Hoops: Simmons enjoys visit; Flowers out

Two new developments over the weekend in USF's basketball recruiting, first being that Mott Community College guard Jeremie Simmons said he enjoyed his official campus visit to Tampa, but will still visit at least one more school.

"It was great. I like the guys," Simmons wrote Sunday in an e-mail to the Times. "They've got some good guards down there. It's easy to play with them. I enjoyed myself."

While Simmons is still very much in play, another junior college standout, Chipola College power forward Gary Flowers, won't be signing with the Bulls this spring, or anywhere for that matter.

Chipola coach Greg Heiar said Monday that Flowers -- who had USF and Seton Hall as his top choices -- has decided to return for a second season at Chipola rather than sign with a four-year school.

"He could graduate this summer, but he wants to play another year here and help us win a national championship," Heiar said. "That's what he wants to do, and he'll get another year to mature and develop, so when he does to Division I basketball, he can do it with a big splash."

That could very well be true, but it also seems likely that he either was not in position to fulfill the academic needs to jump to a four-year school, or sought a higher level of team than was recruiting him. USF has power forwards Eladio Espinosa and Gene Teague coming in, so this might have been anticipated by Bulls coaches.

The spring signing period starts in two weeks, and USF seems high on the list for Simmons, a prolific scorer who would further bolster a deep backcourt for the Bulls.

"From all indications the visit to USF went well," Mott coach Steve Schmidt wrote Monday in an e-mail to the Times, saying that Simmons will visit Butler as planned and possibly one or other schools.

There's a new name I can offer in USF's pursuit of a top-line center or two for next season: The Bulls are among seven schools being considered by Krys Faber, a 6-foot-11, 255-pound center from Los Angeles.

Faber is an incredible rebounder, having averaged 17.5 rebounds per game as a senior in addition to 16 points and 5.5 blocks per game. He's already visited Minnesota and Northern Illinois and is due to visit DePaul on April 10, with UCLA, USC and St. John's also in the final mix. He nearly signed with Minnesota back in November, but then again hasn't committed to Tubby Smith's program in the months since.

"He likes to bang, likes to rebound, but he also has a nice 15-foot shot," said Ribet Academy coach William Middlebrooks. "We're interested in Stan Heath and everything he's been able to do as a coach. It could be a good fit for us."

Middlebrooks, who knows  Heath well from his time in Detroit, said Heath was in the process of getting out to Los Angeles for a home visit with Faber, and a campus visit could follow from there. Ribet, for the record, is pronounced rib-AY, though somebody there has a good sense of humor, as the school's mascot is the Fighting Frogs.

-- Former Bull Update: Guard Solomon Bozeman, transferring after two seasons at USF, has narrowed his choices to three schools: Georgia State, Arkansas-Little Rock and Tulsa. We'd mentioned Georgia State from the start, because Bozeman had signed with Rod Barnes out of high school at Mississippi. Bozeman visited GSU this weekend and was hosted by another former Bull, guard Dante Curry, who transferred there in December. He'll visit Little Rock on April 10 and likely Tulsa after that ...

Aquinas receiver is Bulls' 2nd commitment

Still here in New Orleans, and was literally walking on Bourbon Street when I got confirmation Sunday night on the second commitment in USF's 2009 recruiting class. His name is Dwayne Difton, and he's a 6-foot-1, 180-pound receiver from Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, which won the state's Class 5A championship last fall.

"They have a great program. I feel like it's a great fit for me," said Difton, whose commitment was first reported Sunday by Josh Newberg at USFnation.com.

Difton has speed to stretch opposing defenses and said he's been timed at 4.48 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He had 19 catches for 276 yards and two touchdowns for St. Thomas Aquinas as a junior, and said he chose the Bulls over offers from Syracuse and Troy and said he was also being recruited by schools like Florida and Auburn.

Syracuse signed two players from St. Thomas Aquinas last season in Dorian Graham, a three-star defensive back, and Jeremiah Harden, a two-star running back. And USF might not be done at Aquinas for this recruiting class, as Difton said USF is also looking at two other receivers there: Duron Carter is a 6-2, 170-pounder who had 22 catches for 361 yards and eight touchdowns, and Gabe Holmes is a 6-5, 200-pounder who had 10 catches for 203 yards and two scores.

Why such interest in one position at one school? It doesn't hurt that Aquinas' receivers coach is former NFL standout Cris Carter, who is Duron's father. He's worked with Difton and his fellow receivers for the last two seasons. "He's taught me the position well," Difton said. "I feel like basically I'm playing on a college level right now."

Difton was recently ranked by the Miami Herald as the No. 4 prospect for the 2009 class in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Difton made his commitment to USF assistant Larry Scott, who pulled in two key Miami recruits for the 2008 class from Northwestern linebacker Quavon Taylor and Archbishop Carroll cornerback George Baker. He joins Dunedin running back Adaris Bellamy as the first commitments for the '09 class.

Defense shines in spring scrimmage

I'm here in New Orleans, where LSU is destroying Oklahoma State, but correspondent Joe Rienzi was there this morning when USF held its first scrimmage of the spring. The media had originally been only allowed for the first 30 minutes, but they let him stay the whole time. Here's his report:

-- Brouce Mompremier worked at starting middle linebacker, with Tyrone McKenzie getting a chance at next Saturday’s scrimmage.

"Next week I’m going to put T-Mac in the middle," defensive coordinator Wally Burnham said. "We’re just trying to find the best combination. We’ve had such good middle linebackers here for so many years, and we need to get a guy in there who will solidify the entire defense."

The Bulls are seeking a replacement for Ben Moffitt, headed to the NFL after starting the last three seasons at middle linebacker.

“I’ll play either mike or sam, as long as I can help the team out," Mompremier said. "It’s tough to step into the middle because I have a big mountain to climb just to get to (Moffitt’s) level, but I’ll get some help out there."

-- Defense forced five turnovers. Jerome Murphy and Carlton Williams intercepted Matt Grothe, Sabbath Joseph and Dylan Douglas intercepted Alton Voss, and Mompremier recovered a Mike Ford fumble, which he lateraled to a teammate who ran it in for a touchdown. The defense also blocked two Delbert Alvarado field goals.

-- Alvarado was 2-for-4 on extra points and 1-for-4 on field-goal attempts. Justin Teachey was 3-for-3.

“I was most disappointed in our kicking game," coach Jim Leavitt said. "I didn’t think Delbert Alvarado was kicking very good today, and he’s better than that. I know that. I was happy with our snaps, our holds. We just didn’t kick good. Teachey came in and didn’t miss. So, Justin Teachey did a good job. There’s always a competition.”

-- Tight end Ben Busbee suffered a broken bone in his right hand. Kion Wilson did not play because of an ankle injury, but should be back by the end of spring, according to Burnham. Jarriett Buie was not at the scrimmage at all; Leavitt said he told him he was not participating.

-- Stats: Grothe went 10-for-15 for 137 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs; Grant Gregory went 12-for-14 for 143 yards and two TDs; Alton Voss went 1-for-3, 22 yards, 2 INT. Mike Ford had the only rushing touchdown, finishing with 9 yards on eight carries.

“I didn’t think we made real good decisions at quarterback," Leavitt said. "Those turnovers didn’t have to happen. It was more quarterback decision-making. I’d have to say Grant played better than Matt today. I don’t think there’s any question."

-- Grothe was the first-team holder on field goals and extra points.

-- Two players were not allowed to participate after being involved in scuffles with teammates. Taurus Johnson (got into a shoving match with Louis Gachette) — and Ryan Schmidt, who was taken to the ground by Quenton Washington after he shoved Washington by the facemask.

-- Gregory hit Dontavia Bogan for a 53-yard TD, and walk-on Jeffrey Wilson laid out safety Charlton Sinclair with a huge block.

-- Senior safety Danny Verpaele still had a walking boot on his sprained left foot, and none of the running backs injured last week -- Richard Kelly, Mo Plancher, Aston Samuels -- were on the sidelines.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions at the midway point of spring drills?

Catching up: Hipsher up for head coach jobs?

Greetings from New Orleans, where I'm covering the women's basketball regional games here, first with Louisville-North Carolina and then Oklahoma State-LSU this afternoon. Still lots going on back in Tampa, so I'll do my best to cover things from here and keep you guys posted ...

-- First, basketball assistant Dan Hipsher, formerly a head coach at Stetson and Akron, is in the same position as was another USF assistant Dan -- football's McCarney -- in that he'll be considered for a number of openings that would give him his own team again. It looks like the first team that will interview him is Jacksonville State in Alabama -- the Anniston Star, whose site requires a subscription (unusual among newspaper sites these days), reports that Hipsher is among nine candidates and will be among the first interviewed. He confirmed his interest in the job to the newspaper.

