The fall signing period for basketball starts on Wednesday, but USF coach Stan Heath has lost one of his two commitments, as 6-foot-11 center Gene Swindle of Miami will sign with Virginia Tech and former USF coach Seth Greenberg after visiting the Hokies this weekend.
"He's going to Virginia Tech. He decided (Monday) night," Gulliver Prep coach Harry Gordon said. "He just liked the whole situation and wanted to play in the ACC."
Swindle had been Heath's first commitment, then re-opened his recruitment three weeks ago when Virginia Tech missed out on other recruits and invited him for a campus visit. Heath visited Swindle in Miami last week, trying to keep him as a USF commitment, but Gordon said Swindle simply preferred the Hokies, who will redshirt him his first year on campus.
Without Swindle, the Bulls are expected to sign one player this week, 6-foot-8 forward Eladio Espinosa of Norlina, N.C., currently playing for Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia. Heath has two more scholarships available for the spring signing period and is expected to target a center and point guard.
Times sportswriter Greg Auman, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin and we invite your participation in the comments area.
Ari,
9-9 in conference play? cmon guy, who are you kidding? Why do you do this to yourself every year.
Posted by: Herm | November 13, 2007 at 11:12 PM
Man, he would rather redshirt at V Tech than play right away in the big East at South Florida? And the salt in the wound to the last person to bring any excitement to USF basketball, Seth Greenberg. I can just magine how that conversation at Gene's home "Mr. and Mrs. Swindle, I coached there before, believe me they are dedicated and content with losing."
We may be doomed. Still wish we would have brought in Huggins WHEN we had the chance. Give us Bill Walker and Michael Beasley then leave...no problem. Better off than where we are at now. We just lost to Cleveland St. and now Buffalo. Call one a fluke call the other a huge reason for concern. Do they give refunds on season tickets?
Delusional people will blame Mac's era on the shambles Greenberg left us in, but I know the Mac era was the reason we are where we are today and may be there for a few years. The era was so detrimental to this program a solid coach like Stan Heath may not even be able to dig us out of this.
Posted by: Herm | November 13, 2007 at 11:09 PM
Tebow, I know you Florida people don't realize basketball is even a sport even with 2 straight ncaa tourney victories, but the Big East is far superior to any conference in regard to basketball.
Posted by: Reality | November 13, 2007 at 08:27 PM
USF - Buffallo game is live web streamed if anyone wants to watch it.
http://www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu/multimedia/index.shtml
Posted by: Ari | November 13, 2007 at 08:26 PM
ask MSU what the BE is like...getting whipped by our top team, an MSU team that should finish the regular season 8-4 and with a winning SEC record.
Posted by: SB | November 13, 2007 at 08:05 PM
Wrong sport, tebow. Greg Monroe, #1 in nation, picked Georgetown.
And as far as football goes, no one here really feels any need to justify the BEAST. We know the conference is legit and most of the voters know it, too. We beat each other up this year- a sign of depth, just like the SEC. While the SEC is a little more talented overall, both conferences enjoy having 3/4 of their teams competitive, and almost every team being capable of an upset.
Posted by: Dave W | November 13, 2007 at 07:05 PM
Greg, thanks for keeping the basketball coming. What do your sources tell you about Gary Flowers? He would automatically be Cee's favorite basketball player with his criminal past.
http://njmg.typepad.com/zagsblog/2007/11/hall-in-running.html#more
Posted by: Reality | November 13, 2007 at 06:05 PM
Nobody wants to play in the Big Least. You guys can get some more drop outs with dreadlocks from the big conferences.
Posted by: tebow | November 13, 2007 at 06:05 PM
Pretty bad when a guy chooses a redshirt season over a guaranteed 15 mins/night in the BEAST. Right now, we just don't have much to offer a recruit other than Stan Heath- which can only go so far.
I was unable to go the game Friday, but it seems like Ari might be more than a little optimistic. I think we win 4-5 BEAST games, all on the back of KG. Basically, if KG gets in foul trouble, we're screwed.
Posted by: Dave W | November 13, 2007 at 05:43 PM
Nobody said it was going to be easy, but Heath will get it done.
9-9 in conference play and I aint budging.
You watch. Jones at the guard position looked very solid last friday.
Gransberry will get us at least 5 wins by himself.
Posted by: Ari | November 13, 2007 at 03:59 PM