By SAM LANCE
Class of 2025’s No. 102 ranked prospect Mason Blackwood is heading to Penn State, he announced live to 247Sports.
Blackwood — the 6-foot-6, 210-pound wing from New Hampton School (NH) and the City Rocks Nike EYBL AAU program — chose Penn State over his other finalist Rutgers.
“I feel like coach [Mike] Rhoades is just a great guy,” Blackwood said during the announcement. “His word means a lot and when he came to practices, games, he would always reach out to me and my family. And he always stuck to his word so that was always big to me.
Blackwood continued:
“His coaching staff, they are a team over there too. As much as the players are, their coaching staff is a team. Coach [Brent] Scott, coach [Jimmy] Martelli, coach [Jamal] Brunt, those guys all reached out and showed me love. They showed me opportunity and I wanted to take it.”
Blackwood was one of the most consistent players on a City Rocks squad that had an overall record of 14-6 this summer. At Peach Jam, the forward averaged 9.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. He describes himself as a finisher and great catch-and-shoot option.
“And I’m very coachable,” Blackwood previously told ZAGSBLOG. “Just a dog. I’m trying to get after it on the defensive end, offensive end. Just no plays off.”
This is now Rhoades and Penn State’s second commitment in the 2025 class. Blackwood joins three-star center Justin Houser out of The Phelps School. The Nittany Lions are involved with some other 2025 prospects like Kayden Mingo, who officially visited earlier this month.
Blackwood is a huge second addition for the Penn State staff.
“He’s a winner,” Blackwood’s AAU coach Carmen Maciariello told ZAGSBLOG. “He’s a worker. He’s a competitor. Always wanted to lock up the other teams best player. Didn’t care if he scored or not. Just wanted to win.”
Blackwood has some family ties to hoops. His father, Marcus Blackwood, played basketball at Alfred State in Albany.
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