Two Wildwood Catholic grads announce college transfer destinations

Posted: May 15th 2024

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

Staff Writer

On Saturday, Jahlil White celebrated his graduation from Temple University with a large gathering of friends and family at Cape May County Park.

On Sunday, the Wildwood Catholic graduate announced where he will continue his college basketball career.

White, who graduated from Temple last week with a bachelor’s degree in advertising and marketing, has announced he will use his final season of eligibility at LaSalle University.

While White arrives at LaSalle, another Wildwood Catholic graduate will be departing. Gabby Turco, who spent last season with the Explorers women’s basketball team, announced early last month that she will play at Rider next winter.

White, a 6-7 guard/forward, averaged 10.1 points and 5.5 rebounds for Temple last season. He started 12 games, but his playing time decreased after he missed eight games with a hand injury in midseason.

Temple finished the season at just 16-20 overall, 5-13 in American Athletic Conference games, but made a surprise run to the AAC Tournament title game by defeating three higher-seeded teams during the tournament.

White’s move to LaSalle is not a surprise, considering the Explorers are coached by former Temple coach and interim athletic director Fran Dunphy.

White, a three-time Big 5 Player of the Week selection during his career at Temple, is a 2020 graduate of Wildwood Catholic. He averaged 16.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.4 steals per game in helping the Crusaders to a third straight Cape-Atlantic League Tournament title and the South Jersey Non-Public B championship. He finished his Wildwood Catholic career with 1,338 points.

White missed his first season at Temple due to a knee injury.

LaSalle finished 16-17 overall, 6-12 in the Atlantic 10 Conference, last season.

White’s teammate at Temple and Wildwood Catholic, 6-8 forward Taj Thweatt, also announced that he will leave the Owls program for next year but has yet to announce a destination.

Turco played the first two seasons of her college career at Division II St. Anselm. She transferred to LaSalle ahead of the 2023-24 season, where she averaged 5.4 points and 2.8 rebounds. She played in 28 of a possible 29 games, with eight starts.

Turco is joining a Rider team that finished 10-21 overall, 6-14 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Turco, a 5-10 guard, is a 2020 graduate of Wildwood Catholic, where she played her final two high school seasons after moving to the area from Washington Township. She scored 1,166 career points as a high school player.

GABBY TURCO