Bulls lose out on 6-foot-8 tackle

USF has lost out on a potential late addition to its recruiting class, and Zach Hanson a 6-foot-8 tackle from Sacramento City C.C. in California said Monday he has committed to Kansas State after visiting the Wildcats this weekend.

"It was a hard decision, because they're both such different places,'' Hanson said. "I enjoyed South Florida a lot, I just felt more comfortable at K-State. I'm from a smaller town, so it was more my lifestyle.''

USF had hoped to bring in Hanson to compete for the starting right tackle job. Former walk-on Jake Sims, who has earned a scholarship this fall, would be the starting right tackle entering fall drills.

-- GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer

Sunday morning links aplenty ...

So much to still get to -- haven't gone through all the new walk-ons, haven't really touched on the huge recruiting haul USF football had last weekend, netting six firm commitments for the class of 2009. I've got lots of links to offer up, and then we'll get back to newsy stuff on Monday ...

-- Before the links, thought I'd share that USF coach Jim Leavitt is not in favor of an early signing period for football, as has been proposed by SEC coaches. Leavitt, like most coaches, doesn't like the NCAA's decision to keep head coaches off high school campuses in the spring, keeping him from making key evaluations in person. Given that, he doesn't want to see the recruiting process sped up even more by having a fall signing period, which would force colleges to make decisions about which players best fit their needs before their seasons had ended. Leavitt said if the spring ban were lifted, he'd be more amenable to an earlier signing date, but until then, that's as rushed as he wants to be. USF is far ahead of its usual timeframe for piling up commitments as it is ...

-- Odd that I haven't been to an "Around the Horns" booster gathering, in that I usually sit in at a few to hear the stump speeches from Leavitt, Stan Heath, etc., but I haven't yet. I should be at Monday's at Tampa Palms, and here's a report from the Fort Myers gathering last week.

-- Lots of bloggers writing up previews, and rarely do you learn more than their quick thoughts on who'll finish where, but there's a decent Big East rundown from "The Shwag." Lost me a little bit when he started talking about "running back Larry Ford." He has USF picked second ...

-- For a while now, USF has had a football site geared toward recruits, theusfbulls.com. You can register for free, and there's an unintentionally funny collection of "tours of Tampa Bay" videos, with coaches standing in front of Tampa landmarks to show newcomers all the great things in the area. Some of the coaches are very polished in a short 30-second reading, while others ... are clearly ... reading from ... cue cards. Can't tell who's cooler -- Mike Canales hanging out in Ybor or Larry Scott at International Plaza. Fun stuff ...

-- Georgia State is the latest startup football program, and new coach Bill Curry has been very complimentary of USF, mentioning Jim Leavitt in nearly every article I've seen. Here's one, from the Effingham Herald. Then again, I've seen UAB's Watson Brown referenced a lot, too ...

-- Ryan Boyd with the Bradenton Herald has a new Q&A with Leavitt -- no major revelations, but lots of his thoughts on Matt Grothe, George Selvie and company. ...

-- I'll get around to catching up with the new commits from last week, but there's a good writeup at ESPN.com, running through the basics. Leavitt told me the "Super Bull" event at Raymond James Stadium, backed by Under Armour, was the best recruiting event he's had at USF, and he wants it even bigger next summer. He wants to call it "Saturday Night Live" -- if I'd gotten five or six commits on one night, I don't know that I'd change anything about the event just right away ...

-- The Louisville Courier-Journal's Rick Bozich, writing about college football, tabs USF as the team "Most Likely To Be the Next Louisville." Honestly, after last season, I took that to mean "the Big East team most likely to suffer an unexpected and thorough collapse from high expectations." I think he means it in a more positive way. I'm curious to see how Hunter Cantwell can step in for Louisville -- I've seen him rated as high as the No. 2 quarterback in the conference. Seems like folks expect the transition to be as seamless as it was when Brian Brohm came in three years ago, but I'd be impressed if that happens twice in a row. Cantwell only threw 14 passes last season ...

-- Sounds like there's another preferred walk-on coming to USF in Joe Onorato, a kicker from Glassboro, N.J. ... this story from NJ.com writes that if he comes out of camp as one of the top two kickers, he'll go on scholarship. He might have said that, and he might have been told that, but as long I've dealt with USF, the general timeframe for walk-ons earning a scholarship is two full seasons. There's a long list who have done it that way, but I can't think of one who earned it his first August. We'll get more on Onorato and other walk-ons as we get confirmation ...

It's official: 6-foot-11 Akol joins Bulls' class

Teeng Akol is in.

The 6-foot-11, 225-pound power forward from Sudan, who committed to USF last month, has earned the necessary test scores to officially sign with the Bulls and will start summer classes Monday. It's a big boost to a recruiting class now seven players deep, and Stan Heath said it's a significant step for Akol, months before he ever plays a college game.

"His background is incredible. He's had a unique path to get to this point," Heath said. "He's a Sudanese refugee, but he's persevered. To be in college, it's a dream of his."

