GILCHRIST 'DOUBTFUL' TO RETURN TO USF; BULLS MOVE ON, DEFEAT AUBURN

South Florida got one big man back in the line-up, but another was still missing, and the Bulls were able to get past Auburn by the score of 61-49 Wednesday night in the Sun Dome. The win improved the Bulls' season record to 6-5 and snapped a two-game losing streak. Auburn drops to 3-6 on the season.

Jarrid Famous came off the bench to score a season-high 15 points on Wednesday. Famous, along with forward Augustus Gilchrist, missed the weekened trip to play Kent State. Gilchrist remained absent from the team last night and at this point it looks as though USF Doesn't Expect their Starting Forward to Return to the Team (St. Pete Times). Gilchrist was averaging 10.7 points a game this season after averaging 13 points and 6 rebounds a game last season.

On Saturday, USF head coach Stan Heath made his first appearance at Kent State since he led the Golden Flashes to the Elite Eight in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. He received a standing ovation before the game and the Bulls saw an early 11-point lead disappear as they fell 56-51 to the Golden Flashes. Famous and Gilchrist did not travel with the team for unspecified team reasons.

Famous returned against Auburn and scored his season-high, along with 6 rebounds, in 25 minutes off action off the bench. Hugh Robertson added 12 points and making their second consecutive starts in place of Gilchrist and Famous were Ron Anderson, who added 8 points and 12 rebounds, and Toarlyn Fitzpatrick who finished with 6 points and 9 rebounds. The Bulls outrebounded the visiting Tigers by a 40-28 margin.

The Bulls limited Auburn to 34 percent shooting from the floor. The were also able to get to the free throw line 39 times compared to the 14 trips made by Auburn. USF was only able to connect on 56% of their attempts (22), but their 9-2 advantage in second-chance points and bench production, led by Famous, was enough to get past the SEC program on Wednesday.

The win was USF’s first against an SEC school since 1995.

Coming off last season's 20-win campaign and the starting frontcourt duo of Gilchrist and Famous headlining their returning cast, 2010-2011 was hoped to be part of the continuing climb for Stan Heath and the Bulls in the Big East as a program. The likely departure of Gilchrist from the program will put those hopes in jeopardy this season.

"I don't want to throw anybody to the side, but it's a team. The team is the most important to me, having everybody on the same page, everybody with two feet in the circle," Heath said after the game to the St. Pete Times. "Nobody is bigger than the program. That's just the way I feel. If you're not here, you're not in the locker room, then you're not with the team."

Heath, as reported by the Times, said it was Gilchrist's decision to step away from the team, and there was little he could tell his coach now to change his future with the Bulls.

The Bulls host James Madison Saturday.

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JONES LEADS BULLS PAST UCF IN MEN'S BASKETBALL

South Florida rebounded from their disappointing loss to Central Michigan by riding the strong offensive play of junior Dominique Jones on Wednesday night as the USF Bulls Defeat Central Florida, 69-65 (St. Pete Times).

Jones Scored 27 in the win over UCF (Tampa Tribune) in front of a Sun Dome crowd of 4,627. USF fared better in their second game without leading scorer Gus Gilchrist, who is out four to six weeks with an ankle injury.

Seniors Chris Howard, who had 14 points and a team-high six assists, and Mike Mercer, who scored 12, also picked up some slack offensively. JUCO transfer Jarrid Famous had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, responding to Stan Heath's public challenge following the loss to CMU for the big man to step up. Famous had five points and just one rebound in the previous game.

USF plays San Francisco in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic on Saturday.

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: SOUTH FLORIDA

April 29, 2009


Commitment Alert: Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, 6'8 F from King High School in Tampa (FL)

South Florida looks to have closed out their front court recruiting efforts this spring with the additions of Westchester CC center Jarrid Famous and local PF Toarlyn Fitzpatrick in the last week. King's Fitzpatrick Signs With USF (St. Pete Times) and decides to stay home for his college career.


Projected 2009-2010 Roster:

Seniors: Chris Howard (PG), Alejando Rivas-Sanchez (C)
Juniors: Dominique Jones (SG), Jarrid Famous (C)
Sophomores: Eladio Espinosa (F), Juston Leemow (G), Augustus Gilchrist (C), *Anthony Crater (PG)
Freshmen: Shaun Noriega (G), Jordan Dumars (F), Mike Burwell (SG), Toarlyn Fitzpatrick (PF)

* Anthony Crater is a mid-year transfer and will be eligible in December of 2009.