Given his history in Ohio, both at Akron and in nine seasons as an assistant at Dayton, I wouldn't be surprised if his name comes up at Toledo as well. One name that has been mentioned there is former Stan Heath assistant Oronde Taliaferro, who was on Heath's staff at Arkansas but joined the staff at Oklahoma last season. Taliaferro would also make sense at Detroit.

-- Big win for USF baseball last night, with freshman Randy Fontanez shutting down Georgetown, holding the Hoyas to four hits in eight innings in a 2-1 win. It's worth noting that the Hoyas' lone run was scored by Sean Baumann, brother of USF reserve (and Yankee grand slammer) Eric Baumann.

Something else we'll look into: Fontanez took the Friday night start normally held by senior Daniel Thomas, who was not scheduled to pitch this weekend despite having no injuries. It's the second time Thomas has gotten a weekend off in the past four weekends.

It's incredible how much of an impact Lelo Prado has gotten from first-year Bulls -- less than a third of his starting lineup this season has been players who were at USF last season. Only two regular hitters -- Joey Angelberger and Addison Maruszak -- were Bulls before this season; Mike Consolmagno and Charles Cleveland have combined for a starter's at-bats, but are hitting .213 and .154 on the year.

-- With this new contract, where would you rank Jim Leavitt among the Big East football coaches? I'm guessing not many of you went as low as fifth, which is what Tom Dienhart of the Sporting News thinks in his offseason ranking of the league's eight coaches. Dienhart calls him "kooky," then writes that Leavitt "can coach you out of your coach's shorts with an unmatched package of emotion and energy." Given the prose, I guess he just really likes the top four coaches in his rankings. Syracuse's Greg Robinson can just be excited not to be last on the list, which goes to West Virginia's Bill Stewart.

Mumas make $3-million donation to USF

USF's athletic department announced Wednesday that a $3-million donation from alums Leslie and Pamela Muma will be used as the lead gift to start fundraising for a proposed basketball practice facility that Bulls officials hope to have in place by the 2009-10 season.

Les Muma, a 1966 USF graduate, is the retired co-founder of Fiserv Inc., a financial technology firm. The Mumas have made significant donations to USF in the past, including a $6-million philanthropy in 2006 to support a partnership between USF and Tampa General Hospital for research and care of newborns. That gift was eligible for a matching state donation of $5-million.

The Mumas' donation is the second major gift USF's athletic department has received in the past two years; Frank and Carol Morsani donated $3-million in June 2006 to be used toward a new softball stadium and football practice fields.

(I've included an artist's rendering -- courtesy of USF -- of an aerial shot of what the practice facility might look like, but it's still very conceptual. USF has not yet made the decision whether to conceive the practice facility as a freestanding structure or as an adjoining wing to the Sun Dome, potentially on the north side. Just an idea of what it might look like.)

We'll have more on the Mumas' donation later Wednesday night ...

-- Recruiting update: I was able to talk Wednesday with the AAU coach for Gary Flowers, the coveted power forward from Chipola College who has been a recruiting target of Stan Heath's staff. Tony Johnson of the Dallas Mustangs had good news for Bulls fans: USF remains in contention for Flowers, with Seton Hall as another top contender; Flowers is also considering Maryland, West Virginia and Kansas State, according to Johnson; he's in the process of scheduling visits after Chipola finished its season last week in the consolation bracket of the Division I national junior college tournament.

-- Football recruiting! Offensive line will be a major priority in USF's 2009 football recruiting, and one local prospect who could be part of that group is Jon Halapio, a 6-foot-3, 302-pound right tackle from St. Pete Catholic. Halapio attended USF's junior day event and said his top choice right now would be USF, though he's being recruited by Florida, Florida State and Wake Forest. Besides being close to home, he has several ties to USF -- he's been friends with USF commitment Adaris Bellamy since middle school, and USF freshman David Fonua is a family friend. Like Fonua, Halapio's family is from the Pacific island of Tonga; he was born in California. He's also a cousin of former USF players Saiosi and Paul Uhatafe. He said he might not make a college decision until this winter, but is considering the Bulls enough that USF coaches have told him he and Bellamy could be roommates as freshmen.

Big East women sweep Big 12, 5-0

Again, there isn't a huge connection to USF, but bear with me. I'll be writing a lot about women's basketball in the next two weeks, and some of it will spill over to the blog.

The Big East and Big 12 tied for the biggest contingent in the NCAA women's tournament with eight teams each. And the draw somehow lined up five second-round meetings between the two leagues: the Big East swept all five, an impressive statement that solidifies the Big East's status as the deepest league in college basketball.

Two of the five wins were upsets, with fifth-seeded Notre Dame eking past Oklahoma in overtime and sixth-seeded Pittsburgh knocking off Baylor. Connecticut and Rutgers were supposed to beat Texas and Iowa State, and Louisville had a convincing win against Kansas State.

So the Big East leads the way with five teams in the Sweet 16, with the ACC and SEC each getting three teams in, the Big 12 getting two and the Pac-10 mustering one, along with midmajors Old Dominion and George Washington.

Three of those Big East teams will be heavy underdogs in the next round, with Notre Dame and Louisville drawing No. 1 seeds in Tennessee and North Carolina, and Pitt facing No. 2 seed Stanford. Connecticut and Rutgers will be the only teams favored to win, and they'll then face each other in the Greensboro region final.

We now resume the USF blog already in progress ...

Football: Rash of injuries hit Verpaele, RBs

USF's sixth practice brought more than its share of injuries, with senior safety Danny Verpaele watching with a boot on his left foot and three running backs suffering injuries during practice.

Verpaele, competing for the starting strong safety job, has a sprained foot but not a break, according to coach Jim Leavitt. Defensive coordinator Wally Burnham said it's "a day-to-day deal," something where he could be back Wednesday or could be out more than a week.

Three running backs went down with injuries -- junior Moise Plancher dislocated his elbow, sophomore Richard Kelly likely broke his right hand and sophomore Aston Samuels injured his left shoulder, though Leavitt said they were able to pop the shoulder back into place.

Leavitt shifted defensive linemen Trent Pupello and Dominique Rocker to tight end, though Rocker will likely only have one day at his new position; Leavitt said he'll move him to running back, the position he starred at in high school, because of the rash of injuries. Leavitt said Pupello had "an outstanding day" at tight end and called Rocker "a Division I running back."

Leavitt hinted he might move one of his senior starting outside linebackers, Tyrone McKenzie and Brouce Mompremier, inside to middle linebacker, because he has concerns about the current middle linebackers' ability to replace a three-year starter and team leader in Ben Moffitt. Sophomore Alonzo McQueen and junior Kion Wilson are currently the top two options in the middle.

"From my standpoint, I'm concerned about the middle linebacker position. I'm really concerned about it," Leavitt said.

Quarterback Matt Grothe was back for his second practice since being held out for two days last week with a sore back. Leavitt said Grothe showed no signs of any lingering effects in Tuesday's drills. ...

Bulls in hunt for D.C. center Ben-Eze

Another day, another promising new name in Stan Heath's pursuit of a top-flight center for his incoming recruiting class: The Bulls are in the final five schools for Frank Ben-Eze, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound center from Arlington, Va., who had committed to Harvard but has recently re-opened his recruitment.

"USF is in (his) final 5 teams," writes Rob Jackson, founder of the AAU D.C. Blue Devils, in an e-mail to the Times on Tuesday morning. "He will be scheduling home visits with schools, and then making a decision after those visits are complete."

Ben-Eze, a native of Nigeria whose last name is pronounced "ben AY-zay," is the No. 3 unsigned center in the country, according to ESPN.com, which has him as the nation's No. 25 center overall. He backed out of a commitment to Harvard shortly after a New York Times story on March 2 detailed questionable recruiting practices and the potential of lower admission standards at the Ivy League school.

Finding a center is the top remaining priority for Heath, who loses senior Kentrell Gransberry to graduation and needs to bolster his frontcourt for his second season. Who else is competing for Ben-Eze? He previously had been linked to a slew of ACC and Big East schools, but Jackson said the other four finalists are Stanford, Connecticut, Pittsburgh and UCLA -- top-tier national programs to be sure.

Ben-Eze played at Bishop O'Connell in Arlington, where he was coached by Joe Wootten, son of legendary Virginia prep coach Morgan Wootten. He missed the end of his senior season with a knee injury, the severity of which remains unknown. He's the second African-born center USF is pursuing this season, along with Teeng Akol, a 6-foot-11 center from Sudan who is playing at IMG Academy in Bradenton.

-- We've told you that Jeremie Simmons, the coveted two-guard who just won a Division II junior college national title at Mott Community College in Flint, Mich., is due in for an official visit to USF this weekend. The Flint Journal reports that he's likely to visit Butler next, with Alabama the latest suitor to offer him a scholarship. Again, USF's commitment from Dwan McMillan won't hurt its status with Simmons, who is more of a shooter/scorer type and would play alongside McMillan in what would be a deep, deep Bulls backcourt.

