While hundreds of local, class of 2014 high school athletes made their college decisions known this month during the early-signing period, most of the local focus was on the basketball talent in the city.
Seniors were allowed to sign a letter-of-intent to their preferred college and the sad, recent trend of top local players leaving the city to play elsewhere continued this year.
The city’s highest-rated prospect, Neumann-Goretti‘s Ja’Quan Newton, turned down city schools Temple, La Salle, Villanova and St. Joseph’s to go to the University of Miami. The last three Philly Player of the Year award winners have left the city, including Rysheed Jordan, who last year chose St. John’s in New York over Temple, which is in his own neighborhood.
Newton’s teammate, Troy Harper, signed a letter-of-intent to Campbell University. Tyrell Sturdivent of Chester High School signed to Stony Brook University. Roman Catholic’s Shep Garner and Rashann London signed to Penn State and Drexel, respectively.
“I want to thank everybody who came out to support me and my brother Rashaan,” Garner said. “We came here together as eighth graders and we’ve been together so long, I thought it was just perfect to sign our letter of intent on the same day.”
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