Temple is a front-runner for the one of the nation's premier basketball prospects.
Even before playing in his first high school game, William Tennent freshman center Horace Spencer III can envision playing for the Owls.
"Anything can change," Horace Spencer Jr. said of his son, "but right now, Temple and Rutgers are probably the best two schools, I think personally, that are fitted for his game, because of the coaching staffs there."
There will be a lot of elated fans at the North Broad Street campus if Spencer does indeed become an Owl.
The 6-foot-9, 200-pounder is regarded as the nation's top prospect in the Class of 2015, according to recruiting analyst Van Coleman. The Bucks County resident, who is a shot-blocking machine, has yet to receive any scholarship offers.
However, he's on the radar of college basketball coaches at just about every power conference program. And Spencer is receiving letters from North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky, among others.
While playing for those schools is enticing, Spencer said he wants to stay close to home.
"If I'm at Temple, any time I need to go home, it's about a half-hour away at the most," Spencer said. "It's just a good fit for me."
Spencer likes Rutgers, because it's less than two hours away from Southeastern Pennsylvania.
"And it's in the Big East," he said.
Amile Jefferson update. Temple and Villanova are still in the running for Friends' Central senior Amile Jefferson.
The 6-8 forward trimmed his list of schools to Temple, Villanova, Kentucky, Stanford, North Carolina State, Maryland, Connecticut, and Ohio State.
"He's visiting Kentucky this weekend, Stanford next weekend, and North Carolina State the weekend after that," Allen Rubin, an editor and recruiting analyst for Hoop Scoop recruiting services, said of Jefferson's official visits.
The Inquirer's reigning Southeastern Pennsylvania high school player of the year has taken unofficial visits to Villanova, Temple, and Maryland, and was on official visits to Ohio State and Connecticut earlier this month.
Jefferson is the nation's third-ranked prospect in the Class of 2012, according to the Bob Gibbons All-Star Scouting Service.
He is also recognized as a top 25 senior by Hoop Scoop (five), Scout.com (20), and ESPN (24).
Dingle visits Temple. Daniel Dingle, a senior forward at St. Raymond's High School (N.Y.), is on an official visit to Temple.
