Poly basketball star De'Vondre Perry has come a long way since he first walked into the school's gym as a sophomore transfer from a small town in North Carolina.

The 6-foot-6 guard/forward has worked hard to refine his versatile inside-outside game, earning first-team All-Metro honors after leading the Engineers to their first Baltimore City Division I boys basketball championship last season.

On Friday, he announced his next stop, making a commitment to play for coach Fran Dunphy's Temple Owls next year.

A touted recruit, Perry had his choices narrowed to Temple, Virginia Tech and Kansas State.He had a good feeling about Temple from the start of the recruiting process with assistant coach Aaron McKie, a Temple great who went on to play in the NBA, at the forefront of Perry's desire to play for the Owls.

"It was pretty much the best fit for me," Perry said. "The relationship I built with Coach McKie, he's overall a good man and his path is similar to mine, so I felt he's going to lead me in the best direction."

Temple has had a lengthy list of quality shooting guards, McKie among them, to go on to play professionally and Perry has the same aspirations. Last season, Perry averaged 20.4 points, 12 rebounds and 5.1 assists in his second season at Poly.

Coming to Baltimore from Edenton, N.C., a one-school town in the Outer Banks, was a big adjustment for Perry, but he quickly adapted.

Poly coach Sam Brand said Perry's work ethic in the gym and classroom — Perry maintains a 3.3 grade-point average — have allowed him to provide leadership for the other players.

On the court, it has translated into a dominant game that covers a lot of ground. Last season, he finished with 13 double-doubles for the 20-win Engineers.

"I think Dre's best asset is that other than the fact that he's really an exceptional athlete, he can do a little bit of everything, Brand said. "He's kind of a jack-of-all-trades guy in the age of positionless basketball.He can play point guard for us, he can play center for us. I think Temple sees him as a guy who can guard [point guard] through [power forward]. And offensively, he can really pass and he can shoot it. He rebounds well, he defends hard, he's a strong, tough kid with a really good handle on the ball. I think his versatility and his ability to play multiple positions impacts the game in different ways. It's the No. 1 thing that had him highly sought after and what makes him so good."

Pleased with his college decision and having it out of the way, Perry is looking forward to having his entire basketball focus on a banner senior season. The Engineers will be favored to defend their city championship and are hungry to bring home a state championship after being upset by Woodlawn in last year's regional playoffs.

"I can just play my senior year out like stress free," Perry said."I don't have to worry about recruitment and let it become a distraction, so it sounds really good."

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Baltimore Sun reporter Matt Bracken contributed to this article.