Akol continues a major revamping of the power forward position, along with fellow freshman Eladio Espinosa and Maryland transfer Gus Gilchrist, who will join his new teammates Saturday. Heath said upgrading that position was a priority in USF's recruiting efforts.

"That was an area where I felt we were a little overwhelmed in a lot of games last year, especially in the Big East," he said. "It definitely was a focus to plug that hole, and I feel like we've addressed that very well."

Heath said Akol's strength will be his versatility, with range to step out and hit a 3-pointer, but size and physical presence to block shots inside. With all seven newcomers enrolled for summer classes, the new Bulls have an extra month to learn each other and forge chemistry in informal open-gym workouts.

"Teeng has a lot of upside," Heath said. "He has a toughness, an intensity about him, and I think he's going to challenge guys on the court right away. The summer is a major benefit, and it's made a world of difference for us as coaches, having the players coming in in the summer."

Akol joins a group that includes Espinosa, guard Gaby Belardo and centers Gene Teague and Alex Rivas Sanchez. Guard Mike Mercer transferred from Georgia at midseason last year and will be eligible in mid-December, and the Bulls are in the process of submitting a hardship waiver that would potentially allow Gilchrist to play this season without sitting out a year after transferring from Maryland. Walk-on Mitch Emory from Cocoa Beach is also starting summer classes next week as well.

(Yes, we originally said 6-10, 215, because that's what Heath said his height and weight were ... then an hour later, USF's official release says 6-11, 225 ... we'll update next time we get a new set of numbers ... )

Gransberry to sign contract with Pistons

Former USF center Kentrell Gransberry, passed over in Thursday's NBA Draft, said Friday he expects to sign a free-agent contract with the Detroit Pistons and play for them in the NBA's summer league in Las Vegas.

"It was the best situation," said Gransberry, who reports to Las Vegas on July 7, trying to make the team as an undrafted rookie. The league runs July 11-20 with 21 teams participating.

Detroit was one of seven teams that Gransberry worked out for before the draft, and he said that while it was difficult to watch the draft come and go Thursday night without the news he'd hoped for, he's focused on trying to keep a spot on one of the NBA's most successful teams.

"It was disappointing because you want to hear your name called," Gransberry said. "But it's not the end of the world. You just have to keep working hard and trying to do what it takes to get into the league."

Detroit traded away its first-round pick from Thursday's draft, but Gransberry will be competing with three rookies drafted in the second round: power forwards Walter Sharpe (6-9) of UAB and Trent Plaisted (6-11) of BYU, along with small forward Deron Washington (6-7) of Virginia Tech.

The Pistons can be a tough roster to crack -- last year, second-round pick Sammy Mejia of DePaul was among the preseason cuts. Four players from Detroit's summer league team last year were regulars for the Pistons this season, but all had been drafted -- '07 first-rounders Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo, '05 first-rounder Jason Maxiell and '05 second-rounder Amir Johnson.

Detroit went 59-23 this season, finishing second in the Eastern Conference and losing in the Eastern finals to the Boston Celtics, who went on to win an NBA championship. It's the third year in a row Detroit lost in the conference finals. Given the long odds he faces to make Detroit's roster, Gransberry could wind up with Detroit's affiliate in the NBA Developmental League, the Fort Wayne Red Ants.

USF's Gransberry not taken in NBA Draft

Thursday night's NBA Draft came and went without any good news for former USF center Kentrell Gransberry, who had hoped to be only the second Bulls player drafted in the last two decades.

Gransberry wasn't among 60 players selected -- neither was Hillsborough Community College's Keith Brumbaugh, who opted for the draft instead of playing major-college ball at schools such as USF. But the Big East's leading rebounder for the past two seasons is likely to earn a contract to play summer-league ball with an NBA team, giving him a chance to work his way onto a roster this fall. Expect news on that end as early as Friday. ...

Further proof of how ridiculously good the Big East should be this season: from all those teams, only four conference players were drafted. There were just three in the first round, with West Virginia's Joe Alexander going eighth, Georgetown's Roy Hibbert going 17th and Syracuse's Donte Greene falling all the way to 28th; Georgetown's Patrick Ewing Jr. went in the second round.

Forward Chin lands at Cal State-Fullerton

The last unclaimed player from the slew transferring out of USF's men's basketball program has found a home. Forward Orane Chin, granted a release from USF after one season, has signed with Cal State-Fullerton after making a campus visit last week. He'll sit out this season and have three years of eligibility with the Titans.

"We think he can be an outstanding player for us in the Big West Conference," Titans coach Bob Burton said in a statement. "He's pretty athletic and a pretty good shooter. We're real excited to get him. His numbers weren't overwhelming but if you can start in the Big East as a freshman, that's an indication he can be a pretty good player for us."

To wrap up where everyone's landed: Zaronn Cann last summer to Division II Eckerd College, Dante Curry in December to Georgia State, Solomon Bozeman to Arkansas-Little Rock, Aaron Holmes to Sante Fe Community College and Amu Saaka to Furman.

