Carroll's Tilghman is in a choice situation

ARCHBISHOP CARROLL two-sport star Austin Tilghman is a 17-year-old senior traveling a grown man's path.

After transferring from St. Andrew's School in Delaware this year, the 6-2, 215-pound running back/point guard makes the sometimes 90-minute commute via Interstate 476 from his family's home in Wilmington.

Traffic can be unpredictable so the plan is to wake by 5 a.m. and be out the door 30 minutes later or he could be rubbing bumpers with commuters on a gridlocked highway.

"It's really rough," Tilghman said, sitting on the front steps of Carroll's Radnor campus. "I try to set my alarm clock, but sometimes I forget."

Dad, Aaron Tilghman, is the backup alarm. Mom, Ursula Tilghman, worries every time her son drives away.

"It concerns me every single day," she said. "I'll be very honest, I wasn't sure he was mature enough to do this, but he surprised me with how mature he is from last year."

Soon, the young man with eclectic tastes, and a most peculiar pregame ritual, will use that maturity to decide not just which college to attend, but which sport to pursue.

Mom and Dad wanted Austin, who has scholarship offers in football and basketball, to earn more college-like experience in his senior year. St. Andrew's is a boarding school with a current enrollment of 298 and an average class size of 11. Carroll currently holds 890 students.

So, Tilghman schleps over 30 miles north up I-476 in his older brother's white Honda Civic.

Aaron Jr., 19, is a 5-11, 170-pound sophomore point guard at Division III Wesley College in Dover. He will get his car back after Austin graduates.

"It's a mess!" Austin said of the Civic with a laugh. "Clothes in the trunk, a couple book bags filled with stuff. It's almost like living out of a bag basically. So it's pretty junky."

Older brother couldn't be reached for comment . . .

Early wake-up calls and suitcase living aren't the only challenges, however.

After toting the football 18 times for 87 yards in a 20-13 loss at Del-Val Charter, traffic slowed the team's return to Radnor, which in turn delayed Tilghman's departure for Delaware.

"I didn't end up getting home until about 1:30 a.m. that night, so it was rough," he said.

Dad, and 5 a.m., still came calling the next morning. Austin, who hasn't missed a day of school, said he has only been late once and estimates he has a 3.2 GPA.

Tilghman said he often blasts his favorite CDs to keep his eye-lids from lowering in the car. When that doesn't work, a lingering question keeps him awake: Basketball or football?

Tilghman has scholarship offers from Coastal Carolina and Delaware in football and from La Salle, Quinnipiac, Stony Brook and Canisius in basketball. A few have said he could play both.

"I think about it everyday because I get that question a lot," he said. "At times, it gets annoying. But I think about it a lot. It's a tough decision, but I think I'll choose what's best for me."

A sizable running back with speed, his favorite part of football is, "knowing that I can run over somebody."

The dilemma?

"Basketball has always been my first love," he said.

In fact, he chose Carroll, in part, because his basketball coach at St. Andrew's, Terrell Myers, who played at Saint Joseph's University (1993-1997), knew of the program's reputation.

Myers, who also played professionally overseas, has little doubt Tilghman will find success no matter the choice.

"In football, to have that size, and move at that speed it must be pretty defeating when you realize he's moving a lot faster than you think," Myers said. "Basketball, I think the kid is close to being a genius on the court. He has a very high basketball IQ."

Tilghman amassed 3,823 yards and 50 rushing touchdowns in three seasons at St. Andrew's.

Last week, he set a Carroll record with 374 rushing yards and five touchdowns against Bishop McDevitt despite an ankle sprain that cost him the fourth quarter.

He'll leave Carroll with 1,091 rushing yards and 12 more ground scores, giving him 4,914 total yards via topsoil and 62 touchdowns.

On the court, he'll join a Carroll squad that could contend for a Catholic League title after falling to Imhotep last season, 54-45, in the PIAA Class AAA state final.

Tilghman played with Carroll catalyst Derrick Jones, a 6-6 junior who already has an offer from Kentucky, on the We-R-1 AAU team. But Tilghman, who describes himself as a pass-first point guard, knows he must earn his spot.

"It's going to be hard," he said. "Throughout practice I just have to prove myself to these guys so they can trust me to be the point guard that I am."

Fitting in has never been a problem for the gregarious senior.

Friends at Carroll already call him "Pablo" because of his love of Spanish. He enjoys the challenge and complexity of new languages and is always searching for more.

He took Chinese for a year at St. Andrew's and also asks his Korean friends to teach him their native tongue. Conversing with former St. Andrew's basketball teammate and Providence commit Ben Bentil, who is from Ghana, is another goal.

"I like being different," Tilghman said.

He offers a collection of dress socks in different styles and colors as proof, and estimates that at least 40 pairs of sneakers line his closet.

However, what goes on his feet isn't as important as how he treats them.

"A lot of people don't know this," he said, "but I like getting pedicures."

Pedicures?

"Started getting them before my football games," he said. "They make my feet feel good and I think when my feet feel good I run better. I got one before and I broke a school record so I think they work!"

Won't people poke fun?

"I really don't care," he said.

Tease if you like, but when 6-2, 215 pounds comes barreling off tackle or dribbles down the paint, opponents aren't likely to envision Tilghman closing in with cotton swabs between his toes.

So, which school and sport will he choose? All in due time. But, no matter which, it seems his priorities aren't focused solely on athletics.

"It's great," Tilghman said of having options. "But at the same time there's a lot of pressure to do well and make everyone happy, but still knowing you can't make everyone happy. So there's a lot of pressure, but I know that making the right decision will come one day.

"Football and basketball are not always going to be here. But they can't take that degree away from you. So having that in life will always be an accomplishment."