-- An update on Juan Pattillo, the 6-7 forward from College of Southern Idaho: CSI coach Barret Peery said Pattillo will visit Oklahoma State this weekend, then Oklahoma the weekend of April 12. He said Pattillo intends on making a visit to USF, but Peery hadn't talked to USF in a week or so, so wasn't sure what the status of that visit was. With one forward signed in Eladio Espinosa and another committed in Gene Teague, it could be USF is focusing on centers (and Simmons) for the time being.

-- It's not USF, but worth mentioning that it looks like Florida Atlantic coach Rex Walters will soon be named as the new coach at Mercer, according to the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph. ... This is just two years after FAU lost Matt Doherty to SMU ...

Coach: Center Sutton lining up USF visit

With two commitments in the past three days, it's a busy time for USF's basketball recruiting efforts, so I've got a few more nuggets to offer as Stan Heath works to line up more visits that could yield more commitments from the three or more scholarships still available this spring.

First, an update on Maryland prep center Maurice Sutton, fresh off a state championship. He'll visit Boston College this weekend, according to Largo High coach Lewis Howard. From there, he's working up to schedule official campus visits to USF, Seton Hall, Villanova and Kentucky, though not necessarily in that order. There's three weekends before the spring signing period officially starts, but it runs from April 16 to May 21, so there's no huge hurry.

Heath still doesn't have a true center on his 2008-09 roster, so that position has to be a priority, even with three power forwards now lined up in returning senior B.J. Ajayi and incoming freshmen Eladio Espinosa and Gene Teague. Ajayi could certainly play center next season and will probably see time at both positions.

Speaking of centers, I got a call on Easter (!) from Chicago prep center Steve Goins -- I'd called several days earlier -- and he'd just returned from a campus visit to Texas-Corpus Christi. Goins, you'll remember, was once scheduled to visit USF the weekend of March 8, then it got bumped a week, then bumped again, with the curious explanation that the visit would have coincided with USF's spring break.

Anyhow, Goins said he hasn't heard from USF since the last time his campus visit was postponed, though he said he's still interested in making a trip to Tampa, as well as Connecticut. Again, college coaches don't forget to call recruits they're actively recruiting, so I'm going to infer that he's not a high priority right now. Not to say he couldn't wind up at USF; just doesn't seem to be anything pressing.

Not to tease, but there's another brand-new name I'm making a bunch of calls on. I'll get an update as soon as I can piece everything together. I'll give Heath and his staff credit for casting a wide net and not putting all their -- no, can't use that one so close to Easter ... for making contact with a wide range of recruits. They're keeping me busy.

-- Yes, if you watched really closely, you saw former USF center Frane Markusovic play in American's first-round loss to Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament. Markusovic made it into the boxscore for playing "0+" minutes -- if I can get a stat guy to explain to me the delineation between 0+ minutes and 1 minute, I'd actually be curious to know. Of course, we're happy for Frane.

-- Hey, one more USF tie to the NCAA tourney: Former USF women's assistant Amy Wright made the NCAA as an assistant at Western Kentucky. Wright spent a year at Texas A&M before joining the 'Toppers.

-- Several of you who watched the first-round games at the St. Pete Times Forum (ching!) have asked me about Western Kentucky's 6-foot-9, 260-pound freshman D.J. Magley, who went to Bradenton Christian. "How'd USF let him get away?" is the usual question I get. I'm working on an answer, but a few initial responses: First, he signed early in November 2006, so it's a Robert McCullum question and not a Stan Heath question. Second, it sure looks like he wanted to get away from home a bit, as the three other schools WKU lists him as considering were Iowa, Oklahoma and Purdue. His bio does show Central Florida making a run at him. Not that he's setting the world on fire, but to see a local kid at a position of need, he's someone who could have helped this year's Bulls.

Brooklyn point guard McMillan chooses Bulls

USF coach Stan Heath has gone 2-for-2 on this past weekend's official campus visits, picking up an oral commitment Monday morning from 6-foot, 160-pound point guard Dwan McMillan, a Brooklyn standout who has spent the last two seasons at St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, N.J.

"I just felt like home when I came down there," said McMillan, who said his decision was clinched when he had breakfast at Heath's house Saturday morning. "The Big East is the best conference in the country, and I think I can help turn the program around a little bit. If we can get an inside presence, we can be in the upper half of the league."

McMillan, who also had offers from Providence, St. John's, Cincinnati and Clemson, joins 6-foot-8, 295-pound power forward Gene Teague of Vineland, N.J., as USF's new commitments from visits over the weekend. They join power forward Eladio Espinosa, who signed in November, and guard Mike Mercer, a midyear transfer from Georgia, in the Bulls' incoming class. Heath still has three scholarships available for the spring signing period.

McMillan's quickness is well-suited for Heath's uptempo offense, which he watched a lot of in 2006-07 when Heath had one of his childhood friends, Gary Ervin, running it at Arkansas.

"Coach Heath and his staff love my quickness. He wants to play fast," said McMillan, who is only 18 and won't turn 19 until August. He said he averaged 17.8 points and 8.0 assists at St. Benedict's this season.

ESPN.com ranks McMillan as the No. 57 point guard in this year's class.

McMillan, who was hosted by Bulls guards Dominique Jones and Jesus Verdejo on his visit, said he has not posted a qualifying test score, but is close enough he is confident he'll have that score when he takes the SAT again this spring. McMillan's commitment was first reported at Zagsblog, the blog of Adam Zagoria of the Herald News in West Paterson, N.J.

Bulls get commitment from forward Teague

Having granted three reserve players releases from their scholarships this week, USF coach Stan Heath has returned to the business of adding to his roster, picking up an oral commitment Saturday from Gene Teague, a 6-foot-8, 295-pound power forward from Vineland, N.J.

"Everything seemed to fit real well," said Teague, fresh off an official campus visit. "I've been following the Big East, and the visit was a lot of fun. I like it all -- the coaches, the basketball team and the weather."

Teague, who said he would like to play at 270 pounds as a freshman, averaged 17.1 points per game as a junior at St. Augustine Prep and about 23 points this spring after transferring to Living Faith Academy. Philly.com ranked him as the No. 38 prospect in the greater Philadelphia and south New Jersey area.

It's been a whirlwind courtship for Teague, who said USF only started recruiting him about three weeks ago. He made the half-hour drive to Philadelphia to see the Bulls play at Villanova on March 5, and his family made the 1,100-mile, 17-hour drive from New Jersey to Tampa to see USF's campus this week. In case you missed it a few days back, you can watch a highlight video of Teague here.

ESPN.com's recruiting rankings list him as the No. 54 power forward in this year's class; for comparison, Eladio Espinosa, who signed with USF in November, ranks 38th. Their evaluation of Teague reads: "Eugene is a rugged post player who has a soft touch around the rim. He changes ends of the floor well for a prospect of his size. He has soft hands and finishes plays at the rim. He has a real wide body that is difficult to move when he gets good position." Having said that, they also list him at 230 pounds.

He is USF's first commitment for the spring signing period, and helps fill a major need in the frontcourt, where the Bulls had little depth this season and now must replace All-Big East center Kentrell Gransberry. Rising senior B.J. Ajayi made major strides at power forward in the second half of the season, establishing himself as a rebounder and a defensive presense inside.

The Bulls signed Espinosa in November, and guard Mike Mercer transferred in from Georgia in December. Heath has four scholarships remaining for the spring signing period, which starts next month.

Trivia question time, and no peeking at online rosters: Who were the three Big East players whose listed weights were greater than 270 pounds? Only one of them is really a big name in the league ...

(photo from Ron Cortes of the Philadelphia Inquirer)

Saaka, Holmes get releases to transfer

Sophomore forward Amu Saaka said Friday night that he understands the suddenly high turnover in scholarships after Stan Heath's first season with the Bulls.

"With a coaching change, you're bound to get a couple," said Saaka, one of five scholarship players brought in under Robert McCullum to be granted a release from USF since Heath was hired in April.

Saaka and redshirt freshman Aaron Holmes, who saw their playing time diminish significantly in Big East play, are the latest to free up scholarships for Heath, who now has five available for the spring signing period. A week ago, that number was thought to be just one.

Tuesday brought news that sophomore guard Solomon Bozeman had gotten a release, and that junior college guard Lasha Parghalava, once a Bulls commitment, had been encouraged to look elsewhere in recent weeks.

Neither Saaka nor Holmes should come as a surprise. Both played well at the end of the nonconference schedule -- Saaka had 13 and 17 against St. Francis (N.Y.) and Winston-Salem State; Holmes went for 13 and 20 (in a combined 36 minutes) in the same two games. But those two-game totals were as much as their entire contributions in Big East play: Saaka and Holmes each had exactly 30 points in 18 conference games.

Saaka was never the same after breaking his nose in a January win against Rutgers; he went 1-for-10 in his next three games, and after a 9-point game against Seton Hall, he hit only seven shots in the final 13 games. After averaging 17.0 minutes per game as a freshman, he got 10.5 this past season.

