Education
During his high school basketball career he was named a Parade All-American. The Shawnee basketball team had a combined 59–3 record during Earl"s junior and senior years. In 1991-1992, his junior year, Shawnee was the New Jersey Group IV state champion, ranked #1 in New Jersey and #9 in the entire United States.
In 1992-1993 they were the South Jersey champion and was ranked #7 nationally.
Earl was named the United States of America Today New Jersey Player of the Year in 1993 and his 2,006 career points total ranked him as Burlington County"s all-time leading scorer at the time of his graduation.
Earl accepted a scholarship to Penn State University where he was the starting point guard on the basketball team all four years. He is one of Penn State"s all-time leaders in scoring and assists, and he was named to the All-Big Ten Conference team
The 1995-1996 Nittany Lions team started the season with a 19–2 record and was ranked #9 in the country at one point during the season.