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2014 power forward Obi Enechionyia headed to Temple

Fran Dunphy

Temple head coach Fran Dunphy urges on his players against Indiana in the first half of a third-round game of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 24, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

AP

Given their overall lack of depth, success on the recruiting trail in the 2014 class is of great importance to the Temple basketball program. Fran Dunphy’s Owls won’t be able to add those players to this season’s roster, which at present time has just ten scholarship athletes, but a good run recruiting-wise will help Temple establish itself as a perennial contender in the American Athletic Conference.

That lack of depth is what makes Sunday’s news so important for the Owls, as 2014 power forward Obi Enechionyia has verbally committed to attend Temple. Enechionyia announced the news via his Twitter account Sunday afternoon.

Standing at 6-9, Enechionyia is a consensus Top 100 prospect with the talent needed to have an immediate impact upon his arrival on the Temple campus next season. As a junior at St. James School Enechionyia averaged 19.4 points, 12.7 rebounds and four blocked shots per game while playing alongside his older brother, Nnamdi. Nnamdi will play basketball at Samford this season.

Obi played his grassroots basketball with Team Takeover, playing alongside fellow Division I commitments Phil Booth (Villanova), Martin Geben (Notre Dame) and Dion Wiley (Maryland).

While landing Enechionyia is certainly cause for celebration amongst the Temple coaching staff, the fact is they’ve got plenty of scholarships to hand out. The Owls lose just one senior from this season’s squad (wing Dalton Pepper), but given the fact that they’re currently under the 13 scholarships allowed there are multiple spots to be filled.

Enechionyia joins a front court that will include two seniors (Anthony Lee and Jimmy McDonnell), two juniors (Daniel Dingle and Devontae Watson) and one sophomore (Mark Williams) if all return for the 2014-15 campaign.

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