"It wasn't the right fit. It didn't feel right," Saaka said. "I've been thinking about (transferring) for a while. There was just little stuff that kind of planted the seed."

Having said that, Saaka called Heath "a great guy," said they "still have a good relationship," that Heath told him he was welcome to continue working out with the current players the rest of the semester. He hasn't redshirted, so he can transfer, sit out a year and still have two years to play.

Holmes' role became non-existent in the second half of the conference season. Of the last nine games, he didn't play in five and played only one minute in three others. He shot 21 percent from the field in the Big East, and his minutes weren't going to improve next season with all three starting guards back and transfer Mike Mercer joining the mix.

Holmes, having already sat out a season after transferring from Florida State, is likely headed to a junior college, where he can play one season, re-establish himself and transfer again to a four-year program with two years of eligibility. It would mean four schools in four years, but the alternative is sitting out another season for the right to play two years at a four-year program.

With the departures, next year's team will have, at the most, three players who played under McCullum: guards Chris Howard and Jesus Verdejo, along with forward Aris Williams, whose future remains uncertain because of the lingering knee problems that limited him to 11 total points this season. At a position where the Bulls were perilously thin, Williams never logged more than 12 minutes in any game and was held out of 13 games.

Heath has five scholarships to use this spring, but two could be spoken for by the end of the weekend, with possible commitments from point guard Dwan McMillan of Brooklyn, N.Y., and 6-foot-8, 295-pound forward/center Gene Teague of Vineland, N.J., who were both on campus Friday making official visits. Junior college guard Jeremie Simmons is due in next weekend, and junior college forward Juan Pattillo is expected to line up a visit as well. The Bulls continue to pursue three high school big men in suburban D.C.'s Maurice Sutton, IMG Academy's Teeng Akol and Chicago's Steve Goins, as well as junior college standouts Gary Flowers and Keith Brumbaugh and other recruits who are still in play ...

Ouch: USF women lose to Florida Gulf Coast

USF's women's basketball team can say it made the postseason for the fifth year in a row, but that's just about all that the Bulls can say. USF lost Friday night in the opening round of the Women's NIT to Florida Gulf Coast University, a first-year Division I school that hadn't beaten an RPI top-100 team all season.

FGCU (22-8) got a 67-65 win over the Bulls (16-16) at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, overcoming a 34-point game by USF's Shantia Grace. The only other Bulls player scoring in double figures was sophomore Porche Grant, who had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Bulls missed their first 14 3-point attempts, finishing 1-for-15 as Grace hit a midcourt shot at the final buzzer. It's the third time this spring that FGCU has beaten the Bulls, having done so in baseball and softball as well.

FGCU had struggled against the state's major schools, losing to Florida by 26 points and to Florida State by 40. FGCU advances to play Florida in the second round on Monday night in Gainesville. The Naples News did a live blog from Friday night's game, which you can read here.

(Hey, for what it's worth, I'm told USF women's tennis beat FGCU 7-0 back in January. Just be glad they don't have a football team ...)

Sophomore forward Saaka granted release

USF sophomore forward Amu Saaka, who saw his points and minutes drop off this past season under coach Stan Heath, has been granted a release to transfer, his mother Janet said Friday.

Saaka, who averaged 2.6 points, is the second Bulls sophomore granted a release this week, following guard Solomon Bozeman. Saaka averaged 17.0 minutes as a freshman under Robert McCullum, but saw that role drop to 10.5 minutes this past season.

Saaka showed a spark late in the nonconference season, scoring 13 points against St. Francis (N.Y.) and 17 against Winston-Salem State. He broke his nose in USF's Big East opener against Rutgers, however, and wasn't the same player after that, totaling just 30 points in 18 conference games.

Saaka's departure gives Heath four scholarships to use during the spring signing period, which starts April 16. One player who apparently isn't leaving the Bulls is freshman forward Orane Chin, who went from starter to barely-used reserve in an up-and-down first season. Chin's coach at Miramar High School, Ken Kelly, said Friday that Chin had told him he was staying at USF after meeting with Heath this week.

In all, four scholarship players who signed with USF under McCullum have been granted their release since Heath was hired in April. Forward Zaronn Cann transferred to Division II Eckerd College last summer and guard Dante Curry transferred to Georgia State in December.

USF's new spring nemesis: Florida Gulf Coast

Baseball coulldn't do it. Softball couldn't do it. So can women's basketball end USF's spring struggles against ... Florida Gulf Coast University?

The Bulls (16-15) travel to FGCU tonight in the opening round of the Women's NIT, and they're making a fairly big deal of it down in Fort Myers. FGCU went 21-8 in its first season in Division I after reaching the Division II national championship game last season. The catch? FGCU has struggled against RPI top 100 teams, losing to Florida State by 40 and Florida by 26. And they don't have a starter taller than 5-foot-11, which bodes well for USF's starting frontcourt of 6-3 Melissa Dalembert and 6-2 Porche Grant. The Naples News has also noticed the height disparity.

FGCU bid $30,000 to host the opening-round game, according to the Fort Myers News-Press, which means they'll need a crowd of at least 2,000 to break even financially. Impressively, more than 1,100 tickets have been sold, so USF will have to deal with a partisan crowd, if nothing else.

And more good news for USF: freshman guard Gianna Messina, thought to be lost for the postseason after being diagnosed with mononucleosis, has been cleared to play.  Turns out it was just "mononucleosis-like symptoms." USF will be without forward ChiChi Okpaleke, who tore her ACL after playing a key role in USF's late-season surge.

-- Thanks to USF men's coach Stan Heath, who shared his insights on each of the four NCAA Tournament games played in Tampa today. Here's Heath's thoughts on Drake-Western Kentucky, UConn-San Diego, Vandy-Siena and Clemson-Villanova. He's calling for two upsets out of the four, and if you watch the Vandy game, remember USF gets them in Nashville next season.   

-- Want a new mock draft? How about eight? USAtoday.com has mock first rounds from eight staffers, and the picks are encouraging for former USF cornerback Mike Jenkins, who goes in the top 16 picks in all versions. Four of them have him going 10th to the Saints, two send him to Buffalo at No. 11 and the other two have him going 16th to the Cardinals. USA Today ranks him second in the defensive back class but seems to think he's a safety, due to a "lack of agility." They also write that he "isn't really an aggressive hitter" -- they should ask that Cincinnati receiver how he feels about that.

-- Another story from the Orlando Sentinel on junior power forward Keith Clanton, who has USF as one of two college offers.

-- One of USF's recruiting targets, guard Jeremie Simmons, had 22 points Thursday to lead Mott Community College into the Division II junior college Final Four. Mott plays again tonight; Simmons is scheduled to visit USF next weekend. In the Division I juco nationals, powerhouse Chipola College and USF target Gary Flowers lost in the opening round to unranked Seward. And even more Gene Teague: here's a Q&A he did in January 2007 with the Courier-Post in New Jersey.

-- Naples News also had a good writeup on the tragic death of UCF freshman Ereck Plancher and its impact on USF.

Video highlights of USF recruit Teague

I can write about these USF basketball recruits all day, but in terms of getting a sense of what a player can do, I'm better off deferring to the video world, which allows you guys to watch and come to your own assessments.

Gene Teague, a 6-foot-8, 295-pound power forward/center from Vineland, N.J., is making an official campus visit over the next two days, and you can check out a 1-minute, 41-second highlight clip of him here at a site called Brightcove.TV. You'll see him called "Eugene" at times, but his father said he prefers Gene, or "E.J." for Eugene Jr. ... Looks like the video's about five months old, but should give you a sense of what Teague can do. It's listed as having about 800 views before I posted here. Keep checking back for more updates ...

Guard Simmons sets visit with USF

One more piece of basketball recruiting news to finish off a busy day: Jeremie Simmons, the 6-foot-2 guard from Mott Community College in Flint, Mich., said Wednesday night that he has scheduled an official campus visit to USF on March 28.

Simmons, who led Mott to victory Tuesday in the opening round of the Division II national junior college tournament in Danville, Ill., said USF coach Stan Heath was on hand to watch Tuesday's game, and while the Bulls haven't been recruiting him long, he's very interested in their program.

"I just think it's a good place to come and play," said Simmons, who plays again Thursday afternoon.

Simmons' coach at Mott had said he had scheduled a visit with Butler, but Simmons said USF was the only visit he's scheduled. He's also considering Butler, Valparaiso and George Mason, with Alabama jumping into contention in the last week.

Here's the game story from Tuesday's win from the Flint Journal -- Simmons had 19 points despite struggling from the field, according to the story. Expect more basketball news on Thursday. ...

Grothe held out again with sore back

USF coach Jim Leavitt said it's nothing to worry about, and Matt Grothe hopes to be back to normal when the Bulls practice again Friday morning, but the junior quarterback was held out of practice Wednesday for the second day in a row due to a sore back.

