A new era of Temple basketball has officially begun. The Owls hired former Penn State assistant coach Adam Fisher to replace Aaron McKie after a 4 year stretch that included just one winning season and no postseason tournament appearances. It was reported on Wednesday (3/29) that the job was initially offered to and rejected by Charlton Young of Missouri, however the validity of that report is questionable at best since Adam Fisher knew he was being hired on Wednesday morning.
Fisher will begin his tenure at Temple fresh off an NCAA tournament appearance in the round of 32 as the associate head coach under Micah Shrewsberry at Penn State. Prior to Penn State, Fisher spent 6 years as an assistant coach at Miami under Jim Larrañaga as well as 3 seasons as a grad assistant at Villanova under Jay Wright. Fisher’s Temple staff is likely not complete yet, however he will be bringing Michael Huger on as an assistant coach. Huger and Fisher were both assistants for Miami in 2015, and Huger has spent the last 8 seasons as the head coach of his alma mater, Bowling Green, where he has a record of 126-125. Also on the staff will be Chris Clark, who we know from the previous staff as well as his playing days at Temple, and Bobby Jordan, most recently an assistant coach at Albany. Jordan has also spent time as an assistant coach at Drexel, Wagner, and Saint Peters.
Fisher does not have any head coaching experience himself, but this feels like a strong hire. An apprenticeship under Jay Wright, Jim Larrañaga, and Micah Shrewsberry carries a ton of weight, and by all accounts Fisher is very well liked by the former players at Penn State. After Shrewsberry left Penn State to take the Notre Dame job, many of the former players took to Twitter to lobby for Fisher to take over as head coach at PSU. Luckily, Temple was able to pull him away. Fisher also figures to be instrumental in the recruiting process, specifically for the local Philadelphia talent. Fisher is from Bucks County himself, and apparently played a major role in landing some of the Philadelphia players at Penn State and Miami. If you wondered why Miami has had multiple Philly guys on their roster for the last 7 years or so, Fisher would be a good place to start looking.
So what does the future look like for Adam Fisher and Temple basketball? For starters, Temple will need to hit the transfer portal pretty hard. The transfer portal is not technically public, but sites like 247 and Verbal Commits do a pretty good job of tracking it. We also hear from local reporters and in some cases the players themselves. With that said, we know Temple will be losing a big chunk of their roster which is not uncommon with a coaching change, especially with the new transfer rules. Below are the statuses of last year’s team to the best of our knowledge:
- Khalif Battle – In the transfer portal. Predictions are strongly suggesting he will be going to UCF but no official reporting. After the way last season ended, no one is surprised to see Battle leave.
- Shane Dezonie – There hasn’t been any buzz around Dezonie in regard to a transfer. The NCAA did update the transfer rules for this season requiring a waiver for a second transfer, excluding “grad transfers”. For this reason, Dezonie is likely staying and I’m excited to see him hopefully have more opportunities next season after barely playing this past year.
- Damian Dunn – Dunn is in the transfer portal and is not expected to return to Temple. I have heard that Tennessee could be a destination but its just rumors at this point. It hurts to lose Dunn but I can’t blame him for trying to maximize his remaining eligibility. We wish him the best.
- AK Fihla – It’s rare that we would hear anything about a walk-on transferring but it does happen. So far, no noise on AK Fihla though.
- Connor Gal – Same situation as AK. Haven’t heard anything. Likely staying, but we don’t know.
- Zach Hicks – Hicks reportedly has entered the transfer portal, although that report conflicts with some others. Hicks would be eligible to play right away if he did transfer, but would also probably be a fixture of the offense for Temple next season if he stayed. I’m hopeful that the Owls can retain Hicks, and I just have a feeling that they will.
- Kur Jongkuch – I am 99.9% sure that Jongkuch is the only Temple player that is out of eligibility. I say this because the transfer rules with the covid year of eligibility are always a little tricky, but Jongkuch has played 5 full seasons. He will be missed for sure, especially defensively.
- Nick Jourdain – Jourdain has transferred to Memphis. This one hurts not only because he was one of my favorite players that I believe was underutilized at Temple, but also because Temple now has to face him at least once per year in conference play. We wish him the best, except for when Temple plays Memphis.
- Hysier Miller – Miller has entered the transfer portal but could potentially return to Temple. We have heard some rumors of him possibly going to SMU but nothing has been confirmed. Miller is another player I’d like Temple to retain but if he does leave, hopefully it’s not for another AAC school.
- Emmanuel Okpomo – Okpomo has not entered the portal, most likely because he has already transferred once in his college career. He is currently the only big on the roster so he may be in line for an increased role.
- Jamille Reynolds – Reynolds has entered the portal according to most reports but is keeping a return to Temple as an option. According to one report, he has had in-home visits with Kansas, Miss St, Arkansas, and Cincinnati. It would be hard to blame him for going to any of those programs (except Cincy) but because he already transferred from UCF, an eligibility waiver will probably play an important role in his decision. I would love to have Reynolds back but it’s hard to see him turning down Kansas if he is offered a spot there.
- Duece Roberts – No indication of any intention to transfer and with so many others leaving his opportunities should only increase at Temple.
- Ryan Sayers – No indication of any intention to transfer.
- Taj Thweatt – Thweatt has not entered the transfer portal. He was forced to sit out this past season due to a bizarre transfer situation with WVU and Costal Carolina that I admittedly am not very familiar with. Thweatt was highly recruited out of high school and could be a hidden gem on this Temple team.
- Jahlil White – White is reportedly staying with Owls for next season. It’s a relief to hear honestly because there was speculation that he would be leaving as well. With Dunn leaving, White is the most experienced Owl remaining on the roster and keeping him is a big win for the program.
There is a lot of uncertainty with the all of the names above, but even with just the definite departures, there is a ton of production to replace. The Owls also only have one incoming freshman for next year (Zion Stanford), so new transfers will be essential in Adam Fisher’s first year. The good news is that the transfer portal is loaded with talent, and Temple has the opportunity to rebuild the team quickly if they can land some quality transfers.
In addition to the roster and coaching staff looking different next year, the conference is also going through significant changes. With Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati moving to the Big 12 it would seem like the conference just got a lot easier to win. However, of the 6 new teams from Conference USA that will be joining the AAC, 5 of them played in post season tournaments with FAU coming up a buzzer beater away from the nation championship game. Charlotte won the CBI and North Texas defeated UAB for the NIT title. Temple already will be facing an uphill battle for relevancy in the new AAC, so it will be critical for Fisher to bring in new talent right away to be able to compete for conference championships. Right now, Temple is 3rd place among Owls in the AAC and that is simply unacceptable. Temple does have the advantage of being the only team in the conference with proximity to arguably the best recruiting pipeline in the country (Philly/NY/NJ), so I would like to see Fisher take advantage of recruiting in this area, something McKie and Dunphy struggled to do.
It should be a busy off season for transfers and coaching staff hires. I’m excited to get this new era of Temple basketball underway. Welcome to North Broad, Adam Fisher!
We Give a Hoot TU 