(Courtesy Reading Eagle)

Eric Brennan doesn’t know Finnish. He doesn’t own a Finnish-to-English dictionary, either. Sunday, Brennan’s making a trip across the Atlantic Ocean to begin his professional career … in Finland.

Brennan, a Chester native who played at West Catholic High, signed a one-year contract with a team in Finland’s first division – Tapiolan Honka, located in the nation’s second-largest city, Espoo.

“I might need a little help with some of the signs in the windows and things like that,” said Brennan, a 6-7 forward. “But I hear everyone over there speaks English – or at least broken English. I hope I can get by.”

Brennan finished his college career with per-game averages of 14 points and 9.3 rebounds last spring at Kutztown University, where he played the last two seasons. He played two years at Lock Haven University before transferring. Brennan, who grew up on East 18th Street in Chester, said playing three hours away from home while at Lock Haven constitutes “my longest roadtrip.”

“I’ve never been further away from home for as long as I was than when I was at Lock Haven,” Brennan said, “so being an ocean away, I expect culture shock and homesickness to settle in. But I think I’ll get through it. Basketball is going to be my life.”

Brennan will join Tapiolan Honka, of Finland’s first-division Korisliiga. He signed a one-year deal to play in the league, which features a 25-game regular season that concludes April 30 with postseason pairings to follow.

He said it’s always been a dream to play basketball professionally and now he’ll get his chance.

“This is my career. This is what I’ve always wanted,” Brennan said.

At what seemed like Monsignor Bonner's final home game in the storied history of its boys basketball program, the underclassmen on the roster donned specially-made T-shirts for warm-ups. The green threads read: "FRIARS FOREVER."

It seems that could be the case.

First reported Friday afternoon by MyFoxPhilly.com, Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast are among the four high schools that avoided closure by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia following extensive appeals processes and fundraising efforts.

The others were West Catholic and St. Hubert's in Philadelphia and Conwell-Egan in Bucks County. Those four high schools had been placed on the Archdiocese's "recommended closure list" by the Blue Ribbon Commission, which revealed the results of its report last month.

It's believed Bonner/Prendie raised more than $5 million, while St. Hubert's collected close to $1.5 million. The Archdiocese made the announcement at 3 p.m. with further details.

UPDATED: 4:21 p.m.

West Catholic rising senior Aquil Younger announced Wednesday that he's given Drexel University a verbal commitment to play with the Dragons' men's basketball team in 2011-12.

Why is this news in Delaware County? Because Younger told a reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer that he plans on spending his senior year at Penn Wood.

According to a Penn Wood source, Younger - a Lansdowne native - has not completed the transfer paperwork that would make his move from the Philadelphia Catholic League to the Del Val League official.

A 6-footer who had played point guard with the Burrs, Younger averaged 18 points per game en route to Second-Team All-Catholic Blue Division honors. He had batted around offers (according to the Inquirer report) from Niagara, La Salle, Temple, Charlotte and St. Mary's.

Penn Wood would certainly welcome Younger, should he transfer to his neighborhood school. He would easily fit into one of the Patriots' two starting spots in the backcourt vacated by graduated seniors Tyree Johnson and Will Brown.

If and when Younger transfers into Penn Wood, the Daily Times will be on the story. Until then, just be happy that another local kid has a Division I scholarship. Other than that, it's not what you'd call newsworthy in Delco.