Recruiting file: Joey Gripper

Joey Gripper, a 6-foot-1 guard from nearby Abington Friends School in Jenkintown, Pa., says that although he originally had received interest from Penn, he wants to “get out” of the Philadelphia area.

“I had offers from Drexel and Penn a little bit earlier in the season,” Gripper said, “but Drexel said I gotta commit and I wasn’t really looking towards going there.”

Gripper took an official visit to Harvard earlier this fall and said the idea of relocating to the home of the Crimson (and the Celtics) is sounding pretty good.

“I love the city of Boston,” said Gripper, who compared his game to that of Celtics’ guard Rajon Rondo.

Though Gripper said he had an offer from Penn and is listed as such on Scout.com, according to Steve Chadwin, Gripper’s coach at Abington Friends, neither he nor Gripper has heard much from the Quakers in the way of recruiting. Gripper has started at point guard for Abington Friends since his freshman year and was voted MVP at the Harrington tournament in 2009, scoring 22 points, grabbing six rebounds and contributing 4 assists.

He says he plans to visit George Mason, Quinnipiac and Marshall in the coming weeks, though said he will make his choice towards the end of the coming season.

-Nina Wolpow