NM

Welp, looks like another scholly for 2021 is open. Good luck NPL.

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Here's the list of Preferred Walk-ons for the Class of 2020 that I've been able to confirm have enrolled at Temple. I'll add any more I come across.

William Leyland - K/P Souderton (PA) - Likely will start off as a punter for Temple. Averaged 39.3 yards per punt for Souderton last year. Was named First Team All State on PFN's Coaches Select team. Also was selected to the Big 33 Classic, which was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Rory Bell - K/P Wilmington (OH) - First Team All Region by a number of outlets at the punter position but will likely start off at kicker for Temple. Has posted videos on twitter showing FG range out to 65 yards off a tee. Rated as the No. 2 kicker by former NIU/Cincinnati kicker Andrew Gantz's Game Winner Kicking service. Named National Kicker of the Week by First Star Football Report after posting a Week 5 line of 4/4 XPs, 1/1 FG (41 yards) and 6/6 touchbacks.

Mariano Valenti - QB St. Thomas Aquinas (FL)/NIU - Transfer quarterback from NIU, where he was on scholarship. Originally committed to Rod Carey's program over a handful of other MAC offers. 2-star recruit by Rivals. Bit of an interesting high school career, as Valenti was a 2x All-Conference QB in Michigan before transferring to St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida, where he was a backup.

Magnus Leon Geers - TE La Salle College (PA)/Switzerland - Originally from Switzerland, Geers came stateside to play for LaSalle his senior year. Chose Temple over walk-on interest from Syracuse.

Mathenge Mwangi - DB Haverford School (PA) - Played wide receiver and cornerback alongside Temple signee Daiyaan Hawkins at The Haverford School.

Samir Gardner - DB Haverford School (PA) - Played running back and safety for Haverford school, alongside Hawkins and Mwangi. Likely a safety at Temple.

Kamal Gray - QB Pope John Paul II (PA) - Threw for 2,744 yards, 38 touchdowns and just eight interceptions as a senior for PJPII. Also ran for 620 yards and seven touchdowns. Son of Kamal Gray of The Roots.

Athletics attract revenue to universities in ways that are inadequately -- if at all -- measured by traditional accounting techniques. Here is an interesting looksee into the cutting that has begun in this plague year.

https://apnews.com/1c7202d94f1e4e64353b75920dda9dd3

Without having a thorough analysis, this observation resonates with me: “There is a ton of fat to cut before you get to dropping teams,” he (Ohio U. sports administration professor Ridpath ) said.

Ridpath said he would start with football, suggesting there are too many coaches and staff members on D-I teams. He also said there should be more regional scheduling for all sports to save travel costs ...

We're talking soon (12:30 p.m. EST) to Quincy Ademokoya and Jeremiah Williams in a Zoom call, and we'll have that full interview available for subscribers later today. If you have a mailbag question for them (we'll play a small excerpt of this in the podcast, but the full conversation will only be for subscribers), please post it here and we'll try to get to a few in the interview.

Thanks!

We’re recording this week’s episode of The Scoop tomorrow afternoon, so please post your mailbag questions here if you have them. We’ll be talking about recruiting, roster projections and more, and we’ll take questions up until 1:30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.

Thank you for listening!

We're recording this week's episode of The Scoop tomorrow afternoon and will be taking mailbag questions up until 1:30 p.m. As with basketball, we'll talk about recruiting, the roster and more, so if you have mailbag questions, please post them here and we'll get to as many as we can.

Thanks so much for listening!

I'm really tired reading article after article on Penn State football and virtually nothing about TU. The Inky hypes all their recruits and continually talks about returning players. Aren't we supposed to be Philly's team?

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http://verbalcommits.com/players/justin-neely

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/high-school/article238598768.html

In case you're catching up, it's been a busy week for the Owls with three verbal commitments - two from the 2021 class in 3-star Highland High School running back Johnny Martin III and Gonzaga College High School corner Jalen McMurray, and Iowa State transfer quarterback Re-Al Mitchell.

@SamNeumann spoke to Mitchell and McMurray in stories you can read on the front page or linked here, and @TomIgnudo talked to Martin, who became Temple's highest-rated recruit so far in the 2021 class.

So with five players committed from the 2021 class, Temple has done well in getting started in some obviously important recruiting territory. The Owls have a commitment from St. Joe's Prep athlete and one of the best players in Philly in Malik Cooper and got a player from the DMV in McMurray who chose Temple over multiple Power 5 offers. Martin, who also chose the Owls over multiple Power 5 options, is ranked by Rivals as the 9th-best player in New Jersey and the nation's No. 27 overall running back in the 2021 class. In landing Auburndale High School safety Malichi Lowery, they reached into Florida to get a player who also had multiple Power 5 offers (Iowa State, Vanderbilt), and they have what could be their eventual quarterback of the future in Justin Lynch out of a state championship program in Chicago.

