Recruiting Central: Another Gilbert is drawing a lot of attention

The days of being recognized primarily as Malcolm Gilbert's younger brother are over.

That's because, as Malcolm did before him, Marcus Gilbert has blossomed into one of the area's top college basketball prospects.

The 6-foot-6 swingman, who will become a senior at the Academy of the New Church, has received scholarship offers from Boston University, Iona, Fordham, Rider, Albany, and James Madison this summer.

He's also receiving interest from Penn State, Temple, Clemson, St. Bonaventure, and St. Joseph's.

Not bad for an 18-year-old who averaged just six points as a reserve last season.

"I did actually" expect the recruiting attention, said Marcus Gilbert, whose older brother will be a freshman center at Pittsburgh.

"I knew I was going to get better," he added. "This was my goal."

The Smyrna, Del., native, who is blessed with incredible athleticism, is spending a lot of time working with Terrell Myers, his East Coast Elite AAU coach and former St. Joe's standout, on his ballhandling, perimeter shooting, and conditioning.

Waiting for more scholarship offers, Gilbert doesn't have a timetable to make an oral commitment.

"My top three [choices] are probably Boston University, St. Joe's, and Temple right now," he said.

But Temple and St. Joe's have yet to offer a scholarship. Surely that concerns him, right?

"Yeah, I am," Gilbert said. "But, I'm sure they will soon."

Owls on N.Y. prospect's list. Daniel Dingle, a 6-7 senior forward at St. Raymond (Bronx), has narrowed his list of possible destinations to 12 schools.

His list consists of Temple, Arizona, Auburn, Boston College, Florida, Florida State, Seton Hall, Texas, Miami, Massachusetts, Xavier, and Dayton.

 Recruiting tool for Temple. Owls football coaches can point out the program's recent achievement to prospective recruits.

The eight rookie NFL free agents and two draft picks - Muhammad Wilkerson and Jaiquawn Jarrett - make up the largest class to sign with the NFL in Temple history.

The free agents are cornerback Marquise Liverpool (Detroit Lions), wideout Michael Campbell (New York Jets), tight end Vaughn Charlton (Pittsburgh Steelers), linebacker Peanut Joseph (Green Bay Packers), defensive tackle Eli Joseph (Green Bay Packers), linebacker Amara Kamara (Kansas City Chiefs), and offensive linemen Colin Madison (Baltimore Ravens) and Darius Morris (Houston Texans).

Wilkerson, a defensive tackle, was selected by the Jets in the first round of April's draft. Jarrett, a safety, was drafted by the Eagles in the second round.

Bond drawing more interest. Jaylen Bond will have plenty of options after he completes the next year at St. Thomas More School in Connecticut.

The 6-7, 219-pound swingman, who graduated from Plymouth Whitemarsh in June, recently received a scholarship offer from Tennessee for the Class of 2012.

The 18-year-old also has scholarship offers from Temple, St. Joseph's, and Penn State. Maryland is also interested.

Bond originally signed a scholarship offer from Pittsburgh that would have begun this fall. He backed out of it to work on his perimeter skills at prep school.

Church makes his pick. Recent Chester graduate Lamon Church, a 6-5 guard, recently signed a scholarship to play basketball at Kutztown.