City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@jsantoliquito)
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Gabe Tanner found the palm trees, and the cozy, comfortable climate a little too enticing. The 6-foot-4 Perkiomen School senior guard found it more conducive for what he was looking for as a college destination by the number of local Philadelphia-area players on the roster, and with the guy who was running everything at Florida Gulf Coast University, Pat Chambers, the former star at Episcopal Academy and Philadelphia University (now Thomas Jefferson).

On Friday while visiting the Division I school in Fort Myers, Florida, Tanner gave an oral commitment to Chambers that he will attend FGCU next fall and made it public on Monday on social media.

Tanner chose FGCU over Temple and George Washington.  

“I would say Temple was second to FGCU and it was very, very close,” said Tanner, who will be a three-year starter for the Panthers after reclassifying his sophomore year from Mid Valley High School, in Throop, Pa. “During my visit down there (at FGCU), everyone treated my family like family. It really felt like home when I was there. They showed that they want each player the best person that they can be.

"Coach Chambers cares about life after basketball. It really felt like home when I was there. The weather and how great that is down there definitely helped in my decision. Coach Chambers has these five pillars of excellence that he goes by, and I like that. He does not take anything from anyone.

“I loved everything about it. I saw a practice and I liked what they did. They play fast. I like that.”

Tanner is coming off a junior season in which he averaged 13 points and five assists a game, according to Perkiomen School first-year coach Harry Morra, a former long-time assistant coach for 10 years under Lehigh’s legendary coach Dr. Brett Reed. Morra could not be happier for his starting guard.

“This is a great situation for Gabe,” Morra said. “The reason why Gabe came to Perkiomen was to play Division I basketball and coach Chamber and coach (Kyle) Griffin did a great job of making Gabe feel like family. Gabe has a huge weight off his shoulders and is excited to play for Florida Gulf Coast next year. The last two years everyone in the area knows Gabe has been a relatively high-profile player. Gabe has had that burden the last two years to narrow his list.

“He got calls from Power 5 conferences, and it reached a point where a couple of Philly-area schools were interested. Gabe’s priority was to find a place that would develop him as a player and Florida Gulf Coast did a fantastic job of connecting with him and making him believe they would value him as a freshman and sophomore. There are also a lot of Philadelphia connections at Florida Gulf Coast and that was a big deal, too, to Gabe. You want Gabe to play loose and have that peace of mind.”

Perkiomen School returns three starters in Tanner, 6-5 senior guard KJ Cochran, the Panthers’ leading scorer averaging 17 points a game, and 6-5 senior wing Hayden Johns from Canada that finished 29-7 overall last season. The Panthers will also welcome Marist-bound 6-8 center Jordan Gabriel. Perkiomen School won its second-straight PAISAA state championship (Pennsylvania Athletic Independent Schools Athletic Association). Between Cochran and Tanner, Morra said he may rotate them in the backcourt between the point and shooting guard spots and frequently play three guards.

FGCU currently has eight local players on its roster: Rahmir Barno (Imhotep Charter), Brandon Dwyer (La Salle), Tristen Guillouette (Sr. Joe’s Prep/George School), Jevin Muniz (Executive Education/Delaware State), Xavier Pina (Peddie School), Blaise Vespe (Neumann-Goretti), Darren Williams (Archbishop Ryan), and finally, Keeshawn Kellman (Perkiomen School). The Eagles finished 14-18 overall and tie for sixth in the Atlantic Sun Conference with an 8-8 record in Chambers’ second season there.

Over the summer, Tanner wanted to work on his ball security and attacking the rim. Tanner said Chambers has projected him to play any one position, though sees him as a combo guard.  He also wanted to work on making his shot more consistent.

“It helped a lot being far away from home, yet feeling like home because all those people are from the same area as I am,” Tanner said. “Knowing where I am going is just a relief. I can go out and play. I was really stressed out a little bit during the recruiting process with my phone blowing up. Making the decision, and knowing where I am going, I can have a lot more fun. I’m playing now to get another state championship.   

“I think we have a really good chance this year of making another run in (the PAISAA) and have a really good chance to threepeat. Going to FGCU makes me feel like I’m going home.”

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Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.