Men's basketball coach Glen Miller can sleep a little bit easier these days.
Carson Sullivan, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound left-handed combination guard who plays for Charlotte Christian School in Charlotte, N.C., gave his verbal commitment to Penn last week, according to multiple college basketball recruiting sources.
Also, Brian Fitzpatrick, a rangy 6-foot-8 forward from Northfield, Mass., has apparently narrowed his list down to Yale and Penn according to his father, Ed Fitzpatrick.
Rivals.com reported that up to 20 mid- and low-major schools were interested in Sullivan prior to him suffering a knee injury over the summer.
Most of those schools dropped out of the race for Sullivan, although Penn and a few others remained.
Sullivan told Rivals.com that he had narrowed his list down to Penn, Princeton and Charlotte. The latter had offered him a chance at a scholarship and a walk-on opportunity, but Sullivan was swayed by the certain spot he'd have on Penn's roster.
He also cited the Penn and Big 5 basketball tradition as a major factor.
Fitzpatrick, on the other hand, has not yet committed to Penn but seems to be leaning highly towards donning the red and blue.
The Northfield-Mount Hermon player is being recruited by a handful of Ivy and Patriot League programs. He was close to accepting an offer at Bucknell before longtime Bison head coach Pat Flannery retired.
With Bucknell out of the picture, Yale and Penn became the frontrunners for Fitzpatrick's services.
He recently visited Penn and although he has not had the opportunity to see a game at the Palestra, was impressed with the University's storied basketball program. Fitzpatrick - interested more in Penn's History program than Wharton - will be visiting Yale this weekend.
His father believes that his son's ability to play both inside and outside, as well as run the floor, are valuable commodities.
"It seems as if [Penn] is pretty high on him," he said.
"I got the impression that if he were to commit to Penn, he'd have the opportunity to get his fair share of minutes. He'd probably be a three, maybe a step-out four."