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It has been a busy couple weeks for Stan Heath in his quest to add big men to the Bulls' roster. Candidates such as Jarrid Famous, Daequon Montreal, Glenn Bryant and Sandi Marcius have all visited, or were scheduled to visit, the South Florida campus in April. The biggest target was obviously Famous, who had been honored as a JUCO All-American for his dominating season at Westchester CC this past year. After visiting Arizona over the weekend, Famous returned home to make his decision and have a scheduled in-home visit with coach Heath. Famous must have liked what he heard, as he has opted to choose the Bulls over the other finalists.

While the recruitment of those frontcourt targets seemed to take center stage, it was a quieter process that saw the Bulls wrap-up their frontcourt recruiting. Just after Famous committed, the Bulls signed current King High School power forward Toarlyn Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick, who was the St. Pete Times Suncoast Player of the Year this past season, had signed with Georgia Southern in November, but was granted a release after coach Jeff Price resigned last month.

FItzpatrick told the Times that Miami, Alabama, Auburn and Tulane had contacted him this week since he got his release and Florida State had offered him prior to his signing with Georgia Southern last fall.

The original plan was for Famous to make his announcement last Wednesday at a ceremony at WCC where his jersey was going to be retired. However, the Arizona Daily Star reports the announcement was pushed up, according to WCC assistant coach Tyrone Mushatt, when WCC head coach Winston Nicholas passed away after a bout with cancer.

Famous is a long, lead and athletic big man that should team up well with senior Alex Rivas-Sanchez and sophomore Augustus Gilchrist in next year's rotation for the Bulls. Famous is still a player that many scouts refer to as 'potentially' an excellent player, but he will have two years to realize the potential. His improvement has been impressive since his high school and prep school days, so the Bulls are optimistic that improvement will continue and he will be a strong contributor from day one in the Big East.

With the commitments of Famous and Fitzpatrick, along with the transfer of Gaby Belardo this spring, USF still has one scholarships open for next season. With coach Heath Excited About the Frontcourt Signings (St. Pete Times), the Bulls are likely to hold onto the scholarship unless they can convince one of the best uncommitted point guards in the nation, Eric Bledsoe, who has also been considering the Bulls, to come on board. USF is Still in the Hunt for Bledsoe (St. Pete Times), along with UAB (his hometown school), Florida, Tennessee and Cincinnati, but they seem to be a longshot at this point in time.

Famous and Fitzpatrick joined late period addition Mike Burwell who committed to the Bulls in March. Burwell came to South Kent Prep in hopes of increasing his recruiting profile. The year of prep school certainly helped the East Brunswick (NJ) native, who won player of the year honors as a high school senior in 2007-2008 while leading Cardinal McCarrick to the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament Championship, reach his goal of being a high major conference recruit. Burwell completed the process by giving a verbal commitment to Stan Heath and his South Florida program while on an official visit there last month.

Burwell has the reputation of a shooter and has followed up his 27-point per game average of a year ago with a team-leading 19 points a game for the highly regarded South Kent Prep program. He had narrowed his college choices to South Florida, Evansville, Fordham, TCU and Central Florida, but the trip to USF won him over.

In the early signing period, the Bulls inked 6'6, 230 lb forward Jordan Dumars, again using coach Heath's Michigan ties. Dumars is the son of former NBA star and current Piston executive Joe Dumars. Jordan Dumars attends Detroit Country Day School and had formed a close relationship with Stan Heath that began with the relationship between Heath and his father.

On paper, Dumars fills a position of need on the USF roster (small forward) and leaves Stan Heath and staff with two scholarships remaining for the class of 2009 as the Bulls have even scored for the class of 2009 earlier with North Port shooting guard Shaun Noriega. Of course, with how busy it has been with players coming and going from their program, that could very well change.


