Penn Wood senior Tyree Bynum has had a heck of a summer ... and it resulted in a verbal commitment to Texas Southern University.

According to his coach, Clyde Jones, Bynum picked up seven scholarship offers after sterling AAU play at a tournament in Las Vegas. The offers are from: Alabama A&M, Florida Atlantic, Portland State, Grambling State, Texas Southern, Long Beach State and Utah State.

Late Friday night, Jones confirmed via text message that Bynum "has just committed to Texas Southern and  coach Mike Davis," he said. Jones said Bynum, a 5-10 guard, is at Texas Southern this week on a four-day visit to the Houston-based school.

Bynum had a breakout year for Penn Wood. He's expected to carry the torch this season for the Patriots, after All-Delco Malcolm Richardson's graduation. Bynum posted averages of 10.9 points, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game in his first full season as regular for Jones.

For a team accustomed to making the state semifinals (or better), Penn Wood's record might be viewed as a letdown.

But the Patriots, their youthful lineup and all, could stand to make some noise in the upcoming District One Class AAAA tournament ... and beyond.

Penn Wood (12-7), which will finish runner-up to Chester in the always competitive Del Val League, won the PIAA crown in 2009, lost the title game in 2010 and suffered an overtime defeat in the state semis in 2011. But these Patriots look far different than their counterparts from recent years. They don't have twin towers like Shawn Oakman and
Darian Barnes. They don't have an All-Delco point guard like Tyree Johnson, or an All-Delco power forward like Aaron Brown.

Instead, Penn Wood has Malcolm Richardson, pictured — one of the county's top scorers — and junior guards Jerry Price and Tyree Bynum. The Patriots' tallest player? Quardiar Sewell and Ali Sesay, who measure up to 6-2.

“District One basketball is unique because teams do their work. Coaches do their work," said Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones. "When you get to the playoffs, you know the other team has seen you at least a couple times. I’m expecting — I mean, we’re still making lineup changes — that we will be ready for districts.

"We’re not sure how far we can go. If we shoot well and defend, we can beat anybody. If we don’t, we’ll lose in the first round."

We'll know beginning Sunday, when the brackets are unveiled.

(Times staff photo / ROBERT J. GURECKI)

Here's a look at Delco's top 10 leading scorers, through Wednesday's games.

(Through Wednesday)

Name, School ... Avg (Point, Games)

1. Chuck Dorsey, Academy Park ... 20.2 ppg (121 p, 6 g)
2. Malcolm Richardson (right), Penn Wood...19.0 ppg (95p,5g)
3. Shawn Church, Ridley ... 18.8 ppg (169 p, 9 g)
4. Alec Stavetski, Arch. Carroll ... 15.0 ppg (75 p, 5 g)
5. Rob Pittman, Chichester ... 14.5 ppg (116 p, 8 g)
6. Ryan Furst, Marple Newtown ... 14.4 ppg (130 p, 9 g)
7. Matt Fox, Springfield ... 13.8 ppg (110 p, 8 g)
8. George Walker, Glen Mills ... 13.7 ppg (82 p, 6 g)
9. John Fender, Strath Haven ... 13.4 ppg (94 p, 7 g)
10. Tyree Bynum, Penn Wood ... 12.6 ppg (63 p, 5 g)
CLOSE CALLS: Ryan Kelly (Garnet Valley) and Mike McKale (Springfield) each average 12.3 ppg and Pat McGee (Marple Newtown) averages 12.0 ppg.

Some things to consider here:
**It's a three-horse race. Beyond Dorsey, Richardson and Church (pictured), there's a great disparity in the players' averages.
**Penn Wood has two representatives in the top 10, in Richardson and Bynum.
***Glen Mills' Raheem Harvey does not qualify because he hasn't played in two-thirds of his team's games. The 6-8 center, who missed four games, is averaging 26.5 ppg through two games, however.

One final note: The location and time of Chester's game New Year's Day against Christ the King (N.Y.) have changed. The game, between teams that opened the season ranked in nearly every national poll, tips off at 7:45 p.m. at Widener.