Welcome to the newest Owls

From left, Elisha Joseph, Amara Kamara, Marcus Minor

By Mike Gibson
Go through the list of the latest Temple University football recruits and there is a common thread to almost all of them.
They either initially signed with or were recruited by Bowl Championship Series (BCS) schools.
That's important because no Mid-American Conference recruiting group lists as many athletes with BCS pedigrees as Temple does. You win with good players and good coaching.
Temple got the coaching part of the equation solved when it jettisoned itself of Bobby Wallace in favor of Al Golden.
It is now taking care of the player end, getting the No. 1-ranked MAC class in, when all is said and done, two straight seasons.
Getting the best players two straight years certainly doesn't hurt your chances of posting the best record soon.
The newest Owls, Amara Kamara, Morris Blueford and Elisha Joseph, not only have that kind of pedigree but heap as much lavish praise on the Temple program, coaches and players as have been heaped on them via their impressive press clippings.
Elisha Joseph _ By all accounts the 17th Owl, and most intriguing. He was all-state in Connecticut as a 6-4, 195-pound tight end/defensive end, but we could not find a single newspaper clipping detailing his accomplishment on the field. This should not be surprising since his school, Kent High, is a Hartford Public School and the only paper that covers that school is the large city Courant, which doesn't routinely do features on hig school players.
Amara Kamara _ The North Jersey product and linebacker flows to the ball like a magnet. Read this story in the Newark Star-Ledger.
Wallace Bates _ A special PAC-10 signee out of high school who was looking to make an impact in that league right away. Chances are, he will make an immediate impact on college football in general and the MAC in particular. Here's an interesting story off the University of Southern California football page. Signed today.
Morris Blueford _ If you are talking about Pedigree, you can start with Blueford. His father by the same name was a great player at Virginia Tech. The younger Blueford comes from a Hampton Roads' recruiting area that rivals Florida's Tampa Bay in terms of producing D1A-quality athletes. Golden now has his imprint there with Blueford, the son of an FBI agent.
Marcus Minor _ Got to love the comments he made in this story. There has been some discussion about whether academic issues could hinder or slow his arrival in Philadelphia. We may have to wait until mid-January to find that out.