The Inquirer reported today that Daryus Quarles, a Class of 2010 recruit for Your Saint Joe’s Hawks, is not eligible for his upcoming senior season at Paulsboro (N.J.) High because of transfer issues. An appeal is pending, but it’s worth wondering what impact not playing as a senior might have for a player. The Inky’s report can be read here.

Link: Quarles can’t play … in high school [The Inquirer]

The official word is in from North Broad Street: Carmel Bouchman, a 6-9 forward from Israel, has signed a letter of intent and will indeed be eligible to play for Your Temple Owls in the 2009-10 season. He had given Temple a verbal just last week.

SELF-PROMOTION ALERT: The Owls might also land a Philly-area player now that Brett Roseboro of Quakertown High in Bucks County has decided to leave Marquette. The close-to-6-10 Roseboro’s story is a bit of a whirl, but Temple, St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island and Nevada all still want him. He’ll also be eligible this season.

UPDATE: Roseboro has instead signed with St. Bonaventure.

Links: Temple inks Bouchman [Temple University]
Bouchman verbals [BIG FIVE POST]
Roseboro to Temple? [phillyBurbs.com]
Roseboro not going to Temple after all [St. Bonaventure University]
Photo credit: [OwlsDaily.com]

The Oregonian of Portland, Ore., reported late Friday afternoon that Villanova graduate Dante Cunningham has indeed signed a multi-year contract to play for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Without question, Cunningham’s stock soared during his senior season last year, both in how he played in the post and by his ability to extend his offensive game away from the basket to include a short jump-shot. His defensive tenacity, of course, was never in doubt. And after being drafted by the Blazers in the second round, word is he really performed well for their summer league team in Las Vegas.

“We are really excited about the versatility and determination Dante brings to our team,” general manager Kevin Pritchard said in a release, according to the newspaper’s website. “Dante had a great summer league and we believe he has the potential to become a very good player in this league.”

Link: Cunningham’s gonna stay in Portland for a while [The Oregonian]
Photo credit: [The Oregonian]

If you happened to watch last night’s Phillies win over the Diamondbacks down at Citizens Bank Park, you might have noticed that former Saint Joe’s star Jameer Nelson, who currently plays for the NBA’s Orlando Magic, threw out the first pitch and took batting practice, during which he actually hit a home run. We’re not sure if Nelson’s homer is proof of his multi-sport athletic prowess or just another indictment of CBP’s notorious bandbox-like dimensions.

Courtesy of The Fightins, check out the video of Nelson’s big baseball moment.

Your Villanova Wildcats are one of just two schools with a pair of players named as preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award All-America Team and Player of the Year trophy. VUhoops.com has some details, including a link to the ballot of one particular voter who left Fisher off his list. After the jump, the complete alphabetical list of preseason Wooden All-Americas.
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ESPN.com’s Dana O’Neil has written a summer A-10 notebook, and it’s good reading for those of us (ahem) eager to get our fill of where La Salle, Temple and Saint Joe’s stand in the league. After the jump, we offer our thoughts.
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The full schedule is far from complete, but one of Villanova’s Big East games for the upcoming season is already set: On Feb. 27, the ‘Cats will play at Syracuse at 9 p.m., and the setting will also be the site of ESPN’s all-day College GameDay telecast. It’s the first time a ‘Nova game has been a part of the broadcast, and it will be the only 2009-10 Big East men’s game to be so featured. The complete GameDay schedule, plus additional details, can be viewed here.

Link: ‘Nova-Syracuse to be a Game Day tilt [Villanova University]

We mentioned in June that OwlsDaily.com reported Temple was close to landing Israeli forward Carmel Bouchman. Well, now it’s official, according to this report in today’s Daily News. Bouchman has been listed at either 6-8 or 6-9, and the Daily News said “[h]e is considered more of a small forward with very good passing skills who probably needs to add a little bulk to his frame.” Tennessee, Georgetown, Indiana and St. Mary’s were also in pursuit. And if he gets approval from the NCAA Clearinghouse, he could be in uniform on North Broad Street as early as this season.

Links: Israeli coming to Temple? [BIG FIVE POST]
Yes, Israeli coming to Temple [Daily News]

Big news from the Big 5 offices today: Three of the biggest coaching names in the city in recent memory will be inducted into the Big 5 Hall of Fame in 2010: Temple’s John Chaney, Villanova’s Rollie Massimino and La Salle’s Speedy Morris.

UPDATE: Interestingly, both ‘Nova and Temple put out statements today recognizing the honors for Massimino and Chaney, respectively (‘Nova reprinted the Big 5 statement, while Temple wrote one of its own, complete with comments from Chaney). But La Salle, which fired Morris after the 2001 season, did no such thing, though we’re sure you’ll be excited to know that Charleston Classic tickets are on sale.

UPDATE AGAIN: La Salle has indeed put out a statement on Speedy, albeit a day later.

The complete text of the Big 5’s statement is after the jump.
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The Explorers, already excited about the arrival of Aaric Murray this fall, added another big man — this time from the Class of 2010 — when Washington Twp. (N.J.)’s Matt Lopez gave a verbal commitment on Friday.

According to various reports, Lopez is pretty raw. The Inquirer said UNC-Greensboro, James Madison, William and Mary, Buffalo, Old Dominion, Lehigh, Delaware and New Hampshire were among his other suitors. The Northstar Basketball Blog quotes Lopez as saying he regularly works out with “overseas pros.” And NJ.com quotes his high school coach calling him “a work in progress.” From the looks of things, Lopez might redshirt to continue his development.

Now, while it might be easy to sneer at La Salle for getting a kid mostly being recruited by schools from inferior conferences, it’s important to keep in mind that big men have long been in short supply at 20th and Olney. John Giannini has got to start somewhere, and it looks like he’s finally doing that.

Oh, and a hat tip to reader Dan for the heads-up.

Link: Lopez coming to 20th and Olney [The Inquirer]
An interview with Matt Lopez [Northstar Basketball Blog]
More on Lopez [NJ.com]