Bulls get two commitments from Lake Gibson

USF's 2008 recruiting class has doubled to six verbal commitments in the last week, with Lake Gibson teammates Josh Garvin and James Jones accepting scholarship offers Friday to play for the Bulls.

Lake Gibson has been a reliable source of early commitments for the Bulls, starting with quarterback Matt Grothe three years ago, then defensive end Claude Davis, who committed last summer but failed to qualify. The latest are Garvin, a 6-foot-4, 275-pound offensive lineman who could play guard or tackle, and Jones, a 6-2, 232-pound defensive end who had 93 tackles and 12 sacks last season.

"I liked the way the coaches treated me and the way the players acted around each other," said Jones, who said he had offers from West Virginia and Indiana and also was recruited by Virginia Tech and Iowa.

Garvin, who moved to Lakeland from Akron, Ohio, his freshman year, said he had offers from Baylor, Ball State and Florida International and drew interest from Florida, Florida State, North Carolina and Alabama. Tide coaches called his line coach at Lake Gibson on Monday, encouraging him to keep his options open, but he says if he takes any official visits this fall, it'll only be so he can "enjoy the recruiting process."

"I don't plan on changing my mind. I'm definitely committed to USF," said Garvin, who said the Bulls didn't start recruiting him until this spring.

The Bulls are after another Lake Gibson senior, lineman Ricky Barnum (who has 20-plus offers and will take visits this fall), and are in strong position to land former Lake Gibson receiver Roger Frazier, now at Pearl River (with Claude Davis) in Mississippi. So in two years, you could have easily have five or more Lake Gibson graduates on USF's roster.

From the Where Are They Now Dept., Jones is a stepbrother of former South Sumter and Florida star Earl Everett, now a rookie with the Cincinnati Bengals, and South Sumter's Carlos Everett, who strongly considered USF before signing with N.C. State in 2006. He failed to qualify and spent last season at Hinds Community College in Mississippi, where he's now one of the top juco receivers for next year's class. South Sumter coach Inman Sherman said Carlos is talking to Florida and Florida State about next year, as well as Mississippi, but wants very much to return to his home state. And loyal blog readers will remember former South Sumter quarterback Jarrod Fleming, who had sought to walk on at USF in January but was not accepted into school. He'll play quarterback at Hinds this fall.

Comments

[Dave]

How does Jones compare to Claude Davis? I like Lake Gibson, but the Dreadnaughts are the pipeline we have to get.

[Dave]

Speaking of pipelines, how is the South Sumter team looking this year?

[Terry]

The Dreadnaught pipeline flows north to Gainesville.

[Jason]

That's been true all along through now, so we need to get one or two recruits along the way and start turning that pipeline west towards Tampa. If we can get that one or two, then more will likely follow.

[Homer]

Did Coach Leavitt go after any of the seven Dreadnaughts the Gators got this past year ... and what do we have to do to go head-to-head with UF for big-time recruits?

I think we will compete when we win two championships in a decade and spend nearly a quarter of a billion dollars a year on our athletics program. It also wouldnt hurt if the upper deck was open on home games, locals showed some form of fan support and people really got behind the school.

[Brian]

I love the negativity one finds in unsigned posts.

The more we win, the more our recruiting will improve. Win the Big East and play in a BCS birth and you will see recruiting jump by leaps and bounds.

Hopefully, we will be able to keep some continuity in our assistant coaching staff that are all apparently "great recruiters."

Apart from the LHS pipeline, there is plenty of football talent floating around the rest of polk county. Rather than worrying about winning the UF recruits over, I'd settle for taking some of the FSU/UM recruits. UL and WVU have landed some "big recruits" that had offers from those colleges and it would seem we should do the same.

Things will come with time.

[Sandro]

I agree with Brian, we are just not there yet where we can compete with UF for their recruits, and there is probably only a couple of schools in the country that can. However, it will come in a few years where we can compete with anybody. For right now we need to make sure that we get those three and four-star players that are in this state and there is plenty of them.

[Jim]

We are at the top of the hill we only have a few more seasons to go and you will see us recruiting for recruits like never before. Our upgrade to the BCS Conference helped, now we need to win the Big East. One step at a time and just enjoy the fun.

