City of Basketball Love

Austin Lederman (@AustinLederman)
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Two City 6 schools received 2017 verbal commitments in the past 24 hours.

Anthony Longpre, a 6-foot-9, 215 pound forward from Ellicott City, Md., announced Tuesday night on his Twitter that he will be suiting up for Saint Joseph’s for the 2017-18 season.

“After carefully considering my options, I have decided that Saint Joseph’s University is the best decision for both my academic and athletic future,” Longpre said in his Tweet.

St. Joe’s has long coveted the Canadian native, whose game most likens to a pick-and-pop big man at the collegiate level.

Longpre is the second 2017 commit for Phil Martelli, the other being 6-foot-8 forward Taylor Funk. The two will be joining a busy frontcourt, with seven forwards likely to return in the 2017-18 season, led by would-be senior James Demery. Barring a transfer, this also means SJU is out of scholarships for next year.

St. Joe’s is coming off an NCAA Tournament run that ended in the second round in a hard-fought 69-64 loss to top seed Oregon. Replacing the all-around production of current Atlanta Hawk DeAndre Bembry and scoring and rebounding prowess of Isaiah Miles will be at the top of the list of storylines for the Hawks this year.

On Wednesday night, Temple landed a verbal commitment from 3-star forward JP Moorman. The 6-foot-7, 209 pound Greensboro, N.C. native plays for Greensboro day School and has previously hit the summer circuit with the prestigious CP3 All-Stars AAU team.

Moorman gives head coach Fran Dunphy another swingman capable of playing multiple positions, similar to current sophomore Trey Lowe. The talented Moorman is likely to see the court early in his career.

The senior’s pledge comes just over two weeks after point guard Nathaniel-Pierre Louis chose to commit to head coach Fran Dunphy. The two will join a young, albeit talented perimeter group that includes Lowe and fellow sophomore Levan Alston Jr., as well as redshirt freshman Ayan Nunez de Carvalho and freshmen Alani Moore and Quinton Rose.

The Owls will try to get back to the NCAA Tournament again this year, after losing in the first round 72-70 to 7-seed Iowa in overtime on a buzzer-beating putback.

Temple still has two scholarships available for the 2017 class.