Penn State Basketball: Small Forward Payton Banks Commits To Penn State

Payton Banks, a 6-foot-5 small forward from Orange County, Calif., is Penn State basketball’s latest verbal commitment, after giving head coach Pat Chambers the word Tuesday night as part of his official visit.

Josh Gershon of Scout.com first reported the story.

Banks is the third commitment of Penn State’s 2013 class joining Shaler guard Geno Thorpe and forward Julian Moore out of Germantown Academy.

Banks had picked up over a half dozen offers from Pac-12 and West Coast schools, including UTEP, Pepperdine, Nevada and Oregon State.

‘When you fall in love with a campus you can’t let that go,’ Banks said. ‘And when you fall in love with the staff well it’s hard to say no to that too.’

‘Coach Chambers is one of the most exciting, upbeat, and positive coaches I’ve ever met he is a players coach. He cares and wants everybody to perform to there highest potential and does not take anything less. He’s just a great guy and has a great staff. That’s what really sold me.’

Chambers has rebounded nicely from the loss of 2013 Imhotep Charter High School commit Brandon Austin, adding two verbal commitments in just over a month.

Austin reopened his recruiting process in late July but has said the Nittany Lions are still in the hunt