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Drexel recruit Dear signs with Toledo instead

Less than a week after giving an oral commitment to play basketball at Drexel next season, 6-9 forward Delino Dear has changed his mind.

Less than a week after giving an oral commitment to play basketball at Drexel next season, 6-9 forward Delino Dear has changed his mind.

Dear, a lanky shot-blocker from Chicago's Mount Carmel High who possesses some upside on the offensive end, signed a national letter of intent with the University of Toledo, Rockets coach Tod Kowalczyk said yesterday.

"He's going to play a whole lot earlier," said Jason Forbes, who coached Dear last season during his postgraduate year at Progressive Christian Academy in Maryland. "It was a matter of playing time, that's it.

"He's going to be thrown into the fire there. It had nothing to do with the coaches at Drexel; he loved Bruiser [Flint] and Ashley [Howard]. It's a matter of kids nowadays; they want to play immediately. He's basically going to be getting 20-25 minutes at Toledo from the start."

Dear, who was unavailable for comment, made a verbal commitment last Tuesday to play for Drexel.

Drexel's 2010-11 freshman class still includes 6-4 guard Franz Massenat (Trenton Catholic) and 6-8 forward Dartaye Ruffin (Stoughton, Ma.), who both signed their letters of intent. *