What a long strange season it was for the Quakers last year: 12-4 in non-conference play including a sweep of the Big 5, 3 consecutive OT games in February, 3 straight wins to finish regular season play and sneak into the Ivy tourney, then found themselves tied with Harvard with 8 minutes left before losing in the semifinals. Coach Steve Donahue lost a trio of senior starters from last year (Antonio Woods/Jake Silpe/Max Rothschild) but returns the potential Ivy POY in AJ Brodeur. As for the freshmen-to-be, it is a geographically diverse class with 5 players who hail from 5 different states (Florida/New Jersey/New York/Ohio/Pennsylvania). Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with incoming Penn freshman Jordan Dingle about why he chose the Quakers and where he ranks within his very athletic family.
You began your high school career at Lawrence Woodmere Academy: what made you switch to Blair Academy? There were a few things that caused the switch. 1 of the main reasons was so that I could get used to being away from home so I would not be shell-shocked during college. Obviously the chance to learn from a really successful coach while having a challenging schedule was also important.
Last year you reclassified from the Class of 2018 to the Class of 2019: how has your game improved over the past 12 months? My game has matured a lot. The coaching staff at Blair helped craft me into the player I am: they helped me see the game in a new way. I am a lot more patient and 100% more skilled because I see the game differently. My father trained me for awhile so my skills were always there: I just needed the mental piece.
This past season at Blair you went 22-4 while winning a Mid Atlantic Prep League title and a New Jersey Prep A state title: what did it mean to you to win a pair of titles? It meant everything and then some. Wherever I go I do not want to be another name that is just passing through. My coach told me that he had 50 other Jordan Dingles in his gym before I arrived, and that made me want to be the captain who led him to the 1st pair of titles in his career. We all put in a tremendous amount of hard work and grew so much as a team from September through February.
1 of your teammates was Jabri Abdur-Rahim, who just announced his own college decision last week: what makes him such a great player, and how do you think he is going to do at Virginia next year? I think that he is going to do great. Virginia plays differently than Blair so it will certainly be an adjustment but I have no worries about him. His father Shareef played a long time in the NBA and has shown him the ropes: that extra set of eyes teaching him all of the little things that matter has made a huge difference. You can tell that he has moves that not many other high school players have because of his dad: it is reflected in his game.
You had several scholarship offers: what made you choose Penn last September? Primarily the fact that Wharton is the best business school in the country. I have always seen myself as more than just a basketball player and I want to do other things in my life like working on Wall Street or running my own business. Philly is much like New York City and I am very familiar with it, plus Penn has a great non-conference schedule. I am used to playing against high-major guys so it just clicked for me.
How do you plan to balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? I will look to get some help from the other guys on the team. Anything worth having requires a lot of hard work. I will go through a lot of adversity but I will find a way because it is something that I want to do and I am not about to let my family down.
You have stated that Penn coach Steve Donahue reminds you of your high school coach Joe Mantegna: how so? Coach Donahue is very smart and is big on analytics. The other thing that jumped out to me was his coaching history: he has been able to have success at many different schools. All players are different but he was able to break it down for me how he helped Reggie Jackson go from BC to the NBA draft. He has a great track record and I am big on consistency.
You are 1 of 5 incoming freshmen (along with Lucas Monroe/Jonah Charles/Max Martz/Maxwell Lorca-Lloyd): which of the other 4 has impressed you the most so far? I cannot say that any 1 of them has impressed me the most. They are all gym rats like me and are very serious about basketball as we all try to become the best players that we can be. I know what I will get from them on the court every day.
Your father Dana made the 1996 Final 4 as a player at UMass and your uncle Daniel played basketball at Temple: who is the best athlete in the family? It is a tricky bloodline because even though my dad made it to the Final 4 he ended up losing to his cousin Allen Edwards at Kentucky (whose brothers Doug/Steve were also great basketball players). We also have a couple of NFL players in the family so it is very tough to say…but I will to go ahead and put my money on myself! I am a lot stronger now than any of them were at my age: I would be shocked to find out that they could jump higher or run faster than I can. I played with a couple of future Big 10 football players at Blair and I could potentially have played high-major football as well.
What did you do for the big birthday last weekend? This was my 1st birthday at home in the past 4 years because I am usually traveling for an AAU game so it was nice to just relax. I had brunch with my mom and went to a BBQ with my friend: it was nice to not have to worry about preparing for a game!