"Matt Grothe we haven’t been practicing because his back has been sore from lifting. I’m not as worried about him," Leavitt told Times correspondent Joe Rienzi. "If we had a game tonight, he’d be out there."

Leavitt said he talked with running back Moise Plancher for the first time since Plancher's cousin, UCF redshirt freshman receiver Ereck Plancher, collapsed and died after a conditioning workout Tuesday in Orlando. For USF, the tragic death brings back memories of Bulls running back Keeley Dorsey, who was only 19 when he died 14 months ago.

"Moise is a great young man," Leavitt said. "It’s just that sometimes things happen that you don’t understand at all. If anybody understands it’s me, I really do."

Rienzi reports that Leavitt had high praise for Jake Sims, the sophomore walk-on who is working as the team's starting right tackle.

"I’ve really been happy with Jake Sims," Leavitt said. "Oh my goodness. That young man is doing a good job. He’s 6-foot-4, 290 and has great footwork. He’s playing really hard. He might be the guy I’m most impressed with, out of all the guys.”

TWO NEW WALK-ONS: Leavitt has added two new walk-ons to the roster this week in freshman receivers Justin Wilkins and Brandon Moore, who are wearing Nos. 83 and 84. Wilkins joined the roster Tuesday after the Bulls lost Colby Erskin to a torn ACL, and Moore joined the team Wednesday.

Wilkins is from Fort Pierce Central High, where he played receiver as a junior and quarterback as a senior in 2006. He signed with Division II Lincoln University in Missouri but decided not to attend, choosing instead to attend USF with the hopes of making the team as a walk-on. According to Chris Hutchings, his coach at Central, there were two things that kept the 6-foot-3, 180-pound Wilkins from getting a Division I scholarship: First, that Fort Pierce, located between Daytona Beach and Palm Beach, is often overlooked by recruiters, and that Wilkins missed half his senior season with a lacerated kidney from a hit he took Hutchings said Wilkins' strength is his intelligence, and he was athletic enough to play forward on the varsity basketball team as well.

Jersey boys: Two new names in for visits

Big developments in Stan Heath's recruiting efforts, with two new names that could turn to commitments for the Bulls after official campus visits this weekend. USF is in strong position for point guard Dwan McMillan, from one of the top prep schools in the country, and Gene Teague, a 6-foot-8, 295-pound power forward/center who could help fill USF's frontcourt needs.

McMillan is a 6-foot point guard at St. Benedict's, a Newark prep-school powerhouse which was ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation last season and has sent impact players to the Big East in Seton Hall sophomore Eugene Harvey and Villanova freshman Corey Stokes, as well as Louisville signee Samardo Samuels. His coach there is the well-respected Dan Hurley, the former Seton Hall guard and son of New Jersey prep coaching legend Bob Hurley.

"Very creative point guard with great speed and quickness," Dan Hurley wrote in an e-mail to the Times on  Wednesday. "Typical NY city guard."

McMillan (he pronounces his first name like D'Juan) started his high school career at Boys and Girls High in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, and made a name for himself with the New York Panthers, an AAU program that has produced a ton of Big East stars, such as Khalid El-Amin, Charlie Villanueva, Curtis Sumpter and Taquan Dean.

"He likes South Florida a lot," said Panthers founder Gary Charles, who coached McMillan for two years. "I think he's a good fit for them. Stan's in a prime position to get a great point guard. He has quickness up and down the court, and he has that New York mentality. He wants to win all the time. He's a Big East guard."

The Bulls also got a boost when Providence fired coach Tim Welsh last week, as the Friars were USF's closest Big East competition. Hurley said McMillan is still considering Providence, pending their coaching change, as well as La Salle and George Mason.

The other promising new name is Teague, of Vineland, N.J., who just got on USF's recruiting radar in the past month but has quickly grown to like the idea of joining the Bulls and making an immediate impact in the Big East.

"He's very interested in USF, and I think there's a great possibility he attends school there," his father, Eugene, said Wednesday. "They came up here and liked what they saw, and we're going to try to make it happen. Gene has always liked the Big East."

Teague, due in for an official visit Thursday, played three years at St. Augustine Prep in Richland, N.J., averaging 17.1 points per game as a junior, but transferred two months ago to Living Faith Academy, whose prep ranks including two 6-foot-9 Kansas signees. He's on the high school team there, but has left an impression on the school's prep coach, Rich Marcucci.

"He can be a reckoning force inside," Marcucci said. "He's big, and he's very comfortable from 15 feet in. He's developed a lot faster than we even gave him credit for. He's already made tremendous improvement."

Teague, who averaged about 24 points and 10 rebounds in his short time at Living Faith according to Marcucci, drew early interest from Georgetown and Clemson and is also considering Iona, Delaware and Wright State. When Philly.com made its "Nifty Fifty" list of the top prospects in Philadelphia, its suburbs and south Jersey, Teague made the list at No. 38. His father said Heath made a strong impression on the family during a recent visit.

"I've been around basketball all my life, and I know who's talking reality and who has the far-fetched fantasy-type talking," Eugene Teague said. "That coaching staff, you can tell they're determined."

There you have it: two new names to add high on the list of potential Bulls. USF is still working the junior college route hard as well and could wind up with more than the current three scholarships available, so I'm curious to see just how big this incoming class could get. Thoughts? Questions?

USF men to play in San Juan Shootout

USF's men's basketball team will play in the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico in December, giving a homecoming to rising senior guard Jesus Verdejo.

USF has signed on as one of eight teams in the Shootout, which will be held Dec. 20-22 and hosted by Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. Four other teams are confirmed: George Mason (whose coach, Jim Larranaga, goes way back with Stan Heath), Murray State, Florida Atlantic and Oral Roberts. The tournament is run by Sport Tours International, which ran the Daytona Beach tournament where USF beat Florida State this past season. USF's women's team played a tournament in Puerto Rico in 2005.

Recruiting news? An encouraging update on Juan Pattillo, the 6-foot-7 forward from College of Southern Idaho who is considering USF. His coach, Barret Peery, said he expects to sit down with Pattillo on Monday to line up official visits. "I think they'll definitely get a visit," he said of USF, listing Oklahoma and Oklahoma State as other top suitors for the Las Vegas native, along with San Diego State and Colorado State. He said West Virginia and UMass have shown a late interest as well.

USF will have coaches at both major junior college national tournaments this week, with Stan Heath at the Division II juco nationals in Danville, Ill., (where Mott guard Jeremie Simmons will play) and assistant Dan Hipsher will be in Hutchinson, Kansas, at the Division I nationals, where Chipola forward Gary Flowers is playing. Of course, there could be other recruits they're watching there as well ... More hoops recruiting to come later today.

UCF player collapses, dies after workout

It's a story that is tragically familiar for USF football fans: Ereck Plancher, a freshman receiver at Central Florida and the cousin of USF running back Moise Plancher, collapsed and died Tuesday morning after a conditioning workout, Orlando TV station WESH reported.

Plancher, who went to high school in Naples, was taken to a local hospital but could not be revived. Knights coach George O'Leary called a team meeting to let his players know Tuesday afternoon, according to the reort.

Plancher's death comes just 14 months after USF freshman running back Keeley Dorsey collapsed and died after a conditioning workout at the Bulls' athletic facility. Autopsy results showed no cause of death, though the Hillsborough County associate medical examiner believed it was a result of Long QT Syndrome, a genetic heart disorder that can cause sudden death.

Thoughts and prayers to UCF's football family, as well as to Moise Plancher and his family.

Bozeman, Parghalava open up scholarships

USF men's basketball coach Stan Heath has two more scholarships available for next month's spring signing period, as sophomore guard Solomon Bozeman has decided to transfer and junior college guard Lasha Parghalava will not be coming to USF as once planned.

Bozeman, who started 24 games as a freshman under Robert McCullum, saw his role diminish this season, with his minutes dropping and his scoring down from 9.6 points to 5.2 as a sophomore.

"It really just wasn't a good fit. By transferring, I'll get another year of school, a year to get bigger and stronger," Bozeman said. "I think leaving was the best decision."

Bozeman said he'd considered leaving ever since redshirt freshman guard Dante Curry transferred to Georgia State in December. That's a possibility for Bozeman, who originally signed with Georgia State coach Rod Barnes when he was at Mississippi before getting a release after the Rebels' coaching change.

His father, Eric Bozeman, is head coach at Central Arkansas, but said his son wouldn't be transferring there.

"Stan's been very gracious, and Solomon had the option to stay," he said. "Solomon didn't have a great year, and I thought he played quite a bit for the year he had. He has some great possibilities for next year and has already heard from a couple of majors and a ton of midmajors."

Parghalava's decision had been anticipated since the Bulls added guard Mike Mercer, a midyear transfer from Georgia. Parghalava committed to USF in November and would have signed during the early signing period, but his paperwork was held up in his native country of Georgia in eastern Europe.