The Bulls were needing immediate help in the class of 2008 with transfers of five players since the 2007-2008 season began. Guards Dante Curry, Aaron Holmes and Solomon Bozeman, along with forwards Ade Saaka and Orane Chin have all left the Bulls program to look for opportunities elsewhere. Also, recruits Teeng Akol, Dwan McMillan and Eugene Teague were not admitted to school because of academic difficulties, leaving the Bulls scrambling for the 2008-2009 season.


Stan Heath reached back to his Michigan roots once again and added Ohio State transfer Anthony Crater to the Bulls roster earlier this season. Crater lasted only a few months with the Buckeyes, playing in 10 games in his first semester as a freshman. In 13 minutes of action a game, Crater averaged 1.3 points a game and was unhappy with his playing time, so he has moved on.

After a weekend visit to South Florida, where he saw the Bulls take on Syracuse, Crater felt USF offered the best situation for his future. As a highly rated recruit out of Flint (MI), Crater was a highly targeted recruit by many top programs before he settled on OSU. The addition of JUCO guard Jeremie Simmons did not sit well with the Crater camp and as Simmons got more and more time early on, Crater took a look at his options and will join the USF program, following in the footsteps of other recent mid-year transfers such as Jesus Verdejo, Kentrell Gransberry, Augustus Gilchrist and Mike Mercer (since dismissed from the program) that have joined the Bulls in recent seasons.

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: SOUTH FLORIDA

April 20, 2009


Verbal Commitment Alert: Jarrid Famous, 6'11 C from Westchester (NY) CC.


Projected 2009-2010 Roster:


Seniors: Chris Howard (PG), Alejando Rivas-Sanchez (C)

Juniors: Dominique Jones (SG), Jarrid Famous

Sophomores: Eladio Espinosa (F), Juston Leemow (G), Augustus Gilchrist (C), *Anthony Crater (PG)

Freshmen: Shaun Noriega (G), Jordan Dumars (F), Mike Burwell (SG)

* Anthony Crater is a mid-year transfer and will be eligible in December of 2009.

South Florida head coach Stan Heath has been on a mission this spring to add depth and production to the Bulls' front court. It looks as the Bulls might have pulled off a mini recruiting coup as word is Jarrid Famous Commits to South Florida (ZagsBlog.net) over Missouri, Seton Hall and Arizona, where the 6'11 JUCO center visited last weekend.

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It has been a busy couple weeks for Stan Heath in his quest to add big men to the Bulls' roster and bring one of the weakest college basketball lines in the frontcourt up to snuff next season. Candidates such as Jarrid Famous, Daequon Montreal, Glenn Bryant and Sandi Marcius have all visited, or were scheduled to visit, the South Florida campus in April. The biggest target was obviously Famous, who had been honored as a JUCO All-American for his dominating season at Westchester CC this past year. After visiting Arizona over the weekend, Famous returned home to make his decision and have a scheduled in-home visit with coach Heath. Famous must have liked what he heard, as he has opted to choose the Bulls over the other finalists.

The original plan was for Famous to make his announcement on Wednesday at a ceremony at WCC where his jersey was going to be retired. However, the Arizona Daily Star reports the announcement was pushed up, according to WCC assistant coach Tyrone Mushatt, when WCC head coach Winston Nicholas passed away after a bout with cancer.

Famous is a long, lead and athletic big man that should team up well with senior Alex Rivas-Sanchez and sophomore Augustus Gilchrist in next year's rotation for the Bulls. Famous is still a player that many scouts refer to as 'potentially' an excellent player, but he will have two years to realize the potential. His improvement has been impressive since his high school and prep school days, so the Bulls are optimistic that improvement will continue and he will be a strong contributor from day one in the Big East.

With Famous' commitment and the transfer of Gaby Belardo this spring, USF still has two scholarships open for the spring. The thought is they will still pursue high schools seniors Glenn Bryant, who is likely to decide this week between USF, Arkansas and Detroit, and Sandi Marcius, a developing big man from an Indiana prep school, who is also considering Purdue and others. The Bulls have also checked out God's Academy big man Waverly Austin and one of the best uncommitted point guards in the nation, Eric Bledsoe, has also been considering the Bulls. USF is Still in the Hunt for Bledsoe (St. Pete Times), along with UAB (his hometown school), Florida, Tennessee and Cincinnati.

