By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
Scranton High School senior Jason Shields gave his commitment Friday to a full basketball scholarship from Jefferson University, a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II school in Philadelphia.
The decision by Shields ended a recruiting process for Shields that extended from the high school preseason, through his senior season with the Knights and beyond.
Shields visited Virginia Military Institute and the College of Staten Island between the end of his 2021 AAU basketball season with the NEPA Elite Coyle 17U team and the start of his senior season in high school. Since the Knights ended their season in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state Class 6A quarterfinals, Shields received offers from and made visits to Division II in-state schools Kutztown University, Jefferson and East Stroudsburg University.
Jefferson, which first contacted Shields following the second-round PIAA tournament win over Garnet Valley, wound up being the choice.
“I think it was just the best fit for me in terms of basketball and the school in general,” said Shields, who is undecided on a major.
The two-time Lackawanna League Division 1 Player of the Year and all-District 2, first-team selection by NEPABasketball.com averaged 21.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game as a senior. Shields hit 2.5 times per game from 3-point range and shot 70 percent from the line.
The 6-foot-5 Shields finished third in school history with 1,334 points, including a school-record 43 in the District 2-4 Class 6A Subregional finals against Wilkes-Barre Area with the help of 10 made 3-pointers, another school record.
Jefferson went 21-6, including 16-2 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference during the 2021-22 season.