Paul Swanson, his coach at Pensacola Junior College, said Parghalava had not played as well as expected this season, and Heath had told them two weeks ago that if he had other college options, it might be best to go in another direction.

"Sash didn't have the season he wanted. Coach Heath basically said if you've got something else, they were going to have to recruit over him, that they had an opportunity to take another player," Swanson said. "Sash understood, and he's OK with it. He's a good player, but he didn't have the year he wanted."

Swanson said Hawaii and Saint Louis (with Rick Majerus) are now among the top options for Parghalava, who averaged about 13 points this season but saw his turnovers increase as defenses focused more on stopping him.

Heath now has three scholarships available for the spring signing period, with two likely going to frontcourt players to help offset the graduation of center Kentrell Gransberry. The third could stay in the backcourt, with USF in the mix for talented recruits like Jeremie Simmons of Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan.

-- Gransberry, hopeful of being USF's second NBA draft pick in three seasons, has been invited to the Portsmouth Invitational, one of the league's top pre-draft showcase events next month. He'll have a chance to solidify his chances to be drafted there, with the potential to earn a spot in the league's pre-draft camp in Orlando as well. Gransberry also has signed with Joel Bell, the agent who also represents former USF center Solomon Jones, now with the Atlanta Hawks.

Report: UCF loaned millions to athletic dept.

It's not really USF news, but I figured there might be some interest among readers here: The University of Central Florida may have inappropriately loaned its athletic department $7.4-million and provided $49-million in student fees without proper oversight, according to a report Monday in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The report is based on a routine operational audit by the state's auditor general, which you can read here. UCF has since discontinued the practices questioned in the audit, according to the Chronicle, and the university "has requested an updated plan of repayment" from UCF Athletics Association, Inc.; no penalty or legal action is expected to come from the findings.

Bulls to open WNIT at Fla. Gulf Coast

USF's women's basketball team, which won three of its last four games to clinch a winning record at 16-15, has earned a berth in the Women's NIT, the Bulls' fifth straight year playing in the postseason. USF will open the tournament Friday in Fort Myers at Florida Gulf Coast, which went 21-8 in a transition year to Division I.

"I'm just pleased for our kids, for the season to continue, especially when we have all those kids coming back," USF coach Jose Fernandez said Monday night. "There are a lot of teams across the country that would love to be playing right now. It puts another banner up in the rafters."

The winner of Friday's game will play Monday against Florida, which earned a first-round bye after being passed over for the NCAA Tournament.

It's USF's fourth trip to the WNIT in five years, along with an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006. FGCU only played three opponents ranked in the RPI top 100 and lost all three, including games against Florida (78-52) and Florida State (93-53). No date has been set, though the game will be Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

Receiver Erskin out again with torn ACL

Receiver Colby Erskin, the former walk-on who earned a starting job last fall only to miss the season with a torn knee ligament, may miss the 2008 season after tearing the same ligament last week.

"He tore his ACL," coach Jim Leavitt said Monday after his team's second spring practice. "It just kills me, because he's such a great kid."

Last spring, the Seminole graduate was timed as the fastest player on the team, and he earned a scholarship last fall, only to watch the season from the sidelines. He had recovered well enough that he was listed as a top backup on USF's depth chart entering spring drills. Leavitt said Erskin was working out at Largo High School during spring break when the injured occurred.

Leavitt said he still hoped Erskin would be able to return during the upcoming season, as offensive guard Matt Huners did late last season after tearing knee ligaments in USF's spring game last April.

In other news, walk-on tight end Quincy Okolie will miss spring drills after being diagnosed with mononucleosis. Freshman defensive back Jerrell Young watched practice and said he injured his right hamstring running on the beach Saturday morning.

High praise for USF commitment Bellamy

We'd told you USF's first oral commitment for 2009, running back Adaris Bellamy of Dunedin, was in Orlando this weekend for the Football University camp. Here's what former Giants running back Rodney Hampton, who worked with the running backs at the camp, had to say about Bellamy:

"Adaris was one of the, if not the best running backs at the camp," Hampton said in a statement. "He truly has excellent footwork. You notice that right off. He is a complete, well-round running back. Very talented, great footwork, good hands, very coachable. I really enjoyed working with him. He needs to keep working all aspects of his game. It takes hard work, dedication and determination.

"These players today, like Adaris, are learning things in high school that I didn't learn until college. With all the camps and training they participate in they are well prepared for the next level. He definitely has what it takes to play Division I ball, and I think he'll find success at the collegiate level. I could see him playing on Sundays, too, but that is years from now. He is still in high school and has college to look forward to play, learn and grow."

-- Former USF defensive coordinator Rick Kravitz has landed at Western Michigan, where he'll coach safeties after being let go at Memphis after last season. It's Kravitz's fourth school in as many seasons, following stops at USF, N.C. State and Memphis. He'll recruit the South Florida area for the Broncos, who had 16 players from Florida on their 2007 roster.

Prado, Big East to be at Phils-Rays game

USF baseball coach Lelo Prado will be at Tuesday's Phillies-Rays spring training game at Bright House Field in Clearwater, home of the Big East baseball tournament in May.

Big East associate commissioner Jim Siedliski, who oversees Olympic sports for the league, will throw out the first pitch Tuesday and will be recognized with Prado. The Bulls, off to a 10-6 start, will be the host school for the league tournament on May 19-24, as well as in 2009.

Prado won't be able to see much of the 1 p.m. game, however, as his Bulls open a two-game series with Oklahoma on Tuesday night at Red McEwen Field. USF leaves the state of Florida for the first time this weekend, playing a three-game series at Cincinnati.

NCAA draw could help UConn locally

Could the NCAA bracket impact USF's recruiting efforts? Connecticut, competing with the Bulls on key recruits as much as any school, has its opening weekend here in Tampa, which can't hurt the Huskies' recruiting efforts on two Tampa-area prospects they're pursuing, Hillsborough Community College's Keith Brumbaugh and IMG Academy's Teeng Akol.

The Huskies have top-flight guards lined up for their incoming class, but no big men yet, and the question of available playing time in the post will ultimately hinge on whether center Hasheem Thabeet chooses to leave early for the NBA Draft. It's now one month until the spring signing period begins, with many of the top junior college prospects still busy with the national  tournaments this week ...

I can confirm, too, that Chicago Curie center Steve Goins -- another Bulls recruit considering Connecticut -- did not make his official campus visit as scheduled. I haven't been able to reach Goins or his coaches, but USFnation.com did get him on the phone, and he told them the visit was postponed because this is USF's spring break. (As if the week with no classes was some late-breaking development). This is the second time a visit has been scheduled, then shelved, which could point to a few different things. We'll have more in the next day or two ...

-- No sweep for baseball, which got strong starting pitching from Matt Quevedo -- six scoreless innings -- but gave up two runs in the eighth inning to fall 3-2 to Seton Hall. Pretty much knew that was happening when I put the time into researching USF's all-time longest winning streaks this morning.

-- Softball coach Ken Eriksen doesn't let many good pitchers get out of this area, but LSU's Dani Hofer is certainly one of them. She struck out 16 Bulls in eight innings, and USF's Courtney Mosch still stuck with her into the eighth, holding No. 10 LSU to one run through seven. Big home run by JoJo Medina, but it wasn't enough to beat the Tigers. Freshman Capri Catalano follows with a complete-game three-hit shutout against Fordham, with Medina hitting another home run in the 7-0 win. Softball's 21-10 now.

-- USF commitment Adaris Bellamy, the running back from Dunedin, was invited to a "Football University" camp in Orlando this weekend. Instructors include Steve DeBerg, Brian Mitchell, Andre Rison and other former NFL players. The camp's promotions folks might send along a photo Monday ...

USF recruit Sutton leads team to state title

Maurice Sutton, the 6-foot-11 center from Upper Marlboro, Md., being recruited by the Bulls, led Largo High to a Class 3A state championship Saturday, getting 19 points, seven rebounds and five blocks in an 84-58 win in the Comcast Center. You can read about it in the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun.

USF seems to be battling with Seton Hall and Connecticut as much as anyone on the recruiting trail -- Sutton is said to have USF and Seton Hall at the top of his list, the same as junior college forward Gary Flowers. Connecticut is battling the Bulls for IMG center Teeng Akol and Chicago's Steve Goins, who was scheduled to make an official campus visit to the Bulls this weekend. Other odd notes ...

-- If there's anything that stings a USF fan worse than having the school identified incorrectly, it's having it identified as UCF, as the Baton Rouge (La.) Advocate did Saturday.

-- Realfootball365.com has its USF spring preview. It's fine as a from-a-distance overview, with a few lines that destroy its credibility, such as "a host of talented wide receivers compete for the go-to role surrendered by the graduating Amarri Jackson." Eh?