-- Promising news for USF soccer and coach George Kiefer, as today's Boston Globe has a profile on Mike Soboff, a talented midfielder who the Bulls have landed, beating out Big East power Connecticut and 2006 national champion Maryland. We've got calls out to Soboff today, but here's a highlight clip of him from Youtube. Here's a short one of him showing off his juggling skills -- notice he doesn't quite pull off the ball-resting-on-back-of-neck deal the first time. More to come there ...

-- Defensive tackle Richard Clebert's stay with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes didn't last long. He was cut June 15, barely a week after joining the Alouettes in preseason camp. Former USF safety Jeremy Burnett was cut this week by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, leaving receiver S.J. Green as the Bulls' lone representative in the CFL.

-- USF should know by the weekend if pitching coach Lazer Collazo is leaving to become head coach at Florida Atlantic, but there was another Bulls pitching coach in the news recently. Russ McNickle, the Bulls' top assistant under Eddie Cardieri in 1999-2000, is the new head coach at Saint Leo in eastern Pasco County.

-- Hey, Mike Lakeland! This might be old news for my Polk County readers, but USF has added three billboards in Lakeland, for a total of 21 trumpeting the upcoming football season. Locations? North 98 by I-4 on the left-hand side; South 98 and Winter Lake Road on the right, by USF's Lakeland campus; and where else but S. Florida Avenue, past the Outback on the left side. And if you haven't seen USF's TV commercial touting season tickets, it's made its way onto Youtube as well. That shot of Jim Leavitt watching film on a projector is clearly staged -- you can tell because there's no Pepsi in sight.

Lake Gibson twin guards off to junior college

Twin guards Andrea and Andrell Smith of Lake Gibson, rated among the state's top recruits when they signed with USF last fall, have yet to post test scores to meet NCAA eligibility requirements and started classes this week at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City.

The sisters were still awaiting a final test score this week, but GCCC coach Roonie Scovel said Wednesday that she expects both to play for her program this season. USF coach Jose Fernandez was certainly aware the Smith twins had not yet qualified when he signed three junior college guards late in the spring signing period, including two from GCCC.

Andrea was rated as the state's No. 4 prospect by Floridahoops.com before this season, with Andrell rated No. 10 in the same rankings. It works out as an even swap with GCCC, which saw sophomore stars Alexis Givands and Janae Stokes sign with the Bulls in May after winning a junior college national championship. The incoming class is still guard-heavy, so depth in the backcourt shouldn't be a significant issue.

Football: USF released its preseason football roster, though new walk-ons won't be added until the start of practice in August. No surprises in the personnel, though there is the novelty of learning uniform numbers for the newcomers. The only significant numbering change answers the question of which young defensive back earned the right to wear Mike Jenkins' No. 4. Freshman Charlton Sinclair had hoped to earn that, but he's stuck with No. 31, while converted running back Tyson Butler has been allowed to shift from No. 13 to No. 4.

Here are the new numbers for 22 incoming players, especially for you video-game junkies ready to update your rosters. The biggest names? Quarterback B.J. Daniels will wear No. 7, while defensive end David Bedford will wear No. 58. There's still double-numbering aplenty, with many numbers matching a player on offense and defense, like quarterback Evan Landi and defensive back John Lejiste, who both will wear No. 12. The rest? Theo Wilson has No. 2, Daniel Bryant 4, Justin Brockhaus-Kann 18, Demetris Murray 21, George Baker 22, Maikon Bonani 28, Jeff Hawkins 34 (curious for a tight end), Kion Wilson 42, Danous Estenar 45, Corey Grissom 46, Armando Sanchez 51, Mike Lanaris 55, Quavon Taylor 56, Josh Garvin 69, Damien Edwards 73, Mark Popek 74, Jatavious Jackson 93 and Craig Marshall 94.

One more note: I talked Wednesday night with Zach Hanson, the huge tackle from Sacramento who visited last weekend and was hosted by senior center Jake Griffin. He's down to USF and Kansas State, where he'll visit Thursday, and said he expects to decide by Sunday. He said North Carolina called this week and offered him a scholarship, but he told them he was happy with his final two choices. As far as USF? "It looks like a place I can fit in well at," he said. "The facilities are really nice, and I'd have a chance to come in and play right away." We'll get another updated on the 6-foot-8 Hanson this weekend ...

Point guard McMillan out; Akol coming soon

Point guard Dwan McMillan, who signed with USF in April and was expected to push veteran Chris Howard for a starting job this season, has not been cleared to attend summer classes at USF and likely won't play for the Bulls this season.

USF's incoming players report to campus today, with classes starting Monday, but McMillan won't be among that group because of incomplete academic records from this past school year at St. Benedict Prep in New Jersey. McMillan said Wednesday he is working to clear up issues regarding fifth-year classes, but didn't know whether they would be resolved in time to join the Bulls this season.

"My stuff didn't clear yet. I think it should be clear before summer's over," McMillan said. "I think it's going to happen for me, but it might be too late. I'm quite sure I am going to be cleared, and I want to come to South Florida."

