Temple to host first ever Harrow Cup

The inaugural Harrow Cup will take place June 8 and 9 at the Owls’ own Geasey Field, where six teams will compete for a $10,000 winner-takes-all cash prize.

The Harrow Cup is a women’s field hockey tournament organized exclusively for post-collegiate women. Mark Hayden, the leader of Harrow Sports, was inspired to create the event during the 2012 National Field Hockey Festival in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Head coach Amanda Janney and assistant coach Charise Yount will represent the Owls, playing together for the Vipers. In addition, graduate assistant coach Kelly Driscoll will be a goalkeeper for the Tembos, while alumni Alli Lokey, Erin Hanshue, and Bridget Settles will also participate.

Former UMass guard taking Temple summer classes

The Temple News has confirmed an OwlScoop.com report that former Massachusetts guard Jesse Morgan has enrolled in summer classes at Temple.

Morgan has one remaining season of eligibility. If he is cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse, he could use it to join the Owls.

Morgan, an Olney High School graduate, just finished up his junior year of college, in which he averaged 13.4 points in 28.7 minutes per game. He was the Minutemen’s second-leading scorer behind junior guard Chaz Williams..

Morgan has not played since January, when he suffered a torn ACL in a loss to Saint Louis. It is unclear if he will be fully healed in time for the 2013-14 season. He reportedly left UMass for disciplinary reasons.

Another former Hoosier added to Temple Athletic Department

Pat Kraft was named Temple’s newest Deputy Director of Athletics on Wednesday afternoon.

Kraft, most recently the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director at Loyola University Chicago, will serve under Interim Athletic Director Kevin Clark. In two years at Loyola, Kraft directly managed the external operations of the athletic department. This included marketing, fundraising, ticket sales and media relations.

Before going to Loyola, Kraft worked on the senior athletic staff at Indiana University, where he oversaw all branding and marketing aspects of the teams. He holds three degrees from Indiana: a bachelor’s degree in sports marketing/management earned in 2000, a master’s degree in sports marketing/administration earned in 2005 and a doctorate in sports marketing earned in 2008. As an undergraduate, he was a linebacker on Indiana’s football team.

Kraft, along with Clark, is the second former Hoosier to be hired to the athletic department since Neil Theobald took office in January.

Evan Cross can be reached at evan.cross@temple.edu or on Twitter @EvanCross.

Brown signs with CFL team

Former Temple running back Matt Brown has signed a contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.

Brown becomes the sixth former Temple player to sign a rookie deal with a professional team this spring. The other five are RB Montel Harris (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), OL Martin Wallace (Cleveland Browns), DE John Youboty (Denver Broncos), DB Maurice Jones (Chicago Bears) and K/P Brandon McManus (Indianapolis Colts).

In a four-year career, Brown, at 5 feet, 5 inches, racked up many honors and records. He was named the 2012 Big East Conference Special Teams Player of the Year, and was on the All-Big East first team as the return specialist. He holds school records for punt return average in a season (14.2 in 2012) and kick return yards in a single game (227 on November 3, 2012 against Louisville). He finished his career second in school history in all-purpose yards with 5,272, third in rushing touchdowns with 22 and fourth in 100+ yard rushing performances with 10.

Brown is now the fifth former Owl to be under contract with a CFL team, joining QB Henry Burris (Hamilton Tiger-Cats), RB Tim Brown (B.C. Lions), DL Elisha Joseph (Calgary Stampeders) and LB Dominique Harris (Hamilton Tiger-Cats).

Frain named ice hockey head coach

Ryan Frain will once again be the face of Temple ice hockey, only this time in a different capacity.

The former standout player turned assistant coach has been named the new head coach of Temple’s ice hockey club, it was announced Monday.

Seniors Joe Pisko, Kurt Noce, Nick McMahon and Chris Mullen headed a search committee and made the decision for the club, which finished 17-12 overall last season and missed the American Collegiate Hockey Association Regional Tournament for the second consecutive season.

Frain was a standout on the ice for five seasons (2006-11) and stands as the club’s all-time leader in goals, assists, points and games played. He spent two years as an assistant under former coach Jerry Roberts, who resigned in Feburary.

Frain will get his first taste of head coaching when the team reassembles for tryouts in early September.