Rick O'Brien: GFS' Biddle is lining up his college choice

Jesse Biddle, a hard-throwing junior southpaw from Germantown Friends, plans to make an oral college commitment this weekend. The front-runner for the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder's services is Oregon.

"I really like their coaches," the 17-year-old said. "Their pitching coach [Andrew Checketts] was the first guy to contact me and he said, 'We want you to be our No. 1 pitcher for the Class of 2010.' "

Biddle and his parents, David and Marion, and brother, 13-year-old Conor, visited Oregon and fellow PAC-10 schools Oregon State and Arizona State last week. Last Saturday, they were at PGE Park to watch the opener of a two-game series between Oregon State and Oregon. On a rainy and chilly night, the host Ducks rallied late and won, 3-2, in 10 innings before 15,540.

Biddle, whose fastball has been clocked at 92 m.p.h., played last fall for the Philadelphia Senators. His teammates included Chestnut Hill Academy's Jon McAllister and Steel Russell and Conestoga's Slater McCue.

Biddle's 20-year-old brother, Sam, an outfielder and relief pitcher at GFS, attends Reed College, a small liberal arts school in Portland, Oregon.

Scout.com released its list of the top 300 high school football prospects in the country in the Class of 2010. Of the 13 Pennsylvania players named, two from our coverage area landed in the top 100: George Washington two-way tackle Sharrif Floyd (No. 89) and St. Joseph's Prep offensive tackle Seth Betancourt (95).

Cardinal O'Hara's Corey Brown, a fleet-footed running back and defensive back, was ranked No. 167.

Monsignor Bonner baseball manager Joe DeBarberie on La Salle lefty and Richmond recruit Shawn O'Neill: "Even when he's not 100 percent, he's really, really good."

Eric "Hank" Gathers, the late star basketball player at Dobbins Tech, USC and Loyola Marymount, is the subject of a soon-to-be-released book titled, "Heart of a Lion, The Life, Death and Legacy of Hank Gathers."

It is expected to published on Nov. 1 by Morning Star Communications. Gathers died on March 4, 1990, during a game from a heart-muscle disorder.

The book's author, Kyle Keiderling, said he interviewed former Dobbins coach Rich Yankowitz and some of his former players, including Greg "Bo" Kimble, Doug Overton and Darrell "Heat" Gates. Kimble, who teamed with Gathers at Dobbins, USC and Loyola Marymount, provides the foreword to the book.

Keiderling, a freelance writer and member of the United States Basketball Writers Association, said in an e-mail that "Hank Gathers was an extraordinary young man who dared to dream in a place where dreams go to die. He followed his dream to the end."

A web site, www.hankgathersbook.com, is devoted to the book. Here is one of the 20-odd quotes that can be found on the site's home page:

"If someone told me that I had a fifty-fifty chance of dying if I ever played basketball again, I wouldn't play. Hank would." - Bo Kimble.