-- Who is the Sporting News' Russ Landle, and where is he getting his information? Landle writes that Mike Jenkins helped himself at his on-campus workout -- true -- but then writes that "Jenkins ran the 40-yard dash in the low 4.4-second range, according to various scouts in attendance," which is funny, because Jenkins didn't run the 40 at all. He walked up to the starting line, waved his hands in the air to show he was sitting on the 4.38 he ran at the NFL combine. Maybe he should check with those various scouts in attendance again, just to make sure on that time, or if there was anything to be timed.

-- Speaking of Jenkins, Profootballweekly.com has a mock draft out, slotting Jenkins to go 30th to the Green Bay Packers. Other mocks have Jenkins going in the top 10, but PFW is bold enough to write that Jenkins "could be worth a gamble in this spot by a confident decision-maker such as Ted Thompson." Again, I'll go back to "Eh?" Same mock has Auburn's Patrick Lee going 31st as the fifth cornerback taken; now there's the gamble for a confident decision-maker.

Three HRs, another rally for streaking Bulls

fUSF got another late-inning rally Saturday night, with redshirt freshman Ryan Lockwood scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to beat Seton Hall for the second time in barely four hours. The Bulls have a seven-game winning streak, their longest in 11 years.

Another three home runs -- by Chris Rey, Brian Hobbs and Joey Angelberger -- gave the Bulls their first six runs, with Angelberger's two-run shot in the eighth bringing USF back from a 6-4 deficit.

Lockwood -- who scored on Addison Maruszak's home run in the final at-bat of the first game -- led off the ninth inning with a single to right-centerfield. He took second on a wild pitch, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Maruszak, then scored on a one-out single by junior Brandon Smith.

Three true freshmen combined for all nine innings on the mound, with freshman Zach Pietrzyk pitched 2.2 scoreless innings of relief for the victory, his second. Randy Fontanez got the start and left with a 4-3 lead, but Stephen Hunt allowed both inherited runners to score and gave up his first run of the season.

The Bulls have won seven straight, the longest streak since Eddie Cardieri's team won eight in a row in March 1997. The Bulls return to Red McEwen Field on Sunday seeking a conference sweep, something they didn't do once in 2007. Last year's team had five series in which they took two of three games, but had no sweeps. Their only conference sweep in two previous seasons in the Big East came against Seton Hall in 2006.

How much longer would the win streak have to go to set a USF record? Almost three weeks. The longest streak in Bulls history was a 20-game streak in 1991 (oddly enough, in an otherwise remarkable 34-26 season), and the current seven-game streak isn't even among the 20 longest streaks ever for the Bulls.

One more historical nugget? The 1982 team, coached by Robin Roberts, finished 45-13 for USF's best winning percentage ever. That team had four winning streaks of eight games or more -- one eight and three nine-game streaks. And after the '91 streak, the next-longest runs to shoot for are 15 games each, in 1976 and 1986. There are nine total streaks of 10 games or longer, though only one (14 games in 1996) since USF joined Conference USA in 1996.

Maruszak wins Big East opener in 9th

Down 4-2 to Seton Hall in the eighth inning Saturday, USF rallied for a 6-4 win in its Big East opener, getting a two-run, two-out home run in the ninth from shortstop Addison Maruszak at Red McEwen Field.

The Bulls (9-5) have now won six straight going into Saturday's second game, expected to start at 6 p.m. This game was postponed from Friday night due to inclement weather.

USF got 13 hits off Seton Hall pitching, but nearly saw its win streak come to an end. Closer Shawn Sanford, who walked two in the ninth but got out of trouble, picked up his fourth win in relief. Maruszak now has a team-high three home runs, one off his total from all of last season.

And what a wild ninth for the Bulls, as senior Eric Baumann got a one-out single, his first hit as a Bull, only to see his pinch-runner, freshman Juan Carlin, thrown out at home trying to score the tying run from second base on a single by freshman Jonathan Koscso. But redshirt freshman Ryan Lockwood hit an RBI single up the middle to tie the game, and then, after a pitching change, Maruszak won it for the Bulls.

Lots of links before the weekend ...

Lots of short notes to catch up on before the weekend, so here you go ...

-- I'm late with this, but former USF standout Jeff Baisley had a promising spring with the Oakland Athletics. He was sent down to the team's minor-league camp on Tuesday, but only after hitting .600 -- that's 6-for-10 -- in spring training. A promising start for Baisley, who could make it back to Oakland this season if he continues to hit the ball as well as he has since his Bulls days.

-- Basketball recruiting update: Power forward Maurice Sutton of Upper Marlboro, Md., helped Largo High to its state championship game, getting six blocks in a semifinal win Thursday night. A few junior college prospects are playing in their national tournaments, like Gary Flowers of Chipola and Zvonko Buljan of Vincennes in Hutchinson, Kansas, and Jeremie Simmons of Mott in the Division II juco nationals.  And Stan Heath isn't just recruiting seniors this spring -- according to the Orlando Sentinel, USF is only the second school to offer a scholarship to junior Keith Clanton, a 6-foot-8 forward from Orlando Christian Prep.

-- Got an update on former USF running back Ricky Ponton, who transferred in January to Georgia Southern and has made a quick impression on coaches there in his first spring, according to the Times and Democrat in Georgia.

-- Remember Stephanie Sarosi? Highly touted as a recruit, she struggled as a freshman at USF last season and transferred to Division II Nova Southeastern, where she's had a big year, averaging 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds as player of the year in the Sunshine State Conference. Again, success there and success in the Big East are two different challenges.

-- More Seth Greenberg linkage: the Roanoke Times has a feature on one of his longtime assistants, Ryan Odom (Dave's son), who got his start at USF in 1996 as an administrative assistant.

-- At least one writer believes that USF guard Dominique Jones is among the top 10 freshmen in college basketball this season -- No. 6, no less. Then again, he has Jones playing for "SFU" and doesn't have Memphis' Derrick Rose among his top 10 freshmen. Probably just an oversight, but a pretty big one.

Already: Selvie on '08 Lombardi watch list

Can it possibly be that 2008 football awards are already putting out watch lists? It's still five months before teams start practicing, but we can officially start up the 2008 Watch List Watch List: Defensive end George Selvie is among 54 players on the watch list for the Lombardi Award.

Selvie, who led the nation in tackles for loss and was a consensus first-team All-America as a sophomore, will go up against last year's winner, Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis, as well as two other '07 semifinalists, Cal offensive lineman Alex Mack and Oklahoma offensive lineman Duke Robinson.

Four other Big East players are on the list: Pittsburgh linebacker Scott McKillop, Cincinnati defensive tackle Terrill Byrd, Louisville center Eric Wood and West Virginia offensive lineman Greg Isdaner. The other players from Florida are Florida Atlantic tight end Jason Harmon (don't even get me started on the weird position eligibility requirements for this honor) and Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes.

This isn't a subjective list, so much as a compilation of returning all-conference selections and leftovers from last year's watch list. I'm not even sure where we're supposed to watch them. Spring ball? It's a "Try To Remember Later This Year To Watch List." And yet I post the blog, so I'm validating it. Arggh.

Jeter to Hokies: 'Just don't hit me'

Two weeks after all the fun that was USF playing the Yankees in spring training, the Bronx Bombers haven't forgotten about the Bulls. In a conference call to advance the Yankees' exhibition Tuesday at Virginia Tech, Yankees star Derek Jeter referenced the USF game, which saw him plunked on the left elbow by USF's Shawn Sanford in the first inning.

"Just don't hit me," Jeter said, according to the Roanoke (Va.) Times. "We played USF our first spring-training game; I got hit in my first at-bat. ... I'll step over them [if they make a hard slide]. Just don't hit me with your pitch."

Bulls hoops fans might remember Paige Greenberg, Seth's daughter, who played volleyball at V-Tech and is now working for Hokies website "Planet Blacksburg." During the teleconference, she asked Jeter if he'd "finally be able to find a girlfriend" when he arrived on campus.

"We're only there for a few hours," Jeter said with a laugh, according to the Times. "But if you have anyone in mind, let me know."

Random notes: Baseball, softball streaking

A weekday without a blog post? Apologies for not getting anything up Thursday -- lots of work getting everything ready for the NCAA tournament selections on Sunday and Monday, so I've been busy with that. Lots of little things I've been meaning to post, so trying to catch up today ...

After struggling out of the gates, USF's baseball and softball teams are both on tears, with baseball winning its last five games after a 3-5 start and softball on a 10-game win streak after opening 9-8.

What's behind baseball's surge? Scoring at least seven runs in each game helps a lot. Ever since the Bulls had two grand slams in one inning to rally past Savannah State on Saturday, they've been scoring runs at a wild pace -- 43 in their last 38 innings.

We told you before the season that USF was moving in the fences at Red McEwen Field to mirror the dimensions of Rosenblatt Stadium, home of the College World Series. It's worked well -- USF had one home run in its first 11 games last season, as opposed to nine in the first 11 this year. Opponents haven't caught on as well, with only three home runs in the first 11, after one last season. Last season's team starts to catch up after the 11th game, but the '08 Bulls are on track for 42 home runs, nearly double the 22 hit last spring.

