Penn State Basketball: Pat Chambers to visit Albany transfer Joe Cremo
By Dylan Burd
Penn State basketball head coach Pat Chambers will go to Albany this week in an attempt to land grad transfer guard, Joe Cremo.
Earlier this week, Penn State star guard, Tony Carr, announced that he will declare for the NBA Draft and hire an agent. With Carr on the way out, and Shep Garner graduating, the Nittany Lions will have to scramble to add depth at the guard position.
The scramble has started this week, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN has reported that Pat Chambers is set to meet with Albany guard, Joe Cremo.
Albany grad transfer Joe Cremo told ESPN that Chris Holtmann, Greg McDermott, Shaka Smart, Pat Chambers and Steve Wojciechowski will also be visiting him in Albany the next few days.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 5, 2018
Cremo, who averaged 17.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 3.8 APG on just over 45 percent shooting from three-point range, is looked at as the consensus number one grad transfer in the country. As a grad transfer, Cremo would be eligible to play right away.
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Joe Cremo is no stranger to Penn State. In 2016 he scored 22 points to go along with 10 rebounds and five assists in an 87-81 win over the Nittany Lions.
With Carr and Garner gone, Penn State’s only guards on the team are senior, Josh Reaves, sophomore, Jamari Wheeler, junior, Nazeer Bostick, and incoming freshmen, Rasir Bolton and Myles Dread.
Reaves will certainly be in the starting lineup to start the 2018-2019 season, but two open spots in the starting lineup remain, as forward, Lamar Stevens, and center, Mike Watkins are also shoe-ins to start.
Bostick and Wheeler aren’t starting caliber players, and at least one of Bolton and Dread will need some time before they’re ready to start.
A player like Cremo would immediately replace some of the scoring and shooting that Tony Carr and Shep Garner provided. With Cremo, the Nittany Lions would likely become a preseason top-25 team.
However, competition is steep. Joe Cremo has reportedly been receiving interest from Arizona, Creighton, Ohio State, Wichita State, Cincinnati, Marquette, West Virginia, Texas Tech, SMU, St. Joe’s, Seton Hall, Louisville, UCONN, and St. Bonaventure. Thursday afternoon, Jon Rothstein of CBS reported that Duke is now interested in Cremo.
Albany grad transfer Joe Cremo tells me Duke is the latest school to show interest. Immediately eligible.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 5, 2018
If Chambers doesn’t land Cremo, then he will certainly look at several other grad transfers that can come in and start right away for a team that is ready to make an NCAA Tournament.
This is certainly a story line to watch, as most grad transfers will be making their decisions within the upcoming weeks.