[cee]

Leavitt will continually bring in 2-stars and the only 4 or 5 stars that he will bring in will have discipline problems or will not qualify academically (see all the scrubs who had to be sent over to pearl river community college)

[Dave]

Well, Brian, cee gave you negativity in a signed post. I think we need to focus on guys who have 7-8 BCS offers, and keep our BE rivals from getting guys out of Florida. Losing the Barron Collier RB to Pitt last year is an example of the guys we need to close on, because now that guy will be running on us, instead of for us. I really do want to see us get some premier guys pretty soon. I think Leavitt needs to do some more publicity work, like Schiano has done to increase Rutgers' profile in NJ (which is a huge Big-10 and Notre Dame/BC recruiting ground).

[Byron]

How does the Bulls' football budget compare to other BE teams? I was told that Coach Leavitt has to drive to visit recruits where our in state rivals (Bowden and Meyer) fly.

[Paisa el Toro]

I actually agree to a certain extent with the unsigned post. USF has a long way to go in terms of spending money on athletics and getting the local support we so rightly deserve. It takes time.

[cee]

Dave, excellent post.. it is pretty sad when a coach in the state of new jersey is recruiting the state of florida better than the head coach of a BCS program located in the heart of the sunshine state (ahem, leavitt).. the guy can't recruit and he cant remain consistent throughout a year (i.e.- beating WVU and losing to Kansas in the same year).. remember, this is the guy who lost to Army during his own homecoming game. I have always said we should have made a play for Butch Davis.. he knows how to build a BCS program in florida.. instead, we are stuck with this overachieving 1-AA coach.

[BadA$$Bull]

TBONE61,

I mean Cee, the key to being believable is subtlty. Your post is to over the top for anyone to think that you are a USF fan. Nice try though! BTW, USF 27 WVU 17 as our defense dominates the game...again!

[Curtiss "Block of Text" Gibson]

I typically write the unsigned posts. I'm lazy; I don't fill in all the blanks. I am a pretty serious USF fan. I’ll guarantee you I would probably have been the only guy on the subway in New York City with a Bulls hat on, and I’ve listened to a fair share of games on the radio because they rarely get TV play elsewhere in the nation. (And when they do, it’s getting creamed by Cincy in front of 200 fans) I go to the school now, but I was a fan just because I grew up in Clearwater, and I enjoy watching a program come into existence, instead of just rooting for the big winners.

I just might not share in the same eternal optimism as everyone else does. Am I proud of the program? Yes. Do I think it's moving up? Yes. But top tier in the eyes of a recruit? That might take more than two years. It doesn’t work as easily as it does in your NCAA 2008 videogame. In that game, a solid season puts fans in the seats and fake players want to play for your school…

Tampa is a “win for me first, and then I'll go to your games” type of town. (See Buccaneers, D-Rays, Lightning) But those are pro teams. Good ownership can pay for a winner, which will result in more fans. But unfortunately, college sports works opposite of that. Teams need a solid fan base to put money into the program, a broad and wealthy alumni base and heritage. Has anyone else noticed that 620 WDAE’s TV spots and billboards don’t have any trace of USF on them? I sure do, pretty funny coming from a radio station that criticizes its listeners for not rooting for the home team. I have, however, noticed Gator logos on all of them. In fact, I’m sure most of you reading this have seen the multiple billboards they have posted touting the Gator’s championships. Sure, they broadcast their games, but not even a USF logo? This is the root of why there is still an big uphill climb. What star from anywhere out of the region or state will put USF first, when the kids in the Tampa area have grown up watching all the other teams being idolized.

Also, money other schools put toward recruiting and advertising is going to renting a stadium 25 minutes from campus for games. That also cuts into other gross they could be making off of home games. It also doesn’t look so great for potential recruits or fans, what with the Buccaneers flag painted white and the Bull’s logo in the middle. The giant pirate ship, empty upper deck and thousands of red seats in the lower bowl don’t scream Bulls football. The lack of an on campus stadium is not only shooting the football team in the foot, but the school itself is missing out on money generated by an upper echelon athletics program. An on campus stadium would really boost the presence of the team to the largely commuter based school. More student fans might show up, they might buy that extra hat or shirt. Would the stadium be smaller? Sure, at first, but the money wouldn’t be going anywhere else.

When I visited UF for the first time, I thought it was pretty cool strolling through Ben Whatever Stadium before my cousins graduation ceremony. It was really an impressive thing to see. And, imagine as a recruit, the different experience you would see from that.

And for everyone who thinks one or two big upset years are going to dramatically change the program, it takes much more. Boise State was just perfect, with a huge BCS win. Look at their class ranking. However, Rutgers has a solid year, and you can bet their year will show some recruiting results. That scene following their Louisville win will really make an impression. Our Louisville win was impressive two years ago, but no one will remember the post game scene.