Coach Stan Heath acknowledged a "small window for the future" for McMillan, but said for now, he's not coming to USF. Heath said that the summer session is "really necessary" for incoming players and said he'll be confident entering the season with Howard at point guard, as well as Dominique Jones and Mike Mercer and freshman Gaby Belardo, who have point guard experience as well.

Heath said junior college would be an option, and said he would put in a good word to other coaches if McMillan can find another college where he would not have the same academic hurdles to clear.

There is good news, however, on power forward Teeng Akol, who took college entrance exams for the first time this month and could have a score by today. Akol, reached Tuesday, said "I am positive I did well" and expects to join his USF teammates for summer classes next week. Once his test scores are in, USF can formally sign him to a grant-in-aid and count him as part of the incoming class.

Heath announced USF's 12-game non-conference schedule Wednesday, with the biggest news being a game at Virginia on Nov. 19 that starts a home-and-home series, with the Cavaliers coming to Tampa in 2009. The Bulls open their season at home against SMU, bringing former UNC and Florida Atlantic coach Matt Doherty. We'd previously reported USF's involvement in the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico, as well as the Bulls' game against Vanderbilt in Nashville as part of the SEC-Big East Invitational.

The home dates? Let's just say there are nine compelling Big East games in the Sun Dome, and the nonconference games should ... build confidence for a Bulls team that will have a lot of chemistry to build in a short amount of time with more newcomers than returning players.

Here are the five home opponents: SMU (8-20 last year, RPI 266), High Point (13-14, 231), Northeastern (14-17, 170), Niagara (19-10, 116) and Iona (12-20, 225). Niagara won't be nearly as good, as top scorer Charron Foster (27.6 ppg) graduated. So expect five USF nonconference wins at home, with tough games at Virginia and UAB and a telling game at UCF in December.

Lastly, yes, USF is being mentioned among the schools being considered by Jordan Crawford, a 6-foot-4 guard who is transferring from Indiana after one season. He averaged 9.7 points per game as a Hoosier, hitting 36 percent of his 3-pointers, and has several connections with USF that make the Bulls a viable option. He's from Detroit, and as the Jordan Dumars commitment has shown, Heath is still well-connected there and knows Crawford and his family. Bulls assistant Reggie Hanson coached his brother Joe at Kentucky, and Crawford attended the same Virginia prep school, Hargrave Military Academy, where incoming freshman Eladio Espinosa played this past season. All those things get USF in the door, and the Bulls now have a scholarship available, but they're in tough competition with other major programs closer to home for Crawford, who is still in the process of choosing his options.

Football update: Shields to take grayshirt

Lots of little football updates to get to, so many so that I'll have to save some for Wednesday. We told you Tuesday morning that defensive end Donnell Engram was headed to junior college, and now we can report that another USF signee won't be reporting with his classmates this week: Wharton tight end Andreas Shields is "grayshirting," which is super-cool football-speak for deferring his enrollment until January and counting toward next year's recruiting class.

Shields would have been headed for a redshirt this fall, and coaches are hoping he can use this fall to add bulk to his frame, which was listed at 6-foot-6, 200 pounds on signing day. If you go to USF's site and check out the "coaches comment" video clip of offensive coordinator Greg Gregory talking about Shields back in February, you hear familiar things: "He knows he has to get bigger, to get stronger," he says.

Another signee who has been discussed as a potential grayshirt, Coral Springs' Evan Landi, will be with the Bulls this fall as scheduled, and as a quarterback, though like many recruits, he could wind up at another position eventually. Landi won't be the only new quarterback, as Tyler Stowell, a 6-foot-3, 180-pounder from St. Petersburg Northside Christian, will join the team as a walk-on when school starts in late August. Stowell didn't have incredible numbers at Northside, but was athletic enough to finish in the top three in the state in both hurdles events in track this spring.

Two USF signees from junior college aren't done with classwork in time to start summer classes at USF, but it's not bad news. I talked Tuesday with defensive end David Bedford, who could step in as a starter opposite George Selvie. He had good news: the five (5!) classes he was taking this summer at Independence Community College are completed, and he can take his final class, an English course, here in Tampa at Hillsborough Community College, then start classes this fall.

"It's been hell. Just so many classes," Bedford said. "But it's worth it, to know I will be at USF and playing football this fall. It's a great opportunity for me."

Cornerback Theo Wilson got his associate of arts degree from Pearl River Community College, but he needs to raise his grade-point average, so he's taking a class at HCC as well and still looks to be in position to join the Bulls in August. If the Bulls open camp in August with only one or two academic casualties from signing day, that's an impressive improvement from the last few years.

One more name that's been bounced around since February: offensive lineman Justin Green, who made headlines when he couldn't sign with the Bulls because he wasn't cleared by USF's new academic committee, will not be at USF this fall. He has worked hard this spring to rectify the issues that kept him from being cleared, but won't be part of USF's incoming class. The offensive line is still well-represented in the freshmen arriving on campus this week, and 6-foot-8 junior college standout Zach Hanson could be joining the group soon after making a campus visit over the weekend.

