Penn Men's basketball officially announces class of 2015
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SHARENo surprises here: Penn Athletics officially announced its incoming freshman class for men's basketball, and it's the same six we've known about since the end of the spring semester.
Three guards: Camryn Crocker (Cypress, Calif.), Simeon Esprit (London, England) and Patrick Lucas-Perry (Grand Blanc, Mich.); and three forwards: Keelan Cairns (Belfast, Ireland), Greg Louis (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Henry Brooks, (Fairburn, Ga.) will make up coach Jerome Allen's newest class.
Many of the freshman are already on campus and some played with a few of their future teammates in area summer league basketball games. According to Director of Athletic Communications Mike Mahoney, the basketball coaches will not make the freshmen available for interviews until preseason begins in October, so don't expect to hear much from them for the next few weeks.
The one name not on the list is Philly forward Xavier Harris, who committed to Penn last year but had to decommit this summer. Harris is reportedly taking a prep year at the Peddie School (coincidentally, near Princeton, N.J.) and plans to come to Penn in the next recruiting class, according to the Inquirer's Keith Pompey:
Xavier Harris, a recent Constitution graduate, will attend a prep school next year instead of going to Penn as originally planned.The 6-5 forward hopes to bring up his SAT score and enroll at Penn in the fall of 2012. He decided to take the prep school route over accepting scholarship offers from Boston University, Vermont, Robert Morris, and Monmouth. Harris is leaning toward spending his prep year at the Peddie School in Hightstown, N.J.
PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania's John R. Rockwell Head Coach of Men's Basketball, Jerome Allen, has announced his incoming athletes for the 2011-12 season. Six players are expected to join the Penn men's basketball roster this fall as freshmen."We are excited about the young men we have coming in to join our program," said Allen, who enters his second full season as the head coach. "We made strides forward last season, and we think these guys will be able to step in and help us continue getting the Penn basketball program back to the level that our fans are accustomed. We are excited at the prospect of watching these six young men develop as people and basketball players over the next four years."PATRICK LUCAS-PERRY 5-11 / 165 Grand Blanc, Mich. Flint Powers Catholic High School: Lettered in basketball, football, tennis and track at Flint Powers ... Captained the hoop, gridiron and track teams ... High school basketball coach was Tim Herman ... Helped Flint Powers bball team to 2009 Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) state title ... Holds the MHSAA record for most varsity basketball games played (108) ... Two-time Class B All-State selection ... 2011 MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award nominee ... 2011 DAC Michigan High School Athlete of the Year nominee ... Academic all-league in basketball and track ... Urban League Scholar nominee ... National Honor Society member ... National Scholar ... Big Brother/Big Sister mentor ... Volunteer at North End Soup Kitchen ... Church youth group member and volunteer. Personal: Son of Patricia Lucas and Laval Perry ... Youngest of five siblings ... Older sister, Victoria, played basketball at Michigan State ... Older brother, Laval, will be a senior on the Oakland (Mich.) University men's basketball team this year ... Enrolled in the Wharton School of Business.The winner of 25 Ivy League titles, Penn returns 10 letterwinners including three starters in 2011-12. The team is headlined by a pair of All-Ivy players, seniors Zack Rosen and Tyler Bernardini.
HENRY BROOKS 6-8 / 215 Fairburn, Ga. Miller Grove High School: Lettered four times in basketball and once in football ... Captain of the hoop team his senior year ... High school coach was Sharman White ... Helped squad to three straight Georgia Class AAAA state championships from 2009-11, with Miller Brook going 89-10 during that time ... Honored with team's highest GPA award from 2009-11 ... Graduated in the top five percent of his class. Personal: Son of Bridget New and Henry Brooks, Sr. ... Enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences.
KEELAN CAIRNS 6-10 / 195 Belfast, Ireland Barking Abbey College High School: Captain of his basketball team at St. Malachy's, where he played from 2004-10 ... Helped team to All-Ireland championships six times in seven years ... Two-time club All-Ireland champion ... Sportsman of the Year in 2010 ... Played at Barking Abbey last year with fellow Penn recruit Simeon Esprit. Personal: Son of Madeleine and Paul Cairns ... Enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences.
CAMRYN CROCKER 6-3 /170 Cypress, Calif. Los Alamitos High School: Lettered three times in basketball and was a two-year captain ... High school coach was Eddie Courtemarche ... Los Alamitos won the Sunset League title each of his three years, going a combined 71-18 during that time ... Sunset League MVP in 2010-11, second-team All-Sunset League in 2009-10 ... Long Beach Telegram Dream Team member in 2010-11 ... Second-team CIF, third team All-O.C. in 2010-11 ... Boys' Athletics Commissioner of ASB ... "Griffins With a Mission" Leader. Personal: Son of Ruth and Joel Crocker ... Enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences.
SIMEON ESPRIT 6-6 / 176 London, England Barking Abbey College High School: Played at Waltham Forest before spending last season at Barking Abbey along with fellow Penn recruit Keelan Cairns ... Helped WF to five borough championships from 2005-09 ... Waltham Forest's Sports Performer of the Year in 2010 ... Spent the summer of 2011 playing for England at the Under-18 European Championships in Bulgaria. Personal: Son of Beverley and Anthony Esprit ... Enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences.
GREG LOUIS 6-7 / 215 West Palm Beach, Fla. William T. Dwyer High School: Lettered four times in basketball and once in volleyball ... High school coach was Fred Ross ... Helped hoop team Class 5A state championship his senior year, as Dwyer went 32-1 overall ... First-team all-county selection ... Leader of Team Sports Ministries. Personal: Son of Maryse and Gustave Louis ... Enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences.