Classic showcases Temple recruits

The Temple News talked with two of the men’s basketball team’s 2012 recruits, Daniel Dingle and Quenton DeCosey, and one of its 2013 recruits, Josh Brown, at the Mary Kline Classic in Pennington, N.J. on Saturday.

Dingle, a senior at St. Raymond’s High School in Queens, N.Y., DeCosey, a senior at St. Joseph’s High School in Metuchen, N.J., and Brown, a junior at St. Anthony’s High school in Jersey City, N.J., all committed to Temple in Fall 2011. The three recruits talked about competing against each other prior to becoming teammates, Temple’s all-sports entry into the Big East and what they liked about coach Fran Dunphy’s recruiting style.

“[Dunphy] let me know straightforward, ‘You might play, you might not play. It’s up to you. You determine your own future with how hard you work. I’m not going to promise you a starting spot. I’m not going to promise you any minutes,’” Dingle said. “I really liked that because if he had promised me that, and I went into that situation and not played, I would have been disappointed. I liked that he told me the truth. Guys who say you’re going to play a lot of minutes, that’s just to get you there, that’s just the bait. He kept it real with me.”

Dingle is a 6-foot-6-inch small forward at St. Raymond’s. He led the Ravens to their first Catholic High School Athletic Association Class AA intersectional title since 2004 in March 2012 and was named the All-Bronx boys basketball Player of the Year by the New York Post. He said players who have succeeded in Dunphy’s system have to earn starting roles as upperclassmen.

“Some top programs that don’t have a lot of one-and-done guys they’ll tell you the honest truth,” Dingle said. “‘You have to work hard. You might not play freshman year. You might not play sophomore year. But junior and senior year, that team might be yours.’ It’s like Ramone Moore, guys like him.”

DeCosey is listed as a 6-foot-5-inch small forward from Metuchen, N.J., but calls himself a “slasher.” Ranked as a three-star prospect by Rivals.com, DeCosey said he was attracted to Temple because of Dunphy’s straightforward recruiting approach.

“It was very genuine,” DeCosey said.”[Dunphy] didn’t promise you anything, he just let you know how it was going to be, that you were going to have to work hard for your minutes, and I like that.”

Brown, a 6-foot-3-inch point guard, plays for coach Bob Hurley on a loaded St. Anthony’s team. Brown was the teammate of Kyle Anderson, Rivals’ No. 3 prospect in the country, this year. Brown said he expects Dunphy to continue to work him like Hurley has.

“All the guys showed me a lot of love,” Brown said. “When I went on my visit, I met [Dunphy] and he’s a great guy. He tells you what to expect, he doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He expects us to go hard and that’s what I like about him.”

Dingle, DeCosey and Brown all played in the iS8/Nike Spring HS Classic in Queens, N.Y. on Friday night before taking the floor at the Mary Kline Classic on Saturday. DeCosey and Dingle competed against and guarded each other for most of the night.

“Me and [DeCosey] went at it,” Dingle said. “It was fun, we actually guarded each other for most of the game. I played a lot of point, he played the two or three. He showed me his skills. He knocked down threes in the crunch time. I didn’t know he could shoot like that. He played well, I played solid also. We both went at it.”

“They were hyping it up that we were competing for playing time at Temple, but we just look at it as bonding and having fun with each other,” Dingle added. “That’s what we’re going to do at practice is compete against one another.”

Dingle and DeCosey got to work on their chemistry in the senior game of the Mary Kline Classic, an event that raised $20,000 for cancer donations, on Saturday. Brown scored 16 points, unofficially, in the underclassmen game. The event was started by high-school student and college basketball recruiting guru, Alex Kline, whose mother passed away from cancer.

“It was great playing with a lot of great players,” Brown said. “It was a great experience, coming out in support of Alex Kline’s mother and donating to cancer. It was great.”

While all three recruits committed to Temple prior to their all-sports entry into the Big East, effective 2013, they said the news came as somewhat of an added luxury.

“I found out through Twitter, actually,” Dingle said. “I was like, this is about to get real. The first thing I thought was, ‘Is [redshirt-freshman forward] Anthony Lee in the weight room?’ He’s strong, but I don’t know about Big East strong. Coach is doing a great job of going and getting some great kids.”

“My reaction was if we go, it’s going to be a good thing, if we don’t, it doesn’t matter,” DeCosey said. “Temple always dominates the [Atlantic Ten Conference] and goes to the tournament, so I was too worried if we stayed or not.”

Brown expressed a similar idea as DeCosey, that Temple’s Big East entry wouldn’t have affected his decision.

“It’s great that a lot of guys are saying, ‘Big East bound,’ but I’m just happy that I’m playing for Temple University,” Brown said. “It’s great. I’m overwhelmed.”

Dingle and DeCosey join Devontae Watson (Midland, Pa.) in Temple’s 2012 class. Brown is the lone 2013 recruit as of yet.

Joey Cranney can be reached at joseph.cranney@temple.edu.