I've got a bunch of new walk-ons to share, but one I can confirm tonight: Wharton fullback LaDre Watkins, who checked in for orientation Tuesday, excited about joining the Bulls. Here's the twist: USF took him as an outside linebacker, which suits his 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame. Thing is, he hasn't played defense since he was 8 years old. "I've always liked the program, and they've recruited me since I was a sophomore," said Watkins, who is listed as rushing for 335 yards and four touchdowns last fall on Wharton's Maxpreps.com page.

Watkins had a scholarship offer from I-AA Elon, USF's opening opponent last season, and had Florida Atlantic coaches like him enough to make a personal visit to his home. He's smart enough that Vanderbilt recruited him, with a 4.3 weighted GPA and a National Honor Society line on his resume. Sharp kid, and quick enough to play safety, perhaps. He'll join another Wharton grad, running back Joel Miller, who made the team back in spring.

Lots more to come Wednesday, including the huge recruiting haul the Bulls had over the weekend, more walk-ons, good news for the basketball team and more ...

Dumars on son: 'He's not afraid to shoot it'

  Lots of catching up to do after a week off, and as interview requests go, it was a halfcourt shot Tuesday morning to call the Detroit Pistons and try to get president of basketball operations Joe Dumars for a phone interview, just two days before the NBA Draft. The first person in the Pistons' media relations department said it'd almost certainly be after the draft before Dumars could return a call, so all they could promise was that they'd pass along the message.

Thirteen minutes later, Dumars called, happy to take a break from last-minute draft workouts to talk about his son Jordan, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound wing from Detroit Country Day who has accepted a scholarship offer to play at USF for Stan Heath, starting with the 2009-10 season.

Dumars, who won two NBA championships in 14 years as a player in the league, said he knows many people in Tampa through Palace Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Pistons and until just recently owned the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning. He admitted, however, that he "did not know a lot about USF at all" until he drove from Orlando to Tampa with his wife, Debbie, and Jordan for an unofficial campus visit while the Pistons were in Orlando to play the Orlando Magic.

GA: How long have you known Stan Heath?

JD: I knew Stan when he was an assistant at Michigan State. Just knew he was a really good, young assistant coach. I know he saw Jordan play last year, right before the season, and he saw him play in AAU this summer. Stan really started talking to him while we were in the first round of the playoffs, against Philly.

GA: What were the biggest things that attracted Jordan, and your family, to USF?

JD: We drove over from Orlando and that answered a lot of questions about USF. My wife, as mothers will do, wanted to know everything she could about the school. She was Googling everything about it. We liked a couple of things that were very important to us. The person you're going to play for is paramount, and Stan and the man that he is, that was a huge appeal to us. Second, but just as importantly, Jordan wanted to find a program that was up and coming. He wanted to be a part of something like that. Jordan's put a lot of thought into this, and we felt like we were able to check off all the boxes with USF.

GA: Tell us about Jordan as a player, from a dad's perspective more than an NBA front-office perspective ...

JD: He'll be a very good defender. He can really shoot the ball, and he has a very high basketball IQ. And as a father, he's a kid who is never going to have one day of problems. He's very committed to basketball and South Florida. As Stan has said many times, he's a player who will help you win games.

GA: Any similarities between your game and his, things that remind you of yourself at that age?

JD: Well, we both were never bashful about shooting. People will see that he's not afraid to shoot it.

GA: You and Heath both have teenage sons named Jordan, which probably shouldn't be that big a surprise for two fathers who have been involved in basketball as much as you have been.

JD: Jordan's name actually wasn't from No. 23. I saw enough of Michael not to name my son after him (laughing). We just liked the name, and we would have picked Jordan whether it was a boy or girl.

(photo courtesy of Associated Press)

Signee Engram headed to Pearl River

USF's freshman class of football players is due to report to campus Wednesday, but the class won't be arriving in its entirety. Tarpon Springs defensive end Donnell Engram, who signed with the Bulls in February, reported Tuesday for classes at Pearl River Community College in Mississippi, where USF has placed several non-qualifying recruits in recent years.

"We put him in every situation we could to be successful," said Tarpon Springs coach George Kotis, who said Engram was unable to raise his core grade point average or improve test scores enough to meet the NCAA's standards for initial eligibility. "It's more a maturity process than anything else, but some kids just think it's going to work out by itself."

Kotis said Engram heads to Pearl River with full intentions of returning to USF in two years -- "he's not going anywhere else but USF." Kotis said Engram intends to play this fall at defensive end, but could also get a look at tight end, where his hands and size make him an intriguing option on offense.

The Bulls haven't had much success with the Pearl River pipeline for various reasons, but hope to get help this fall from three former Pearl River players, linebacker Kion Wilson, defensive back Theo Wilson and defensive end Craig Marshall.

Stay tuned for more news on the incoming class, including a possible grayshirt (deferred enrollment) or two and possible late additions as well. Three walk-ons who were on USF's football roster last fall -- defensive back Micah Morgan, defensive end Matt Aycox and receiver David Cozzo -- are no longer in USF's program. Of the three, only Morgan saw regular playing time last season, working on special teams.

