OwlScoop.com - The Scoop

This week's podcast includes part of our interview with former Temple basketball star Dionte Christmas.

Christmas, who scored 2,043 points in his Temple career and went on to a pro career that included a stint in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns, talked to John DiCarlo, Sam Cohn and Javon Edmonds about his early days of playing basketball, his new coaching career, his opinion of our recent OwlScoop.com Temple all-time fantasy basketball draft and why he's very excited about Aaron McKie's current Owls' squad. 

We also have preseason football camp updates for you, too, including updates on the running back position battle and the cornerbacks, as well as updates on Temple's two newest verbal commitments from the 2023 class. 

In the first episode of our eighth season, John DiCarlo, Kyle Gauss, Javon Edmonds and Sam Cohn talked more about OwlScoop.com's all-time Temple fantasy basketball draft and tournament, with special appearances from Sam Neumann and Varun Kumar. John and Kyle are squaring off in the finals, with Twitter votes determining the champion. We talked more about the process behind the draft and how our staff drafted its teams. 

And with first-year Temple football coach Stan Drayton kicking off his first preseason camp with the Owls, we talked more about the roster and position battles and have audio from Drayton and right tackle Adam Klein, as well as answers to all of our listeners' mailbag questions. 

This week's episode of The Scoop includes a portion of OwlScoop.com's interview with Temple assistant basketball coach Jimmy Fenerty, who talked about the Owls' NCAA Tournament aspirations, two of Temple's newest transfer portal additions in Shane Dezonie and Taj Thweatt, and much more. 

The full interview with Fenerty, who is entering his fourth season on head coach Aaron McKie's staff, will be available to OwlScoop.com subscribers this week. 

And with preseason camp set to kick off next week, we took a closer look at first-year head football coach Stan Drayton's roster and what fans can expect with position battles and what would constitute a successful season for the Owls. 

A packed episode of The Scoop includes audio from Temple's two newest class of 2023 football verbal commitments, offensive linemen Cole Skinner and Luke Watson. And on the basketball recruiting front, West Catholic head coach Miguel Bocachica offered a scouting report of his best player, first-team All-Philadelphia Catholic League small forward Zion Stanford, who picked up a Temple offer last month. 

We also talked about former Temple guard Nate Pierre-Louis' recent NBA Summer League success, previewed our upcoming OwlScoop.com all-time Temple basketball fantasy draft, and paid tribute to OwlScoop.com Editor John DiCarlo's father, who passed away last week after a long battle with cancer. 

Temple basketball received a big commitment from Vanderbilt transfer Shane Dezonie this week while the football team is in the midst of a recruiting hot streak. The OwlScoop.com staff discusses the impact of Dezonie's addition, the recent offer to West Catholic's Zion Stanford, how the football recruiting class is shaping up and more in this week's episode of The Scoop.

Another packed episode of OwlScoop.com's podcast will get you caught up on the latest Temple football and basketball news. 

We'll bring you up to speed on Temple's six football verbal commitments from the 2023 class, including the three newest verbals in Harrisburg High School running back Kyle Williams, Miami Jackson High School cornerback Kaleb Barnett and Hun School wide receiver Preston Everhart, and we have a clip of Williams' interview with OwlScoop.com.

On the basketball recruiting front, Sam Cohn offered his evaluations of Neumann Goretti High School basketball guards Robert Wright and Khaafiq Myers, St. Joe's Prep guard Jaron McKie (son of Temple head coach Aaron McKie), Roman Catholic High School forward Shareef Jackson (son of former Temple star and NBA center Marc Jackson) and Archbishop Ryan center Thomas Sorber.

Plus, Sam caught up with former Temple basketball star Shizz Alston Jr. about his pro career overseas and his thoughts on the current Temple roster. 

0:00 - 11:15 - Intro

11:15 - Updates on Temple's six verbal commitments from the 2023 class

19:23 - Audio from Kyle Williams

21:25 - Sam's evaluations from Philly Live

29:50 - Sam's Shizz Alston update

38:30 - Audio from Shizz Alston

41:19 - Mailbag 

Elite High School Scouting Owner and Scouting Director Ari Rosenfeld joined The Scoop this week to talk about the Owls' roster, some of the best high school recruits in the area and much more.

Rosenfeld, who has been scouting players in the region and the country for close to 10 years, talked about current Temple players like Hysier Miller, Zach Hicks and Jahlil White and explained why he still feels the Owls could have a pair of future pros in the program in players like Hicks and White. 

Rosenfeld also offered detailed scouting reports on a pair of legacy recruits from the 2025 class in St. Joe's Prep guard Jaron McKie, the son of Owls head coach and former 76er Aaron McKie, and Sharif Jackson, the son of former Temple center and NBA big man Marc Jackson.

Ari also explained why Temple fans might want to keep their eye out for another local legacy recruit who's picking up some momentum in the 2024 class.

All that, plus more football recruiting updates and answers to a full mailbag.

 

A packed episode of OwlScoop.com's podcast includes audio from our interview with Temple first-year head football coach Stan Drayton, who talked about his first three prospect camps and how he and his staff evaluate players. 

And along with the latest recruiting updates, you'll hear parts of Kyle Gauss' conversation with Deuce Roberts, Temple's newest class of 2022 basketball verbal commitment, as well as a clip from John DiCarlo's interview with Cole Skinner, a class of 2023 offensive lineman from New Jersey's Point Pleasant Boro High School who is scheduled to take an official visit to Temple this weekend. 

And in our mailbag, we answered questions about early football depth chart projections and Aaron McKie's basketball squad. 

Khalif Battle talked to OwlScoop.com's Sam Cohn about why he will return to Temple for one more season after testing the NBA Draft waters, and we'll tell you why the Owls could potentially be adding more depth to their backcourt through the NCAA's transfer portal. 

Our interview with former Temple guard Khalif Wyatt highlights this week's episode of The Scoop. Wyatt, who helped lead the Owls to two NCAA Tournament wins and scored 1,576 career points, talked about why he's retiring after a nine-year pro career overseas, the birth of his daughter, Zuri, and why his upcoming coaching job with the Big 5 TBT team could be the start of a new career.

You'll also hear some audio from West Virginia transfer and former Wildwood Catholic star Taj Thweatt, who announced last week that he's coming to Temple via the transfer portal, and we talked about the Owls' first football verbal commitment of the 2023 class, Richard Dandridge.