So, is USF on the rise? Yes, in spite of the fact the community ignores them and the school is not investing in the one thing that would turn us from an occasional Big East contender to a consistent BCS bowl team. It’s just going to take some time, and much more backing to get us there.

[cee]

Curtiss,

Great post.. some of these USF can be a bit delusional because they do not understand the entire football landscape. The lack of an on campus stadium takes a big hit on our program, and the casual USF fans fail to realize this. It is because they have never experienced a game outside of USF's "Commuter" gameday experience of driving 25 mins away to someone else's stadium with th other team's colors to play our "home" games.. Instead, USF decides to upgrade facilities of sports that will provide no financal return whatsoever.

The on campus gameday experience in itself is a great recruiting tool for kids out of high school. on top of that, it also brings in a lot of money to the university where 100% of the revenue goes to the college. It's also a great recruiting tool for high school students who are just visiting the school and are not athletes.. again, USF drops the ball on these issues and it hurts the program in the long run. in terms of finances, USF needs to remember where it's bread is buttered, and where it makes the most money is from FOOTBALL. therefore, an on campus stadium is IMPERATIVE to making the university money to improve the other facilities... however, USF has decided to circumvent its main cashcow in order to support the "other" sports.. and the casual fans still support these decisions.

[G.A.]

I'm the last guy to complain about somebody writing long, so no problem here. Glad to see good discussion on these boards. Comments are way up in the past week, which is a sign football season is approaching.

Have i mentioned my caps-lock key is now broken as well?

[Nuke]

Cee,

I grew up in the 80's going to the Canes games in someone else's stadium and boy did it hurt that program. They could have won 10 national championships with their own stadium. USC has also struggled to cope with not having an OCS, one day they will pull it together. USF is not at the top yet but it does come with big wins and then comes consistent big wins and bowl games and then fans and then recruits. I watched this happen in Miami. What is your counter point or experience? I have been to many games at FSU and UF and it is nice but not the end all be all. Both stadiums make it kind of hard to tailgate as there is limited parking and room. Somehow the fans at RJS myself included manage to have a great game experience on Sundays when the Bucs play.

The band and the students and the type of play is what makes CFB great not the stadium. I was at Rutgers two years ago and the students partied in their dorm and then came to the game late. Not a great atmosphere but a nice little stadium in a nice setting. It had no impact on the outcome of the game or the level of play.

There is no reason to leverage the finances of USF for something not needed now; unless you have an open checkbook.

[cee]

Nuke, your statements of USC and UM are rather foolish.. 1st, USC's stadium isn't 'technically' on campus, but it is literally across the street from campus.. therefore, it is on-campus, but not by definition.. as for UM, they were a different beast than USF.. UM never had to battle with dealing with the commuter school image. this commuter school persona adds to the student apathy of sports on campus and leads to poor attendance.. now, UM is notorious for not selling out its stadium, but with an enrollment of under 8,000 students, it is understandable given they are off campus and their school is small.. also, UM took the correct approach when building in the 80's.. they recruiting studs and they didn't choke during meaningful games.. as proven in the past, USF has choked at opportunities that would have changed the tide of the program.. for instance, USF had an opportunity to battle WVU at home for the big east title, with the only thing standing in their way was an away game against lowly UCONN. USF choked away their opportunity at the title, in essence, choked away at growing the program by leaps and bounds. this is all due to poor coaching and poor recruiting of pulling in 2-star athletes in a state saturated with the best talent in the nation.

USF needs all the help they can get.. and considering it is not getting done by the coaching staff, the OCS would bring in dollars that could at least bring a buzz to campus, the program, and money to the program which would pay for facilities of other sports. however, USF did it backwards and this level of student apathy for the games and not selling out the lower bowl will persist while fans like you embrace going to birmingham for our bowl games.

[Claudel]

An on campus stadium does not bring money into a school if it is not paid for first. Your boys down the street (UCF) will not see real income from their "on campus stadium" for something like 20 years (unless you plan on giving them a check for about 45 million). BTW according to Rivals the state of Florida (last year) had about 40 4/5 star recruits of which 4 were in what I consider the Tampa area (Bradenton, Seffner). Most were in the Miami (UM base) and Lakeland (UF base). It will take time to get our foot into these pipelines. Remember the program is only 10 years old. When the time is right the on campus stadium will be built. I think the first step is to get 30,000 season tickets sold (I have my two, maybe one day I will have the funds to increase it to 4).

