Temple recruit looks to sway others

It's the biggest recruiting success of Matt Rhule's tenure at Temple. The second-year football coach and his staff persuaded Timber Creek's Kareem Ali, a four-star cornerback, to switch his commitment two weeks ago from the Big Ten's Maryland to the Owls.

It signaled that Rhule's heavy emphasis on local recruiting was working. The Owls landed South Jersey's best defensive player, who had offers from Boston College, Michigan State, Virginia, and others. Ali plans to sign his scholarship in August, which will allow him to enroll in January.

What Rhule did not know is that he also picked up a new recruiter for the Temple men's basketball program.

Ali went to Twitter this week and tracked down the accounts of Jalen Brunson and Levan "Shawn" Alston, two of Temple's top basketball targets. Like Ali, Brunson and Alston are sons of former Temple athletes. He told Alston that they should "follow our pop's footsteps and go to TU."

Ali's father, Kareem Sr., played football at Temple as Kareem Gilliard, and his mother, Tasha Minkins, ran track there when Alston's father was on the Owls basketball team. The sons knew each other when they were younger from seeing each other at Temple functions, Ali said.

"[Alston] is high on Temple right now," Ali said. "He's going through the process. Hopefully I get him. More than likely I will. I'm pretty confident."

Ali's father said, "Me and Levan are always laughing about how these two Temple-made babies might end up together. Kareem is just riled up and trying to get everybody."

Alston trimmed his college choices Wednesday to a list of six schools. The Owls made the cut along with Penn, Penn State, Notre Dame, Marquette, and Virginia Commonwealth. The 6-foot-4 guard from the Haverford School said he planned to visit each school and make a decision in the second half of September.

He said it "feels real good" to be recruited to play basketball by a member of the school's football team.

"His dad went to Temple. My dad went to Temple. So he's trying to get me to go to Temple," said Alston. "It feels good to have people want you to go to school with them."

Ali said he's using his status "a little bit" to sway other recruits. He works out with Imhotep Charter wide receiver D.J. Moore (who is orally committed to Maryland) and is taking summer classes with Washington defensive end Shareef Miller. Both are two of Temple's top football targets. Ali said the choice is ultimately up to them.

"It's really: Do they want to come or not? Do they want to get good work in? Do they want to win? Do they want to get a shot at the NFL? It's up to them. I was just being the lead example of it all. Starting it off and see who follows," he said.

Trey Lowe narrowed his college choices Tuesday to four schools. The 6-6 guard is considering Temple, St. Joseph's, VCU, and Southern Methodist. Lowe averaged 27.8 points per game last season for Ewing (N.J.) High. He played AAU basketball with Alston on Philadelphia-based Team Final.