Alston following in dad's footsteps

Nowadays, when high school athletes make commitments for collegiate athletics, many times announcements are shrouded in secrecy in an attempt to build suspense.

Yesterday, at the Haverford School, friends and family gathered in the school's field house to hear what school nationally sought-after recruit Levan "Shawn" Alston would choose.

Throughout the recruiting process, Virginia Commonwealth basketball coach Shaka Smart pushed hard, previously making a 6:45 a.m. visit to show his interest. A few weeks ago, Penn State coach Pat Chambers even pulled up to campus on a bus. And in attendance yesterday was Penn coach Jerome "Pooh" Allen.

The suspense was thick. That is, until the nervous 6-4, 165-pound guard spilled the beans on the table in front of him.

Moments before the decision, Alston, clad in a zip-down black sweatshirt, placed a dark hat with cherry lettering on the table before realizing his lapse and quickly snatching it away with laughter.

Seconds later, he addressed the crowd briefly before unzipping his sweatshirt to reveal his father's (Levan Alston) old Temple jersey.

"[Monday] night, I had a meeting with [Temple coach Fran Dunphy] after school," Alston said. "Talked to my dad about it and I was pretty sure around 5 p.m. [Monday] night."

The only thing left was to go jersey-diving.

"It was in my house," he said of his dad's old No. 10. "I found it in a little clutter in the basement, so it was a nice find."

Levan Alston, the point guard for Simon Gratz High's consensus national championship team in 1990-91, transferred to Temple in 1993 after attending the University of New Orleans.

Staying in Philadelphia despite national temptations appealed to his son, who grew up on 24th Street and Allegheny Avenue and is also trying to help the city keep its local talent. Georgetown, Harvard, Notre Dame and others also pursued Alston, who now lives on 56th Street and Wyalusing Avenue.

"I'm from North Philly and Temple is in North Philly, and I always grew up wanting to play in the Big 5," Alston said, "so it means a lot to play in Philly."

Later, he added: "My next two targets are [Roman Catholic guard] Tony Carr and [Haverford forward Lamar Stevens] . . . hopefully I'm working on those guys right now."

Carr and Stevens are both juniors still receiving countrywide interest. Alston also said he would nudge Archbishop Carroll forward Ernest Aflakpui, a senior said to be on Temple's wish list.

Last year, Daily News Player of the Year Ja'Quan Newton chose to attend Miami after his historic career as the Catholic League's all-time leading scorer while at Neumann-Goretti.

However, Philadelphia has found recent success in holding onto its home-grown talent. Seniors Lamarr "Fresh" Kimble from Neumann-Goretti and Chris Clover from St. Joseph's Prep recently pledged allegiance to St. Joseph's University.

"They say you don't really get a lot of love when you go away," Alston said, "so I decided to stay here instead of [going] and coming back."

After clashing with coaches in New Orleans, his dad's collegiate experience seemed to back that sentiment.

"I told him, 'If you stay here and you go through ups and downs, your home team is gonna stick by you,' " said the elder Alston. "When I went away, they just threw me to the side and they didn't have to recruit in Philadelphia again. I told him his freshman year might be his toughest year ever, So, if you stay home, they'll have to stick with you, play you, groom you . . . "

The family's city ties are deep. Allen, Penn's coach, is the Haverford star's godfather. Temple assistant coach Aaron McKie is a former Gratz teammate of dad, and Dunphy, who replaced Levan's coach, John Chaney, has known the family for years.

"Me and him have a great relationship," Alston said of Dunphy. "He just put the icing on the cake yesterday.

"I've known Fran probably since my seventh-grade year," he added later. "Just talking to him and his style of play and how genuine he is . . . he was one of the few coaches who told me, ' No matter where you go, I'll still be a supporter.' So right there it just showed me he had genuine love for me and didn't just want to recruit me."

The opportunity to earn a starting spot next year at either guard position or small forward, also appealed to Alston. Wearing his dad's No. 10 would be gravy, although sophomore forward Mark Williams wore the number last season.

"It means a lot," Alston said of playing at his dad's alma mater. "I look up to him. He's my favorite player so to hopefully put on this No. 10 means a lot."