Joe Dumars' son to join Bulls

Jordan Dumars, son of basketball legend and current Detroit Pistons executive Joe Dumars, orally committed to USF on Sunday night. He is the second player to join the Bulls' Class of 2009.

Dumars is a 6-foot-6, 230-pound wing who attends Detroit Country Day , alma mater of former stars such as Chris Webber and Shane Battier. Dumars told the Times Monday morning he's a Michigan kid, but felt most comfortable in the recruiting process with USF coach Stan Heath.

"I'm  a Michigan kid, so it's not like I grew up rooting for USF,'' he said. "But coach Heath knows my dad pretty well and he knows a lot of the Pistons people. He came and saw me at the beginning of the fall and he really liked me. We have stayed in contact since then. And me being so comfortable with him, that's what really helped me make the decision.''

Dumars said throughout the recruiting process, Heath, a Detroit native, was always honest, which is important to him in a coach.

"I know he's a straight shooter,'' Dumars said. "He's not going to just tell me anything. He'll develop me into a really good player and he's a great coach. . . . I knew I was comfortable with him, so there was no sense waiting. I can get it off my mind and focus on working my game.''

Bucs release USF wide receiver

The Bucs have done still more roster shuffling.

First, they have signed fourth-round pick Dre Moore, a defensive tackle from Maryland, giving them two picks under contract with more than a month remaining before training camp (seventh-rounder pick Cory Boyd is the other).

We've learned that Moore's contract is a four-year deal, one that includes an escalator in the final year of the deal.

Meanwhile, in their continued effort to eliminate players and reach the 80-man training-camp limit, the
Bucs released a few more players. Among them were former USF receiver Amarri Jackson, an undrafted prospect who was signed after a strong showing after a tryout in May.

The Bucs also released receiver Charles Spiller (Alcorn State) and fullback Carl Stewart (Auburn).

-- Stephen F. Holder, Times Staff Writer

A few more notes, and then I'm off ...

It's not good news for you regulars who like plenty of updates, even in the doldrums of summer: I'm taking a week off, starting this afternoon, and while I'll have my laptop with me, I've vowed to take a break and go blog-free. I'll be back and posting like a madman next week, don't worry.

But before I go, I wanted to offer up a few notes, a few links, since there still are a few things going on. I can't get a full read on how much the Houston Texans' signing of veteran Rosevelt Colvin will impact rookie Ben Moffitt's chances of making the roster. It doesn't help.

-- If you're like me, when you read the paper Monday morning and saw FSU's longtime coach was retiring, your first thought was "Would they go after Ken Eriksen?" It seemed fathomable, if the Seminoles offered a bump in pay and the frustrations of getting a new stadium had worn on Eriksen. Rest easy, Bulls fans. Eriksen isn't interested in going to Tallahassee.

Remember, USF is home for Eriksen, who played baseball for the Bulls and has two decades of experience with the softball program. Tampa is where his daughters have grown up, and the team he has back next season, fresh off a Big East regular-season title, isn't the kind you want to leave, either. That's not to say he'll never leave, but he isn't leaving this summer for anything at Florida State.

-- Former USF shortstop Addison Maruszak makes his pro baseball debut tonight as the Staten Island Yankees play at the Brookyn Cyclones in the season opener of the New York-Penn League. His manager in Staten Island, curiously, is former Florida coach Pat McMahon. Speaking of Gators, it's interesting to read that the new executive director of the University of Florida Alumni Association is ... a USF graduate.

--  Former USF football player Otis Dixon, 29, has stepped down as head coach at Lakewood High, moving on to a job in the insurance industry. Dixon had applied for a job at Hernando High this summer but wasn't chosen, so it's one less tie the Bulls have in the Pinellas County football scene.

-- Forgot to post this when USF announced it, but a newspaper in Sudbury, Canada, reminds me that former Bulls volleyball standout Kristina Fabris is moving on to a pro career in Finland.

-- Former USF cornerback Mike Jenkins hasn't played his first NFL game yet, but he's already made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. All the Dallas Cowboys' rookies made a visit there, according to the Canton Repository. ...

-- More love for Big East commish Mike Tranghese from the Orlando Sentinel.

There you have it. Barring any big news in the next few hours, I won't be back for a week. If news breaks, my colleagues are ready to pinch-blog, and behave yourselves on the comments. ...

Joyer commits to USF

Kamran Joyer wanted to go into fall practice with a clear head.

The Wesley Chapel lineman officially ended his football recruitment Monday by orally committing to USF.

The 6-foot-3, 317-pounder visited Miami this weekend and decided he had seen enough of the schools and heard enough from the coaches. He was drawn to USF because of its close proximity to home, which would allow for family and friends not to miss a moment of his collegiate career. Three of his uncles and one of his aunts went to USF. He also considered Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Illinois.

Kamran decided not to go out of state because of his tight bond with younger brother, Hunter, who he hopes will join him on the USF football team in three years.
"I didn't want to go too far away from my brother," Kamran said. "I've been researching them (USF) a lot. They have good facilities and a good education."

