DiLeo's Decision

South Jersey superstar T.J. DiLeo celebrated his verbal commitment to Temple like a Super Bowl champion. He went to Disney World! In between rides, DiLeo checked in to discuss the roller coaster decision-making process that led him to pick the Owls ahead of Monmouth, Bucknell, Penn State, La Salle, and the Big 5 school that recruited him before anybody else ... Villanova.

South Jersey superstar T.J. DiLeo celebrated his verbal commitment to Temple like a Super Bowl champion. He went to Disney World!

In between rides, DiLeo checked in with OwlsDaily.com on Thursday to discuss the roller coaster decision-making process that led him to pick the Owls ahead of Monmouth, Bucknell, Penn State, La Salle, and the Big 5 school that recruited him before anybody else ... Villanova.

Yes, it was the Wildcats who were the first to call the 6-2 guard, who insists he’s a solid 6-3 in high-tops. No, not Jay Wright.

Villanova soccer coach Larry Sullivan pursued DiLeo last fall, along with local soccer rival Philadelphia University. You see, until this winter, DiLeo was much better known for scoring goals with an ankle flick than he was for shooting three-point goals with a flick of the wrist. That made for an unusual, two-pronged recruiting process.

“I always played both sports and I wasn’t totally sure what I wanted to do,” DiLeo said. “I had played AAU ball for a couple years, but then I joined a club team and I was more focused on soccer this spring.”

College teams started to focus on DiLeo after he totaled 24 goals and 15 assists and led Cinnaminson High School to the state finals in the fall. He was named South Jersey Player of the Year by the Burlington County Times.

But while he drew interest from Division I soccer teams, the only basketball calls came from Division II and Division III schools. Many, including Philadelphia University, offered the opportunity to play both sports. But DiLeo decided to play the waiting game.

“I really wanted to see how basketball season went before I decided anything,” he said.

Let’s put it this way: Basketball season went well.

DiLeo started strong and kept getting stronger. He scored 23 points in a season-opening win over Pemberton, scored 33 in a game one month later, then hit the 50-point mark in a late-January win over Delran. And Cinnaminson kept winning.

Monmouth was the first Division I school to take notice. Then, just as basketball season was getting interesting, DiLeo’s decision-making process was further complicated by the soccer recruiters.

“Around midseason some of the soccer schools were looking to get their recruiting classes together and they started asking me to commit,” DiLeo said. “But the way that basketball season was going, I couldn’t do it. I finally realized that I couldn’t give up basketball and that’s what I wanted to play.”

Not coincidentally, once DiLeo went all-in, his basketball prospects only got better.

Of course, even after Monmouth rang his phone, DiLeo didn’t figure to have any Big 5 teams knocking on his door.

“I knew it was possible if I kept improving and played up to my potential,” DiLeo said. “But I didn’t expect it.”

DiLeo improved to the point that he carried Cinnaminson to its best finish in almost 30 years. He averaged 24 points per game and was named South Jersey Player of the Year by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Along the way came Temple, La Salle, Penn State, and Bucknell.

DiLeo, however, didn’t put them all on his check-it-out list. He attended a pair of Temple games and toured the North Broad Street campus and met with some professors. He also stayed in touch with Monmouth.

“They were the first Division I school to contact me and I really liked the head coach and the coaching staff,” DiLeo said. “It was a tough decision, but I ultimately picked Temple because I liked Temple better and obviously because of the opportunity to play at that level and play in the Big 5 and Coach Dunphy and the tradition of the Temple program.”

Any chance he’ll play soccer for the Cherry and White, too?

“No,” DiLeo answered.

He’s never even spoken with Temple soccer coach David MacWilliams.

So where does he fit in with the Dunphy’s squad?

“He said he sees me as a combo guard,” DiLeo said of the discussion with his future coach. “He said if I come in and work hard that he sees me playing sooner rather than later. I’ve just got to work hard.”

Sooner rather than later, now that’s rather vague.

DiLeo said he’s actually talked very specifically with Dunphy about the possibility of redshirting next season. Freshman guard Ramone Moore redshirted for the Owls this season, yet he still nearly played as many minutes as fellow rookies Martavis Kee and Craig Williams.

“Coach Dunphy said that redshirting could be a possibility, but we wouldn’t make that decision until right before the season,” DiLeo said. “If we get to the start of the season and it looks like I’m not going to get a lot of minutes, then I could decide to redshirt.”

Decisions like that can wait. He’s already picked basketball over soccer. He picked Temple over Monmouth. Now, T.J. Dileo is left with only one more decision to make before the end of his senior class trip ... Space Mountain or the Astro Orbiter?