Recruiting notes, and the skunk is delicious

What's recruiting coverage without a little name-dropping? My Pinellas readers will remember the name from a few years back: Theo Wilson, once a standout dual-threat quarterback at Dunedin. In 2003, he made our All-Suncoast team as a junior, and he totaled 50 touchdowns passing and running in his last two years with the Falcons. Google him and you find words like "electrifying" and "terrific" and so on.

He didn't graduate from Dunedin until 2006, however, spent last year at Southwest Mississippi Community College and is now ready to make a splash at -- where else? -- Pearl River Community College, also in Mississippi. Wilson, 5-11 and 205 pounds, is likely a receiver on the college level, but he's been a USF target for years, and coach Tim Hatten said Tuesday he expects the Bulls to offer Wilson a scholarship.

"Every time I run into Jim Leavitt, he says 'Coach, when Theo gets his AA, we'll take him in a heartbeat,'" Dunedin coach Mark Everett said Tuesday.

-- Just to balance out a steady stream of July optimism: a blogger at MaizenBrew.com, a Michigan site, picks USF to finish sixth in the Big East, going 6-6 overall. He does like "Taurus Jackson" and talks about the defense being the "lynch pin" of the team. But he titles his piece "2007 Misguided and Misinformed Preview of the Big East," so who am I to criticize?

-- Those of you who are actually Times subscribers (of course, all of you are subscribers, no?) should check out Sunday's paper for a chance to win a trip to USF's football game at Auburn. I know this not because I work for the Times, but because I'm mooching off the free wireless at the Panera Bread off Fowler Avenue, and there's a sign there teasing the promotion. For all I know, they might be giving away the opportunity to write a USF-Auburn game story in my place. Times are tough.

-- An actual conversation overheard here at Panera, just because I wanted to share:

Customer, intrigued by a bakery sample: "What is this?"

Panera worker with Southern accent: "A scone."

Customer, looking a bit confused: "A skunk?"

Panera worker, enunciating better: "No, a scone."

Comments

[Mack]

Good thing we got "Taurus Jackson"
HAHAHAA
This guy is on crack

[Claudel]

Greg,
After CJL you moght be the hardest worker with any association to USF athletics. We should call up USF marketing department so that they cut you a check biweekly. Keep up the good work.

[Paul]

Thanks for the news and the entertainment. Skunk...? Are you serious?

[Reality]

Greg,

Is football going to be having the same scholarship reductions like those that will be affecting basketball in the coming years. I am mostly a basketball fan, and with only 13 scholarships, losing one due to academics is a large concern.

This is in regards to Theo Wilson of course, as his academics obviously indicate he should not be in college. Take too many of those, and you severely can hinder your future recruiting if you lose scholarships due to things like this.

[G.A.]

Reality has a good question. I think coaches are certainly aware of the potential APR repercussions any time they consider bringing in a recruit that has had academic problems. Having said that, falling below the threshold of 925 in a sport only makes a program susceptible to sanctions. If the school can show mitigating circumstances -- USF can cite its moving to the Big East as a factor for high turnover among football players, and the university can point to things like expanded staffing in its academic assistance office -- then the penalty may be limited to a letter of warning or something along those lines. Coaches will continue to weigh a recruit's talent against all the other variables he brings to a program, from character to academic issues and so on.

[Ari]

Any news on the Stan Heath basketball front...?

blurbs have been sparse?

Any talk of how the new guards are developing over the summer..?

[Dave]

Stan Heath has already drawn an inbounds play that actually works! He's already light-years ahead of Bob!

[Reality]

Dave,

You seem pretty confident of Heath's coaching, care to throw out your predictions for wins this year?

Does USF make the BET?

[Jim]

Well done Greg. Keep up the good work, but USF needs to focus on players that can put academics and sports both on the same level and understand being good at academics does help in sports.

[Al]

Does Panera's offer clotted cream to go with those scones?

[Dave]

Reality- I'm saying 6-8 wins and the 10-12 seed in BET. This is all predicated on the health of the BE's 2nd best big man and a qualified Jones/Chin tandem. I think that we'll have a strong inside/out tandem with KG and our guards, especially Holmes, and if one other guy (maybe the JUCO 6'9" guy) can help rebound, that should be enough to make the BET.

[Jim Johnson]

"Times are tough."

That's kinda funny, Greg.

[Reality]

Dave, if gambling was legal, I would love to take the under........

I really don't see where 6 wins are going to come from. The Big East is LOADED, and USF while getting some firepower in time for Big East play, they will still be severely undermanned. I can see 2 wins over Rutgers, but that is about it. Maybe sneak a game somewhere else on the schedule. I would wager 3 wins.