A few more odds and ends ...

Lots of notes today -- I'll start with an update from the Times' Joe Smith on some of Pinellas County's top basketball recruits for next year. That includes Mike Morrison, a 6-foot-9 forward from Lakewood who got a scholarship offer from Stan Heath this summer. The Bulls are the first team from a major conference to offer Morrison, who will play in the AAU nationals this weekend. Other things worth noting ...

-- The LeBrandon Glover saga is over. USF has agreed to release the freshman linebacker, allowing him to transfer to Division I-AA Elon, which is the Bulls' opponent in next month's season opener. He's transferring with the understanding that he won't be allowed to play against the Bulls. "I have to sit that one out, but I'm real excited," he said. "I'm ready to play football again."

-- We've told you about the slew of kids trying to walk on with the Bulls, and how the team is bumping up against the roster limit of 105 players. The newest name to add to the list is J.P. Moriarty, a quarterback and cornerback from Orlando Bishop Moore, who has turned down I-AA scholarship offers to enroll at USF. There's no room for him on the roster this fall, but he's content to have a shot at open tryouts in February, where his 6-foot, 190-pound frame is probably best suited at defensive back. He's working out this summer with Apopka quarterback Andy Summerlin, who also hopes to join the team in spring.

-- USF's Student Government has an official game-day T-shirt drive going, with nearly 2,000 already sold this summer. The "OUR Shirt" campaign hopes to have 10,000 T-shirts sold by the West Virginia home game, with the count Thursday standing at 1,886 shirts sold. The cost is just $6 ($5 for USF students) and shirts are available at the Marshall Center on campus, at Bulls Heaven in Tampa, and at Helinger Advertising on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg. Helinger does the T-shirts for the Times as well, and I've been wearing them for years. You can buy the shirts online at bullsheaven.com, but the shipping costs more than double the cost for a single shirt.

Comments

[He Who Knows]

Reality, I never said Loucks wasnt a talent, he's an unbelievable high school player. However, if you think that he's going to be a top flite point guard in the ACC you have another thing coming. The guy throws more interceptions than Brett Favre and he's a sloppy ball handler. Thats gonna cost him on the college level. Now if FSU decides to use him as a shooting guard the sky is the limit. But as a point, Loucks will struggle against the stronger teams in the country.

[Reality]

I guess the guy who "knows" about Loucks, doesnt mention that the kid is playing in the NIke Global Challenge this week. although, I havent seen much in the paper about it. Not too many local kids make a dent in the basketball recruiting arena, and it is a shame you guys miss the boat and try and put these guys down. And yes, Loucks is among the top 50 players in the USA. Not too bad for a Clearwater kid.

And if you would like, we can dig up old rankings and you will be hard pressed to find guys that are 1 st round picks that were not top 100 kids coming out of high school. Not to say that kids outside this number cannot become stars, but it helps to be a top flight kid.
Let me know when USF gets one of these players......

[Dave]

Basketball has looser systems than football- If Loyola had Big Country, then Bo Kimble would find a way to give him the ball. It is much easier to alter a system in basketball for the available talent because you only 5 guys to worry about at any given time. At Loyola, play Reeves 25 mins a night with 3/4 pressure man defense and a slightly uptempo pushing offense with Reeves as a trailer for the initial shot (like Loyola used to do) and then go to the traditional half court set when there is an offensive rebound. When he's not in there, go wild. Pretty easy to figure out.

Even star ratings don't work out too well in basketball, otherwise Mustafa Shakur would've been the #1 pick and Solomon Jones would never have seen an NBA floor. Last year, Jason Bennet would've played more than 5 mins a game for Huggins. There are too many variables with star ratings- what is the kid's academic situation, is he passionate about the game (a HUGE factor), does he have problems with the law, will he grow, can he learn to adapt to the higher level of competition, and, is he coachable? Star ratings take none of these questions into account.

[USFMikeB]

I love blogs like this: a place where anyone can get online and make incredibly assinine statements such as the one that questions why USF didn't outrecruit Florida for a 4 and a 5 star recruit in our neck of the woods. Nowhere does it enter the equation that Florida was the reigning champ that was expected to repeat this year and the fact that although this may be our backyard, it is also Florida's neighborhood. Some folks just really need to think about things before they post...

