric over at BattleDoesItAgain laid out a recruiting update, and until today, things hadn’t been pretty for Ed DeChellis this offseason.  For him to pick up a player in Graham is a significant acheivement.  Sure, Seton Hall might not be a powerhouse, and it may just be baby steps, but over the past few months, we’ve seen players spurn Penn State for such schools as TCU, Central Florida, and Iowa State.  Graham was a player who received some significant attention in the recruiting game, and who will almost assuredly see playing time as a true freshman.

For now, I’ll save the Ed-bashing.  Graham isn’t a player who will take Penn State to the next level on his own, but given the constraints of 4 transferring players, with little notice, the coaching staff has done a solid job identifying and securing players who can do more than fill out a roster.

Welcome to Penn State, Jonathan. Good luck.

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