Early on, Kamran was high on Florida though a scholarship was never offered. The Gators asked Joyer to wait until July, his father Jack Joyer said.

Kamran will either play center or guard for the Bulls and will have an opportunity to start, his father said. Kamran considered graduating from Wesley Chapel early but has decided to stay in high school next spring in hopes of competing for weightlifting and shot put state titles.

Oral commitments are non-binding and not recognized by the NCAA. When asked if he would reconsider his commitment if Florida offered him a scholarship, Kamran said, "I wouldn't take it. I would stick to my commitment."

-- IZZY GOULD
izzygould@gmail.com

Kamran Joyer wanted to go into fall practice with a clear head.

The Wesley Chapel lineman officially ended his football recruitment Monday by orally committing to USF.

The 6-foot-3, 317-pounder visited Miami this weekend and decided he had seen enough of the schools and heard enough from the coaches. He was drawn to USF because of its close proximity to home, which would allow for family and friends not to miss a moment of his collegiate career. Three of his uncles and one of his aunts went to USF. He also considered Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Illinois.

Kamran decided not to go out of state because of his tight bond with younger brother, Hunter, who he hopes will join him on the USF football team in three years.
"I didn't want to go too far away from my brother," Kamran said. "I've been researching them (USF) a lot. They have good facilities and a good education."

Early on, Kamran was high on Florida though a scholarship was never offered. The Gators asked Joyer to wait until July, his father Jack Joyer said.

Kamran will either play center or guard for the Bulls and will have an opportunity to start, his father said. Kamran considered graduating from Wesley Chapel early but has decided to stay in high school next spring in hopes of competing for weightlifting and shot put state titles.

Oral commitments are non-binding and not recognized by the NCAA. When asked if he would reconsider his commitment if Florida offered him a scholarship, Kamran said, "I wouldn't take it. I would stick to my commitment."

-- IZZY GOULD
izzygould@gmail.com

Kamran Joyer wanted to go into fall practice with a clear head.

The Wesley Chapel lineman officially ended his football recruitment Monday by orally committing to USF.

The 6-foot-3, 317-pounder visited Miami this weekend and decided he had seen enough of the schools and heard enough from the coaches. He was drawn to USF because of its close proximity to home, which would allow for family and friends not to miss a moment of his collegiate career. Three of his uncles and one of his aunts went to USF. He also considered Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Illinois.

Kamran decided not to go out of state because of his tight bond with younger brother, Hunter, who he hopes will join him on the USF football team in three years.
"I didn't want to go too far away from my brother," Kamran said. "I've been researching them (USF) a lot. They have good facilities and a good education."

Early on, Kamran was high on Florida though a scholarship was never offered. The Gators asked Joyer to wait until July, his father Jack Joyer said.

Kamran will either play center or guard for the Bulls and will have an opportunity to start, his father said. Kamran considered graduating from Wesley Chapel early but has decided to stay in high school next spring in hopes of competing for weightlifting and shot put state titles.

Oral commitments are non-binding and not recognized by the NCAA. When asked if he would reconsider his commitment if Florida offered him a scholarship, Kamran said, "I wouldn't take it. I would stick to my commitment."

-- IZZY GOULD
izzygould@gmail.com

Bulls land Maryland transfer Gilchrist

USF coach Stan Heath has landed an eighth member of his incoming recruiting class -- perhaps the biggest coup of the group -- as Augustus "Gus" Gilchrist, a power forward/center who was granted a release from Maryland, signed a grant-in-aid with the Bulls after a weekend visit to campus.

"I feel like I made a really good choice," said Gilchrist, who lists himself at 6-foot-11, 235 pounds. "It's a great feeling."

Gilchrist said he expects to start classes at USF when the second half of summer classes begin in two weeks, and USF's compliance office will now begin the process of applying for an NCAA hardship waiver that would allow him to play this fall without sitting out a year as is normally required.

"I feel very confident (about playing this year), and I met with the people who will file the papers with the NCAA, and they seem extremely confident," said Gilchrist, who said he was not told by Maryland officials of an ACC transfer rule that cost him a year of eligibility after he originally signed with Virginia Tech.

Gilchrist said a big part of his decision was the chance to play with USF point guard Chris Howard, who was briefly a teammate of his on a state championship team at Friendly High School in Fort Washington, Maryland. Gilchrist he spent much of his visit with Howard this weekend.

"I already know what he brings to the table," Gilchrist said. "My freshman year, I was on the bench watching him play."

Meeting Heath and having the chance to see his vision for turning USF into a competitive team in the Big East confirmed for Gilchrist that USF was the right place for him.

"He seemed like a real genuine person," Gilchrist said. "I know he wants to win. I think the Big East is a great conference, the best conference in the NCAA."

Gilchrist is most often identified as a center, but he said his natural position is at power forward, though he'll line up for Heath "wherever he needs me to play." He would be the eighth member of Heath's incoming class, a figure all the more incredible considering six of the incoming players have committed since last March.

