Dylan Painter, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound power forward from Hershey (PA) High School, enjoyed his official visit to Villanova this week and will next gear up for an official to Penn State next month.
“It was pretty good, I really enjoyed it,” Painter told SNY.tv of his Villanova trip. “It was very informative, I learned a lot about the program and I had a good time with the players and the staff.”
Painter knows incoming Villanova guard Donte DiVincenzo through the Team Final AAU program. He is being recruited by assistant coach Baker Dunleavy.
“I met a couple of the guys this weekend,” he said of the Villanova players.
Painter likes how Villanova head man Jay Wright would utilize him.
“They said they only like playing versatile forwards,” Painter said. “They usually don’t play a true center so they would really help me develop my perimeter skills and help me get my 3-point shot even better than it is. So I can use either the catch-and-shoot 3, or the ball fake and drive by. They would help me be a much better perimeter player than I am now.”
Painter is also considering Xavier, Penn State, St. Joe’s, Rhode Island, George Washington and N.C. State, but only has the official visit to Penn State set for Sept 12.
He has already been to Xavier officially and GW and St. Joe’s unofficially.
“I don’t really know yet [about other visits], we’ll see what happens,” he said.
Painter enjoyed his official to Xavier in June as well.
“The staff is really honest,” he said of head coach Chris Mack and his crew. “I like the staff and I like how they play. They play through their big guys which gives me a lot of opportunity to make plays, whether it’s me scoring or setting up my teammates.”
As for Penn State, it’s about an hour and a half from his home, as is Villanova.
“I really like Coach [Pat] Chambers,” Painter said. “I think he’s a really cool guy. Non-basketball-wise, I like the school itself. I’ve been going there for years even before I started playing basketball.”
Proximity to home could factor into his decision.
“That’s definitely a big plus, but if not I guess I guess I’ll go far away from home,” he said. “But it’s definitely a big plus.”
