St. Joe's gets oral commitment from Pa. swingman

The St. Joseph's basketball program has received its third oral commitment in about as many weeks, and this time it's the first one for the recruiting class of 2017.

Junior Taylor Funk, a 6-foot-8 swingman, is headed to Hawk Hill. Funk has three-point shooting range and averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds as a third-team Class 3A all-state player last season for Manheim Central (Pa.).

In the last month, coach Phil Martelli also landed two seniors from Illinois, small forward Nick Robinson and center Lorenzo Edwards.

The Hawks are coming off a 28-8 season in which they won the Atlantic 10 postseason championship and nearly beat No. 1 seed Oregon in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Now they have to replace their top three scorers, including conference player of the year DeAndre Bembry and Isaiah Miles, both of whom are at the NBA's draft combine this week in Chicago.

Funk visited St. Joe's in late April. It was the only recruiting trip he made. He also had scholarship offers from La Salle, George Mason, Rider, Boston University and Monmouth.