Famous is the second late period addition, joining Mike Burwell who committed to the Bulls in March. Burwell came to South Kent Prep in hopes of increasing his recruiting profile. The year of prep school certainly helped the East Brunswick (NJ) native, who won player of the year honors as a high school senior in 2007-2008 while leading Cardinal McCarrick to the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament Championship, reach his goal of being a high major conference recruit. Burwell completed the process by giving a verbal commitment to Stan Heath and his South Florida program while on an official visit there last month.

Burwell has the reputation of a shooter and has followed up his 27-point per game average of a year ago with a team-leading 19 points a game for the highly regarded South Kent Prep program. He had narrowed his college choices to South Florida, Evansville, Fordham, TCU and Central Florida, but the trip to USF won him over.

In the early signing period, the Bulls inked 6'6, 230 lb forward Jordan Dumars, again using coach Heath's Michigan ties. Dumars is the son of former NBA star and current Piston executive Joe Dumars. Jordan Dumars attends Detroit Country Day School and had formed a close relationship with Stan Heath that began with the relationship between Heath and his father.

On paper, Dumars fills a position of need on the USF roster (small forward) and leaves Stan Heath and staff with two scholarships remaining for the class of 2009 as the Bulls have even scored for the class of 2009 earlier with North Port shooting guard Shaun Noriega. Of course, with how busy it has been with players coming and going from their program, that could very well change.


The Bulls were needing immediate help in the class of 2008 with transfers of five players since the 2007-2008 season began. Guards Dante Curry, Aaron Holmes and Solomon Bozeman, along with forwards Ade Saaka and Orane Chin have all left the Bulls program to look for opportunities elsewhere. Also, recruits Teeng Akol, Dwan McMillan and Eugene Teague were not admitted to school because of academic difficulties, leaving the Bulls scrambling for the 2008-2009 season.


Stan Heath reached back to his Michigan roots once again and added Ohio State transfer Anthony Crater to the Bulls roster earlier this season. Crater lasted only a few months with the Buckeyes, playing in 10 games in his first semester as a freshman. In 13 minutes of action a game, Crater averaged 1.3 points a game and was unhappy with his playing time, so he has moved on.

After a weekend visit to South Florida, where he saw the Bulls take on Syracuse, Crater felt USF offered the best situation for his future. As a highly rated recruit out of Flint (MI), Crater was a highly targeted recruit by many top programs before he settled on OSU. The addition of JUCO guard Jeremie Simmons did not sit well with the Crater camp and as Simmons got more and more time early on, Crater took a look at his options and will join the USF program, following in the footsteps of other recent mid-year transfers such as Jesus Verdejo, Kentrell Gransberry, Augustus Gilchrist and Mike Mercer (since dismissed from the program) that have joined the Bulls in recent seasons.

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USF ACTIVE IN SPRING RECRUITING PERIOD

April 17, 2009


South Florida signed 6-foot-6 New Jersey native Mike Burwell, who prepped this season at South Kent in CT. The Guard, Burwell is 'Ecstatic' About Joining the Bulls (St. Pete Times) and will add some perimeter shooting touch to USF's squad.

USF is among the most active spring recruiting teams, once again this year, and are solidly in the Jarrid Famous sweepstakes as one of the several teams trying to sign the 7-foot JUCO all-american center. Famous is taking an official visit this weekend to Arizona and will have a visitor of his own when he returns from the trip as USF head coach Stan Heath Will Visit Famous on Sunday (St. Pete Times), just ahead of the expected college announcement which will come next Wednesday at Westchester CC during a ceremony where the school will retire his number.

Seton Hall and Missouri are the other finalists with USF and 'Zona for Famous.

Daequon Montreal and Glenn Bryant, both who visited USF last weekend, will make final visits to Boise State and Arkansas, respectively, before making decisions. Bryant played this past season at Oak Hill Academy and is also looking at the University of Detroit, near his Michigan home. Montreal played at the College of Southern Idaho the last two seasons. Heath will also have center Sandi Marcius in for a campus visit as well as USF continues to look to add frontcourt depth.

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SOUTH FLORIDA MAKES FIRST BIG EAST TOURNEY APPEARANCE

March 10, 2009


Another recent rematch from two weeks ago takes place in the nightcap of the opening round of the 2009 Big East Tournament when Seton Hall faces South Florida.