[Curtiss Gibson]

http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/cms/images/miamibowl.jpg

http://www.southerngent.org/stadiums/rjs3.jpg

Couldn't find a better shot. Regardless, one stadium is able to look like it belongs to a team, while another looks like it was cut out of Universal City Walk. I think Ray Jay would be a suitable home team if it was filled with fans. How we can't scrounge up home game sell outs while the Bucs have a waiting list for season tickets eight states long? People are following the teams with longer histories. Hope we get there soon...

The administration needs to find a way to rally the student body around the athletic program. Using the “commuter school” excuse is no excuse. The last I looked, UF only housed 25 percent of its students on campus, yet those living off-campus have no problem finding their way to the stadium on game day (if they can get tickets). Why can’t our students find their way to RJS?

[Dave]

cee, UM recruited crack heads and criminals in the 1980s.

I wonder if the Lake Gibson guys knew they would set off a stadium debate?
My position is that it would be nice to have an on-campus stadium, but would it really be nicer than RJS? My only problem with RJS is when we can't paint the field.

As far as recruiting goes, I think we could improve a little bit as far as the "student" aspect goes (notice we had 0 academic all-BE players?). However, compare our record to schools with higher ranked classes (like Pitt). I think that our coaching staff gets more out of players- Wally is unquestionably the best coordinator in the nation. Greg Frey always produced good lines, I think Simmonds will keep that up. And now with Dan McCarney on the D-line, our coaching is even better. It's not the size of the star, it's how you use them.

[cee]

Dave, UM may have recruited questionable athletes, but they sure as hell weren't 1 and 2 stars that lost to RUTGERS and/or Kansas.

Claudel, how in the world can you say a university can't make money on an on campus stadium until it is all paid for first? are you saying that UF and FSU had paid for the swamp and the doak with cold, hard cash? NO. just like how people pay for houses, not all the money is needed up front.. you take out loans and pay off mortgages. the money made will be more than just attendance too.. USF will benefit by charging money for parking and merchandise sales on campus during gamedays.. not to mention, the local area will benefit from the infusion of people on saturdays and it will increase the relationships between the university and the local community.

[Claudel]

Cee,
I will use numbers that I understand (30 year residential mortgage - 7%). The monthly "mortgage" payment on a 45 million dollar loan (Assuming we build something identical to UCF) is $300,000 or 3.6 million per year. Also Assuming USF has 18,000 season ticket holders (which it does not yet have) @ $30/game/seat that is 3.2 million. Assume parking @ 10 and a generous game attendance of 36,000 that is $720,000 from parking (6 home games + 3 people per car).
Now if every single person at the game spends 10 dollars every home game that is 2.1 million dollars. Parking and food come out to 2.8 million/year. Add the 3.2 for season tickets you arrive at 6.0 million. Subtract 3.6 for your mortgage 2.4 million dollars in USF's pocket. That is less that the 3.2 the currently bring in thus making their operating budget smaller. Until USF has 30,000 season ticket holders it does not make financial sense to build an on campus stadium. In an accountants point of view the stadium is a liability and not an asset.
Also the flaw in comparing USF to Doak @ FSU, and Swamp @ UF is they have a MUCH stronger fan base with RABID fans that FILL to 80-100,000 people EVERY game. USF's greatest amount of fans in one game (49,000?) is the amount that UF gets for their spring game.

[cee]

Claudel, if USF NEEDS 30,000 ticket holders in order to fund a stadium, how the hell is UCF and FIU doing it with an even less fan base than ours? it can be done, our fans just need to believe it.. you are not helping the cause.

[Dave]

Cee, I know you're just trying to stir up trouble. It seems like you and Reality are the only people not pleased with last season...even in a down year for FSU and UM. Every recruiting class has gotten stronger for us, so stop complaining about them and worrying about a loss 3 years ago, a one-point loss to a top-25 team, and a loss on the road in the Big-12 (to a team which almost made a bowl) with a QB making his first real road start.

On the stadium issue, UCF and FIU needed stadiums far more than we need one. The Citrus bowl is a dump and FIU's was a D-1AA stadium. RJS on the other hand remains a beacon of light in stadium development. Architecturally, as a stadium, it is one of the 5 best in the nation, college or NFL. This season, it will be packed with USF fans. If SG's T-shirt idea works (one that I'll be promoting through my various student organizations), you won't even see the red seats.

And the pirate ship is pretty cool, even if it has nothing to do with a bull.

Speaking of bulls, Greg, do you have any info on the live bull the school bought?

[Claudel]

Cee,

I tried to break it down to you logically, but obviously you do not understand numbers with your third grade education. Please go to some other blog with more uneducated people like yourself (UCF, UNF, ECU, ALA).