[He Who Knows]

For Reality: I have seen Loucks play several times and while he is a man among boys at the high school level, as a college prospect he is overrated (as a point guard). He's a 2-guard on the college level with some PG passing ability. Loucks is in love with the home run cross court pass, these passes are turnovers on the college level and he isnt the best ball handler either. He's an excellent shooter/scorer but if FSU is gonna use him as a PG they better be ready to deal with a lot of turnovers.

[Reality]

Dave, Wow, quite the diatribe. Basically calling Billy Donovan a potential crook. If only we had a basketball rivalry with anybody but Saint Leo, then I think your statement would draw some ire.

And if you think basketball doesnt have a system, then you need to just stick to football, like the rest of the USF faithful.

For example, a guy like Bryant Reeves would not excel at the Loyola Marymount circa 1990. Similarly you would not want a guy like Mattis if you were an outside jump shooting team.

[Dave]

Reality- football and basketball recruiting are different animals. In football, it is a lot harder to peg the future stars because so much of the game is team-oriented, and because many high schools tend to have several prospects. Basketball stars take over games and win consistently- a bad HS football team still may have 1 or 2 D-1 prospects, but I guarantee that a bad basketball team won't be producing a D-1 talent that year. Plus, basketball doesn't require kids to really fit a system- a coach can have a more general idea of the type of player he wants, whereas football, for instance, some coaches want tall, rangy DBs for a zone whereas others want speedsters who can go 1 on 1.

Also, the top guys in basketball are influenced by the shady AAU world. USF wouldn't have a chance at Parsons or Calathes if we paid them (as they possibly were)

[Steve]

Greg,
Thanks for running the blog about our shirts. We're hoping to really pick up sales in the month of August and continue throughout the season.

About advertising...Word-of-Mouth is the main form but we do plan on putting a lot of ads in the Oracle and around campus. Also, we hope to get some help from USF's official newspaper, The Times.

Remember, wear them to every home game...especially against WVU

[Reality]

Well since the real story on Kohn never came out, I am not sure if we can blame CRM or not.........

CRM had it tough to recruit, when his job was not secure.

[G.A.]

I think Parsons gave USF a solid sniff, and Calathes was already on board with Florida when Kohn joined USF's staff. That Kohn didn't work out with the Bulls wasn't really something you could hold Robert McCullum accountable for, was it?

[Reality]

This is the perfect example for the football folks who don't understand my point about bringing in top flight kids. While Mike Morrison would be a great get for USF, as I think he is a riser, ALA GEORGE SELVIE. He is a 3 star recruit, which is generous, and his main interest has been Applachian State, Ball State, Tennessee Tech, and continuing the Lakewood pipeline to BUTLER. All mid-major schools, and while Brian Ligon was able to go to Butler and be in MANY more tournament games than USF has been to, these are all not top flight teams you are fighting, so I would hope Heath can pull this off. But realize the kid is what he is, very thin for the Big East 6 9 185 pounds. His Lakewood team played in the State title game a team lead by UF signees and 4 and 5 star recruits in Parsons and Calathes and they got ANNIHILATED, I mean KILLED! 85-42 for those scoring at home. There are differences in talent, and while he could progress to being a nice player on the collegiate level, chances are higher that Nick Calathes will excel. Take note of the Clearwater guard Loucks, and see the difference in talent level of which he possesses. That would have been the kind of kid, that USF is in DESPERATE need of. Reggie Kohn should have been used to get CALATHES and PARSONS here, and it was a shame that did not even get a sniff.

[Jim]

Greg, thank you for the information about the company in St. Petersburg that sells the T-Shirts. I am going to pick one up today.

[CP]

Like the shirt idea....but what's the gist behind it?

[JoeB]

Thats pretty good so far for the shirts. Summer session, not many students at school on a regular basis. Hopefully it will pick up once school starts and we'll sell out of those babies before WVU. Will they be advertising these in the Oracle?

[Andrew]

Keep the stories coming…I check this site all day long for updates. You’re the best!