Softball, too, is finding its bats. We'd thrown up a stat two weeks ago that USF was 1-8 in games in which opponents scored more than one run, which seems like an awful lot of pressure to put on pitching and defense. Well, since then, USF is 5-0 in such games, scoring 14 and seven runs in midweek games against George Mason and Boston Universty this week.

Can't say enough about how much senior Courtney Mosch has done for softball -- she totaled 10 wins last season, ranking fourth on the staff with 83 innings pitched. Not even halfway through the season, she's 12-3, with the staff's lowest ERA at 1.21. Freshman Capri Catalano is 4-0 with 1.23 and junior Cristi Ecks is 2-2 with a 1.63, so the only pitcher that hasn't been up to form is sophomore Kristen Gordon, who led the team in strikeouts and wins last season but is 1-3 with a 4.67 ERA and more walks (16) than strikeouts (10).

Baseball opens conference play today at home against Seton Hall (softball doesn't play a Big East opponent for another two weeks). Only four Big East teams out of 12 have winning records right now, and the Pirates are 6-7. The Bulls took two of three from Seton Hall last spring, so it's a series that can set the tone for USF, to potentially build on the momentum they've gotten in the past week.

-- Football! First, spring practice will start back a day earlier than scheduled, on Monday afternoon, getting back one of the two days rained out last week. I'd mentioned former USF signee Josh Bellamy last week and was able to catch up to him at Butte College in California. He'd signed with USF as a running back but played receiver at Butte, catching nine touchdown passes and scoring on a return as well.

   Bellamy went to Butte with a plan to return to USF, and while he keeps in regular contact with Bulls coaches, he said he's hearing from other big programs like Tennessee and Michigan. He has good size at 6-foot-1, 197 pounds and could play any number of positions, even safety. He's running track at Butte as well, doing the 100, 200 and 4-by-100 relay. Another on that relay is his football teammate and friend, defensive back Preston Pace, another St. Pete kid who is drawing interest from USF, Minnesota and Indiana, among others. Bellamy, coming home for spring break this week, said he expected to attend a spring practice at USF. He's a name we'll continue to check on in the next year ...

-- Another new mock first round for next month's NFL Draft, this from NBCsports.com. It has Mike Jenkins going 19th to the Eagles -- can't say I've seen that before. That mock has no defensive backs in the top 12 picks, which would surprise me. Like the Giants taking a running back in the first round ...

Women's cross-country earns Div. I's best GPA

Congrats to USF's women's cross-country team, which posted the highest team grade-point average out of 325 Division I schools last season, according to the U.S. Track and Field Cross-Country Coaches Association.

The Bulls earned a team GPA of 3.78, which edged Belmont (3.77) for the highest in Division I. Setting the pace for USF with 4.0 GPAs were five runners: Lisa Giblin, Kaley Matthews (Largo), Maressa Pinzini, Emily Wakley and Rebecca Zuhlke.

"To have earned the No. 1 GPA in the United States is a great honor for our women's cross country program, the athletic department and the University of South Florida," USF coach Warren Bye said in a statement. "We take great pride in our academics. I am very proud of the work these young women have done in the classroom."

Other state programs whose women's cross-country teams were honored for team GPAs of 3.0 or higher were Florida (3.44), Florida State (3.29), Central Florida (3.25) and Florida International (3.07); Florida (3.23)was the only state school to have its men's team recognized.

In Division II, the University of Tampa's women's cross-country team ranked fifth with a 3.73 GPA; UT's men's team ranked eighth with a 3.48.

Here you go: Basketball recruiting update ...

With basketball season over for USF, recruiting moves to the forefront as Stan Heath works to make the most of the spring signing period, which begins April 16. Hard to say how many scholarships he has to play with in the next month, but the Bulls are all over the place, in play for as many as 10 recruits. And that's just the ones I'm aware of ...

I'll start with Hillsborough Community College standout Keith Brumbaugh, probably the name you'd hear most atop the wish list of Bulls basketball fans. HCC coach Derrick Worrels said he spoke with Heath on Tuesday, and USF is trying to get Brumbaugh lined up for a visit. He hasn't scheduled any to any schools. Here's the thing with Brumbaugh: USF's primary competition isn't Connecticut and Charlotte, the other two schools recruiting him hardest. It's the NBA. Worrels said Brumbaugh is weighing whether to enter the NBA Draft, something he nearly did out of DeLand High School. He's trying to get a sense as to whether he'd be a second-round pick or a free-agent signee, whether he'd likely spend a rookie season deep on an NBA bench, or getting more minutes in the NBA's developmental league. So right now, the decision he's making isn't where to go to college, it's whether to go to college. He was torn with this out of high school and ultimately chose the college route. (The Grizzlies were at HCC on Tuesday, asking about Brumbaugh, who plays this weekend in a Florida-Georgia junior college all-star game in Jacksonville.)

Brumbaugh likes USF and Heath, and recognizes that Tampa is a place where he's been able to play basketball and stay out of trouble. There's a mutual interest here -- when Brumbaugh played his final game at HCC, USF's Kentrell Gransberry and other players were watching in the stands; when USF finished its season against Notre Dame on Saturday, Worrels said Brumbaugh was there watching.

Another big target for USF, Chicago Curie center Steve Goins, is expected to make his official campus visit this weekend, according to Curie assistant Larry Wallace. Goins had once been scheduled for the previous weekend, but this coincides with his spring break. Connecticut is trying to set up a visit with Goins, who plans on visiting Texas-Corpus Christi the following week, according to Wallace.

If there's a prep big man USF seems to covet as much as Goins, it looks to be Maurice Sutton, a 6-foot-10, 190-pound power forward from Largo High in Upper Marlboro, Md., east of Washington, D.C., and near Andrews Air Force Base.

Largo coach Lewis Howard said Heath made a visit last week -- the Bulls are in the mix, as well as Kentucky, Seton Hall, Villanova, Marquette and Boston College. Sutton has Largo in the state semifinals for the second year in a row -- they play Thursday night in the Comcast Center, and Howard he expects USF to have a coach there then as well. Sutton is averaging 18 points and 13 rebounds a game and close to a triple-double with his blocks. Of all the recruits USF is in on, he seems to have the most impressive list of competing schools.

An update on Jeremie Simmons, the coveted guard from Mott CC in Flint, Michigan: Heath was there Friday and is trying to line up a campus visit. Mott coach Steve Schmidt, who has known Heath since he was a Michigan State assistant, said USF got in on Simmons later than other schools but is fighting for him and "very interested." The leader looks to be Butler, which is the only school he's lined up a visit for. Tennessee is trying to move in, as are Alabama, George Mason and Dayton. Mott is playing in the national junior college tournament in Danville, Ill., which starts a week from today.

Another name on USF's radar, but seemingly less so than others we've mentioned: Alex Rivas-Sanchez, a 6-foot-10, 235-pound center at Pratt Community College in Kansas. Talked to his coach there, Trevor Rolfs, and he said USF assistant Byron Samuels has been recruiting Rivas-Sanchez, who in turn is interested in USF, as well as Pittsburgh and Florida Atlantic. He's from the Dominican Republic and likes the idea of living in a warm climate, Rolfs said. Rivas-Sanchez is more of a defensive center, averaging 9.0 points and 12.5 rebounds a game. "He's a shot blocker, really bouncy, runs the floor very well," Rolfs said.

One name that shows up on Rivals.com's USF database -- but doesn't seem to be on the Bulls' radar -- is Michael Selling, a power forward from American River CC in California. His coach there said he hadn't heard from USF in some time and wasn't aware of any USF coaches attending Selling's games. His top choices are Northern Arizona, Chaminade, Seattle and Texas-San Antonio, so scratch him off your list.

USF remains on the short list for College of Southern Idaho forward Juan Pattillo, another potential impact signee -- a story in Wednesday's Twin Falls Times-News lists his options as "South Florida, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Arizona, Ole Miss and Colorado State."

All this, and we haven't touched on Teeng Akol or Freddy Asprilla or Gary Flowers or Zvonko Buljan, all of which are still uncommitted and being mentioned with USF. Lots of names in play here in the next month, so we'll be busy keeping track of everybody ...

No Big East rookie honor for USF's Jones

Two promising young players shared the Big East Rookie of the Year award that was announced Tuesday night, but USF guard Dominique Jones isn't one of them.

The honors went to Syracuse guard Jonny Flynn and Pittsburgh center DeJuan Blair, with Jones and Syracuse's Donte' Greene missing out after being named as unanimous picks with those two on the league's all-rookie team Monday.

Notre Dame's Luke Harangody, as expected, was named the league's Player of the Year, and Fighting Irish coach Mike Brey was the league's coach of the year for the second season in a row.

So is this a snub, or just a function of Jones playing for a team that went 3-15 in the league?