Seton Hall earned the 11th seed in the conference tournament when they rallied in the second half and ended up beating Cincinnati in overtime on the road Saturday. Bobby Gonzalez's team has continued to play hard all season with just seven eligible scholarship players and will look to earn a Big East Tourney win at the Bulls' expense.


Tonight is a first for the USF program as they are competing in their very first conference tournament game since joining the Big East. Previously, the Big East only invited the top 12 finishers to Madison Square Garden for the annual 'Garden Party', but with the expansion of the conference tourament to all 16 teams, the Bulls have been welcomed in.


Here are some pregame stories and previews from around the internet:

At Last, USF Bulls Feels they Belong in Big East (St. Pete Times)
Bulls Back at Garden (Tampa Tribune)
Seton Hall Enters Postseason with chip on their Shoulder (Star-Ledger)
Bulls Arrive in 'Garden' in Good Spirits (Tampa Tribune)

The Bulls are coming off a pitiful performance on Saturday afternoon when they lost at Rutgers 45-42. USF shot just 29.8% from the field as they fell to 4-14 in the Big East. While the four wins represented the most in a single Big East season for USF, they still have a long ways to go to become a challenger in this conference.

On February 25th, USF saw Seton Hall pull away from a two-point halftime lead to beat the Bulls 75-60 at the Prudential Center, just across the river from NYC in Newark (NJ). In that game, Dominique Jones (20), Augustus Gilchrist (20) and Alex Rivas-Sanchez (18) combined for 58 of the USF 60 points. Only Eladio Espinosa added another two points to the total.

The Bulls will need similar games from that trip as well as some production from Chris Howard and senior Jesus Verdejo, who has missed much of the last three weeks because of injury. Verdejo gave it a go against SHU the first time, but the Bulls second leading scorer was held scoreless in 21 minutes.

Jerem Hazell led SHU in the first meeting, scoring 20, and he also had help from Robert Mitchell (17) and Eugene Harvey (15) in the win. While the Pirates are not deep, neither are the Bulls, and the top five or six that Seton Hall will use is more talented, especially offensively.

The NCAA Basketball Odds have Seton Hall favored by 5 1/2-points tonight. This should be a relatively easy win for Bobby Gonzalez's team.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Seton Hall 78
South Florida 68

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SOUTH FLORIDA LOOKS TO EXTEND RUTGERS' SEASON OF MISERY

March 7, 2009


JR Inman, Anthony Farmer and Jaron Griffin were supposed to represent a new direction for Rutgers basketball as the three local Jersey recruits were wooed into staying home by Gary Waters. However, Waters did not make it past their freshman seasons and now, with a 1-16 Big East record in their final season, the three seniors look to end their final home game in the RAC on a positive note.

South Florida stunned NCAA hopeful Cincinnati earlier this week, and in doing so, the Bulls set a Big East season-best in their history with four conference wins. Dominique Jones once again led the way with a 30-point performance in the win.

Luckily for both teams this is not their last game as the 2009 Big East Tournament has expanded to include all 16 conference teams. So, they will both get to lace them up at least one more time this year. It will be USF’s first trip to the Big East tournament, same for RU coach Fred Hill, Jr.

Here are some pregame stories and previews on the game:

Rutgers Men’s Basketball Seniors Know Expectations Were Not Met, Are at Peace (Star-Ledger)
For RU Seniors, A Day of Reckoning (mycentraljersey.com)
Trio Takes Away Bond of Friendship (Asbury Park Press)

A week ago, USF looked absolutely gassed as their short-handed team was running on empty in a home loss to West Virginia. This week, however, UC rebounded and showed life with a strong second-half in a win over Cincinnati, a team playing for their NCAA Tournament lives.

Now they hit the road for the regular season finale with Rutgers. A team that will look to salvage a little something in their season gone wrong. At 1-16 in Big East play, RU has little left to play for except for a chance to send their three seniors out as winners. Distractions foreshadowing a possible rocky offseason have begun with the Corey Chandler transfer possibilities becoming public after Tuesday’s blowout loss to Syracuse.

The lone conference win for RU this season was a home beatdown of winless DePaul earlier this year. This should be their second conference win…if not…well, there really is not much lower they can go at this point.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Rutgers 66
South Florida 60

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