5 Reasons Recruits Should Pick Temple

There is no place  you can feel the college spirit like Temple University.

When Raheem Blackshear flipped his commitment from Temple to Michigan State, the first thought to occur to me was wondering if he had a chance to sit down and talk with fellow Bucks County high school superstars Colin Thompson and Jake O’Donnell.

Both Thompson, who is from the same high school as Blackshear (Archbishop Wood) and O’Donnell, who is from nearby Central Bucks East, were blinded by the big-time program allure and committed to the University of Florida and the University of Miami, respectively.

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If Blackshear had a chance to speak with those two, they no doubt would have told them that, while their experiences at Florida and Miami were nice, looking for those Acres of Diamonds in far-away places proved to be elusive.

They found them in their own backyards at Temple, where they both went out as champions of the American Athletic Conference where ALL (and not just some) of their family members could see them play in person.

Both have prestigious Temple degrees and already are networking with Temple alumni which set them up for a great future in the town where they will conduct their business.

Those are just a couple of sensible reasons to look for Acres of Diamond in your own backyard. Here are five others:

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5—Great Education

Temple is the sixth-largest educator of professionals in the United States and its Fox Business School is ranked among the best in the nation. More than 90 percent of the players in all of college football never make it to the pros (that includes CFL and Arena Football), so having a respected sheepskin to fall back on is a big plus and Temple has that respect.

4—Championships

The football Owls have won the last two AAC East titles and capped that with an overall championship this year. They have had two consecutive 10-win seasons and appear poised for a nice run of more double-digit win seasons.

3—The League

Current Temple players in the NFL include Muhammad Wilkerson  and Robby Anderson of the Jets, Brandon McManus of the Broncos, Tahir Whitehead of the Lions, Rod Streeter of the 49ers, Tavon Young of the Ravens, Matt Ioannidis of the Redskins and Tyler Matakevich of the Steelers. Soon to be joining them are Dion Dawkins, Nate Hairston and Haason Reddick, among others. If you make an impact in a large television market like Philadelphia, you will get a chance to make millions in the league. That league is the ultimate goal, though, made possible because the AAC is a great league with wins over Oklahoma, Louisville, Penn State, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Florida State, among others, in the short span of the last two years. Temple is the champion of that great league.

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2—Television

All of the Owls’ games are on national television so, while they are outside the Power 5, their status as the No. 1 team in the nation’s fourth-largest media market assures plenty of TV eyeballs for every game.

1—Family

Temple and Philadelphia is right in the center of a geographical area that includes 46 percent of the nation’s population, meaning a home game is within a manageable day’s drive for any recruit from Boston to the north to the North Carolina border. Family to Temple means more than geography, though. It means a strong bonding between the family of the players who are here and the family of fans who have been here. The players and coaches may come and go but the friendships remain forever.

I know I will always remain friends with the family of our last bowl-winning quarterback, Chris Coyer, and I cherish the friendships I have with the family of Adrian and Averee Robinson and so many other ex-Temple players.

That’s part of the reason why we call this Temple Football Forever.

If you have any other good reasons for recruits to pick Temple, please add them in the comments below.

Sunday: Five Reasons To Get Fired Up About Coach Collins

Tuesday: Bracing For Impact

Thursday: An Honest Evaluation of This Class

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7 thoughts on “5 Reasons Recruits Should Pick Temple

  1. What about Tavon Young with the Ravens?

  2. Tahir Whitehead had himself a decent season, though he’s likely to end up on another roster next season.

  3. Reddick n Dawkins r impressing pro scouts at senior bowl practices per Inquirer. I think Dawkins was 2 star recruit that flourished at TU. These guys were good players that were needed and got to play. Similar kids get recruited to a P5 school and may never get chance to play or get moved to another position were they can be developed. In short, much less chance of a potentially good player being overlooked or marginalized at Temple. It’s sort of career management that these kids need to understand.

  4. All of the above doesn’t matter to most kids because TU isn’t even respected by most of its alums and because the stadium is usually 50 to 60 percent empty, it’s hard to create enthusiasm. If the alums cared, they would get 40 thou a game. Last season, after the Army loss, the student section was not completely filled for any of the rest of the games. Moreover, with schools able to provide athletes with cost of attendance, the Owls will always be trying to catch up. The cost of attendance allowance families to travel to see the games. I honestly don’t know what the answer is and really wonder if Collins will be able to recruit effectively.

  5. Didn’t want to post this on other more optimistic segments Mike’s done. But here it is. The two following the old coach to Baylor may regret their choice. With this smoke happening, NCAA will no doubt be forced to impose sanctions of some level on the program.

    http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/baylor-new-lawsuit-alleges-52-rapes-by-31-baylor-football-players-in-4-years-012717?cmpid=nl_mb_edition_01292017

    http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/report_baylor_accused_of_paying_students_tuition_to_keep_quiet_about_rape/s1_127_23075485?mb_edition=20170128

    Would think the old coach would have thought about what was laying in the weeds there a bit longer than jumping at the first offer after deferring on the Mizzou job a year earlier.

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