And some of you naturally wondered what kind of impact former St. Joe's Prep coach Gabe Infante would have on the recruiting front once he joined the Temple staff prior to last season. In being mentioned as the lead recruiter for two of these five players so far in Cooper and Martin, it looks like he's getting warmed up.

If and when the NCAA permits in-person visits, I think we're in for an eventful recruiting cycle, as you all might imagine. Without camps and with staffs not getting the tangible opportunity to evaluate in those settings this summer, you could see some good players get dropped by high-major programs with elite options who look at a kid's senior film three or four weeks into the fall and find it's not quite to their liking. Temple could potentially benefit from that, and it's always possible that they could lose a very good commit to another program as they have in the past, but I think it also explains why they've been judicious about who they've taken so far.

Per a source, Iowa State quarterback Re-Al Mitchell has committed to Temple. Mitchell was originally a 3-star recruit coming out of California in 2018. At the time, Mitchell chose Iowa State over Arizona, Illinois, Kansas State and Rutgers. Mitchell was featured on the Reality TV Show: QB1.

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At Iowa State, Mitchell showed some of his dual threat ability. Last season, Mitchell completed 2-of-4 passes for 14 yards and a touchdown but also rushed 11 times for 100 yards and a touchdown as the backup quarterback.

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If Mitchell has to sit out, he'll have two years of eligibility remaining. If Mitchell ends up being immediately eligible, he'll have three years to play three seasons.

I need a small assist that I think you can help me with ... please email me ... bellfly@juno.com
Thanks,
MarkBell

Hope it's a good one despite the circumstances. Go Owls!

Did anyone notice the Eddie Jones "Jordan Brand" billboard in the last dance. Not sure if it was episode 9 or 10. We need more talents like him to breakthrough again. That type of marketing would do wonders for the program. Aaron get it done!!

Per Noles247, CJ Perez is transferring to Temple. Perez played for Rod Carey at NIU and started 20 games over the last two seasons, including 11 games at LG for Carey's 2018 MAC Championship team and nine games at center this last season.

Prior to NIU, Perez was a First Team All-American at Butler Community College in 2017.

Perez was offered by Florida State as a transfer earlier today. Instead, Perez decided to reunite with Carey and OL coach Joe Tripodi.

Assuming there’ll be basketball next fall who do you guys think will be Temples leading scorer?
I think It’ll be one the first years guys and I’ll go with Jahlil White or maybe Battle if he’s eligible.

It was either this or start drinking at 10am. Would it be interesting to discuss who are the top 20 Owls of the last 20 years? I made my list and I went out to 30 figuring it would further seed debate.

1. Khalif Wyatt 2009-2013 - Capable of carrying an entire team to NCAA tournament victories. Incredible clutch genes. Member of 4 NCAA tournament teams. Averaged 20.5 ppg as a senior. Maybe the most fun to watch of any player on this list. Won A-10 sixth man award as a soph. Named 2nd team all conf as a junior. Named first team all conf, A-10 POY, and Big 5 POY as a senior.

2. Lynn Greer - 1997-2002 - It was either Wyatt or Greer #1 on this list. The only 2 players of the last 20 years that could single handedly bend a postseason game in Temple's favor at their will. Greer averaged 23.2 ppg as a senior. He played on 4 NCAA tournament teams including two Elite 8 runs. He is Temple's 2nd all time leading scorer. He dropped 47 in a game at Wisconsin. He scored 36 pts including a game winning 3 to beat Jameer & Delonte at the Palestra in 2002 in one of the most classic Big 5 Palestra games all time. But Greer failed to reach the NCAA tournament as a senior and was not the most shiny player on any other NCAA tournament teams. Hence, the nod to Khalif.

3. Lavoy Allen
4. Dionte Christmas
5. David Hawkins
6. Mardy Collins
7. Quincy Wadley
8. Shizz Alston
9. Ramone Moore
10. Quinton Rose
11. Will Cummings
12. Kevin Lyde
13. Mark Tyndale
14. Quinton Decosey
15. Juan Fernandez
16. Rahlir Hollis Jefferson
17. Obi Enechionyia
18. Ryan Brooks
19. Alex Wesby
20. Nate Pierre Louis
21. Jaylen Bond
22. Dustin Salisbery
23. Brian Polk
24. Michael Eric
25. Antwayne Robinson
26. Anthony Lee
27. Dalton Pepper
28. Daniel Dingle
29. Josh Brown
30. Scootie Randall

We will have a story later up on the site on Andrew Garwo (Class of 2021 Cornerback). He is releasing his top-five later today and it's expected that Temple will be on the list. Garwo's other offers include Boston College, Central Michigan, Colorado State and Buffalo.

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A source familiar with Garwo's recruitment informed me that Boston College stopped recruiting him and he is "not a take anymore." BC filled up at cornerback, getting six commitments in 10 days, including a class of 2022 commit.