City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Saint Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli picked up his third commitment in the last month as Manheim Central (Pa.) forward Taylor Funk verbally pledged to head to the City Avenue institution next fall on Thursday night.

Funk, a 6-foot-8, 205-pound combo forward, is the first member of SJU's incoming Class of 2017. As a junior at Manheim Central, he averaged 21.3 ppg and was a PIAA Class AAA third team all-state selection by the state's high school media.

Two Illinois products, Nick Robinson (Kenwood) and Lorenzo Edwards (Lake Forest), joined the Hawks' incoming 2016 class over the last few weeks.

Playing with the Jersey Shore Warriors on the AAU circuit, Funk had gathered in offers from SJU, George Mason, La Salle, Rider, Boston University and Monmouth. A face-up forward with a smooth shooting stroke, Funk was starting to hear from high-major programs who were intrigued by his ability and potential as well as his ability to knock down the 3-point shot.

But he decided to stick with the only school he'd taken an official visit to (back on April 26), committing to a program that's coming off a 28-win season and its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years.

"St. Joe's just felt right," he told CoBL by text on Thursday night. "It felt like home when I took my visit."

Funk is the first Jersey Shore player to head to Hawk Hill since former sharpshooter Pat Carroll knocked down 294 3-pointers between 2001-05, winning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year as a senior.

Martelli and his staff have done well with big men who can stretch the floor over his two decades at the Big 5 program. Most recently, big men like Isaiah Miles, Halil Kanacevic and Papa Ndao have all been huge pluses to the Hawk offense with their shooting skills, and freshman Pierfrancesco Oliva look like he will continue that string as well.

CoBL will have more on this story shortly

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(More on Funk: Check out his CoBL Recruiting Profile)

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We spoke with Funk on Friday afternoon about his commitment:

CoBL: When did you know that St. Joe’s was the right fit for you?

TF: "Once I got there, everyone was so nice. Coaches were amazing, the teammates, right away, they all came up, shook my hand, introduced themselves, they just made me feel at home. It couldn’t have been a better experience.”

CoBL: Was there one thing in particular you were looking for in a school?

TF: “No, I wouldn’t say that. I’d say there was multiple things, actually: distance-wise [it was a good fit], I don’t think the size of the school mattered much, but I wanted to play for a team that plays team basketball and Coach Martelli preaches that. You can watch interviews on YouTube and the guys are even saying there’s not one selfish kid on their team, and if there was he’d mess up the whole team chemistry. And they just don’t have that, and that’s perfect, that’s how you win games, playing unselfish. There’s no negatives about that school, or there is no negative about that school.”

CoBL: They’ve had success with big men who can shoot, is that something that appealed to you about them?

TF: “Most definitely, every coach that’s ever talked to me said you will have the green light to shoot. A lot of coaches said if you don’t shoot the ball you’re going to be sitting on the bench. So it’s always good to hear that, coming from your coach. Obviously don’t take dumb shots, make the extra pass, but if you’re open you have to shoot it.”

Right. But was their specific history with big men something that appealed to you?

TF: “I just think the more they talked to me, the better I felt about coming there, and how [Martelli] was going to use me. Everything just fit perfectly and honestly I didn’t think I was going to commit this early but I didn’t want to lose this one.”

Was there a specific reason that you committed at this point?

TF: “I just thought it was the right timing. Even if bigger schools would have come along, I don’t think I would have been interested. I like the A-10, I’m excited to play in it, so here we go.”

CoBL: For how long have you watched St. Joe’s? Did you watch the Jameer Nelson teams?

TF: “No. I haven’t watched them much in the past, obviously this year I’ve been following them a lot. But not before that, not very much.”

CoBL: So now that you’ve gotten your commitment out of the way, what do you want to work on/improve upon over the next 13-14 months before you get to campus?

TF: “Most definitely get stronger, i want to put on at least 15 pounds. When I went there, I scrimmaged with the guys and they’re 23, 24-year-old men [...] AAU, almost my whole team has D-I offers but they’re not in college yet, and it’s just crazy, just the look, their appearance. When we were scrimmaging, I was guarding Isaiah Miles and that guy, he’s crazy. He’s huge.” *laughs*

CoBL: You talked about the team/coaches, was there anything else about the school or area jump out at you?

TF: “I liked that part of Philadelphia, it’s not in the city but you’re close enough to get the city atmosphere. I liked that a lot. You don’t have as much city noise, I think it’s at a perfect location.”