June 24, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.; JUNE 24 , 2013 - Penn State coach Patrick Chambers announced today that 6-3, 214-pound guard Allen Roberts (Middletown, Ohio) has signed a financial aid agreement and enrolled in the University. He will join the Nittany Lion basketball program at the start of the second University summer academic session, which begins June 26. A three-year starter and four-year member of the basketball program at Miami University (Ohio), Roberts earned his undergraduate degree in family studies from the University this spring and is eligible to play immediately for Penn State. He has one season of eligibility remaining.
"Allen is a strong, physical guard with a Big Ten body," Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. "He is a good shooter and scorer, plays hard and brings great experience and a mature approach. We are excited to add him to what we feel is one of the most talented backcourts in the nation."
Roberts is the second transfer to join the Nittany Lion program in the last week joining 7-0 Jordan Dickerson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) who transferred from SMU with three years of eligibility remaining and will have to sit out the 2013-14 season. Penn State welcomes six new players to campus this week as the two transfers join four incoming freshmen for the start of the second summer academic session and summer workouts. Freshmen Payton Banks (6-6, Orange, Calif.), Julian Moore (6-10, Fort Washington, Pa.), Geno Thorpe (6-3, Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Graham Woodward (6-0, Edina, Minn.) all earned three-star ratings from national recruiting services. Guard John Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa.), a four-time All-state player who transferred from Pittsburgh last December, will also be eligible to compete for Penn State following the completion of the 2013 fall semester.
Roberts led Miami in scoring last year posting 12.3 points per game and was second on the team hitting 46 threes. He also averaged 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game and led the RedHawks getting to the foul line 124 times and making 99 free throws while finishing sixth in the Mid-American Conference hitting 79.8 percent at the charity stripe. Roberts shot 33.8 percent from three and 38.8 percent from the floor while starting 21 games and playing in 29 for a RedHawk team that posted a 9-22 record. He missed the final games of the season with a right knee injury from which he is expected to have a fully recovery from this summer.
Roberts saw starting duty in three seasons in a RedHawk uniform playing in 92 career games and starting 54. He brings career totals of 724 points, 186 rebounds, 104 assists and 80 threes to the Nittany Lion roster and has posted five 20-point games on his career, including a career high 23 vs. Northern Illinois in 2011. Roberts redshirted the 2011-12 season after suffering a right knee injury. He started 17 games as a sophomore while playing in all 33 games and made 16 starts as a freshman while playing in 30 of 32 contests.
Penn State will return three of its top five scorers and rebounders from 2012-13 and the top two returning scorers in the Big Ten in guards D.J. Newbill (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas) who will form one of the most potent backcourts in the nation. Newbill, a rising junior, earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten honors while finishing fifth in the conference in scoring posting 16.3 ppg last year. Frazier, a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2012 after leading the Big Ten in assists (6.2 apg) and finishing second in scoring (18.8 ppg), received a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA and a fifth season of eligibility after playing in just four games in 2012-13 after suffering an Achilles tendon injury. Rising junior forward Ross Travis (Chaska, Minn.) is the second leading returning rebounder in the Big Ten after finishing fifth in the conference last year (7.4 rpg). He posted double-doubles in three of his last seven games and will join rising sophomore Brandon Taylor (Tabernacle, N.J.), who made 32 threes in his freshman season, to anchor the frontcourt. Penn State posted a 10-21 record, but knocked of No. 4-ranked and eventual NCAA Tournament runner-up Michigan (84-78) in late February in Chambers' second season at the helm.
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