The first day of the late signing period brought two 6-foot-5 shooting guards to the Penn State men's basketball team yesterday, as coach Ed DeChellis received National Letters of Intent from recruits Chris Babb and Cammeron Woodyard.
Babb, rated as a three-star recruit and the No. 34 shooting guard in the nation by Rivals.com, and Woodyard will bring much-needed height to the guard position for the Nittany Lions. Last season's starting backcourt consisted of 5-foot-11 Talor Battle and 6-foot-1 Stanley Pringle.
"Both Chris and Cammeron had outstanding senior seasons at their respective high schools and bring terrific size and athleticism to our roster of perimeter players," DeChellis said in a press release. "They are both skilled shooters and ball handlers."
Babb, from Arlington, Texas, and Woodyard, of Westminster, Md., will join 6-foot-8 forward Billy Oliver, from Chatham, N.J., and 6-foot-10 Villanova transfer Andrew Ott as part of the Lions' 2008 recruiting class.
Penn State has one remaining scholarship.
Babb led the Oakridge School in Arlington to a district championship with 31.2 points, eight rebounds and seven assists per game. He also set school records with 1,125 points in his senior season and a 51-point single-game performance.
He broke the 40-point mark eight times during the season, in part because of his ability to shoot the 3-pointer -- he drained 73 shots from behind the arc during the season.
Babb's final decision came down to Penn State and Iowa, but he felt the Lions were the right fit for him.
"It came down to the fact that he just went with his gut," Babb's father, Mike Babb, told the Collegian following his son's verbal commitment last month. "I know he was very impressed when he got there."
Woodyard guided Winters Mill High School to a Class AA Maryland state championship, averaging 20.3 points, five rebounds and three assists.
In his senior year, Woodyard increased his scoring average by nearly seven points from his junior-year total to top all Carroll County players.
His high school coach, Dave Herman, was impressed by his offseason improvement.
"I have never had a kid get better in a year like Cammeron," Herman said in a press release. "The bottom line is the kid can play."
The two will join a Lions team that returns seven players from last season who averaged 14 or more minutes per game, including all five starters from the end of the season.
Penn State is coming off a 15-16 season in which it recorded seven conference wins, the most in DeChellis' tenure.