Full disclosure: My Big East preseason ballot

This is always an uncomfortable post for me, but the Times has a policy stating that its reporters can only cast ballots for preseason polls or postseason honors if they disclose their ballots publicly. Again, it'd be hypocritcal of me to complain about the coaches' ballots being secret during the season if I weren't making my own available for public scrutiny.

I just filed my rankings for the Big East's preseason media poll, which will be released at the conference's preseason media gathering in Rhode Island late next month. Again, this wasn't easy, and so many things are still in flux. Before I meander too much into details, here's my ballot:

1. West Virginia

2. USF

3. Connecticut

4. Pittsburgh

5. Rutgers

6. Cincinnati

7. Louisville

8. Syracuse

There you go. I don't think USF will finish higher than third in the media balloting, but one thing I think could help the Bulls is the schedule. Of the three teams I have immediately below USF, all three have to come to Tampa this season. The middle of this league was such a logjam last year -- remember that every team had at least two league losses, and everybody but Syracuse had at least three league wins. Remarkable parity, and except for Syracuse, you can make a case for any of the other seven team making a real push.

I started my ballot by putting West Virginia at the top and Syracuse at the bottom -- I'm less sure about the Mountaineers, primarily because their defense will be so unproven and inexperienced. I can certainly see a situation where USF and West Virginia are undefeated in league play entering their final showdown, and I give the edge to West Virginia because they'll host that game with a lot on the line.

Similarly, I have Connecticut ahead of Pittsburgh because the Huskies host the Panthers that same December weekend, and beyond that, I just am more impressed with Connecticut and just haven't bought into Pittsburgh turning things around yet. Again, the depth of the league shows when Cincinnati and Rutgers are in the bottom half of the projections -- if the Bearcats could get Ben Mauk, I might bump them up as high as third, but with an inexperienced quarterback, I'm not as sold on them.

There you have it. I'll open things up to your comments, and invite you to list your own rankings from top to bottom. We can revisit this in December and see how far off we were -- I know I had Louisville second this time last year, and that didn't exactly work out. (Here's my '07 ballot from last year's blog). I think West Virginia will get a huge majority of the first-place votes, but their defense certainly isn't championship caliber yet, and we're talking about a first-year head coach. The difference between third and sixth in this conference could be one game ... 

Long jumper Morse earns All-America honors

USF sophomore Mikese Morse earned All-America honors Thursday night, finishing ninth in the long jump at the NCAA Outdoor Track Championships in Iowa with a mark of 25 feet, 4.5 inches. He's USF's fourth male track All-American and the first since Jimmy Baxter in the high jump in 2004.

Two pole vaulters will try to join Morse as All-Americans on Friday, as Sean Young will compete in the men's final at 4:15 p.m., while Denise von Eynatten will compete in the women's final at 7:30.

-- Two redshirt freshmen who announced they were transferring from USF's football program this spring have found new homes. Defensive end Josh Smiley, who couldn't break into the end rotation last season, has landed at Bethune-Cookman, which will again have a large USF presence on its defense -- he's listed as a weakside linebacker on the Wildcats' preseason depth chart. And cornerback Dylan Douglas, a regular on special teams last season, will play at Georgia Southern, where running back Ricky Ponton enrolled in January. Both Smiley and Douglas will have three years of eligibility at their new schools.

-- Is Gus Gilchrist coming to USF for a visit this weekend? Certainly seems so. The 6-foot-9 center, granted a release from Maryland and seeking to transfer, isn't talking publicly, but his personal trainer, Terrelle Woody, said he expects to come down to Tampa with Gilchrist this weekend. Woody actually said they're taking a trip to Busch Gardens and "may stop by the campus and say 'Hi.'"

Talk to the people around Gilchrist and you get a different list of schools from everyone. Damon Handon, from his AAU program, the DC Assault, said this week he's heard it's just USF and West Virginia. Woody named USF, West Virginia and Kentucky, but said UAB has entered the fray, with coach Mike Davis talking to Gilchrist this week. "Gus liked some of the things he was staying," Woody said, but then again, he also said Gilchrist was excited about playing with guard Robert Vaden, who declared for the NBA Draft in March; Vaden has until next week to pull out of early-entry status and return for his senior year.

Woody said Gilchrist should decide "in the next week or so" because he wants to enroll in summer classes at his new school. That would bode well for USF, coming off a visit, but Woody said he expected Gilchrist to check out West Virginia and Kentucky before making a final decision.

Aquinas linebacker Geaney to walk on at USF

We're starting to get our first word of players who were passed over on signing day accepting invitations to walk on with the Bulls. With the number of former walk-ons in significant roles at USF -- Ben Williams and Jake Sims this fall, for starters -- it's hardly anything trivial anymore.

One name to add to the list of incoming Bulls: Chase Geaney, a linebacker and co-captain from powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, which won a state championship last fall after reaching the title game for the fourth time in four years.

Geaney, much like incoming freshman Quavon Taylor, is undersized at 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, and like Taylor, he's played in a leadership position at a high level of high school football. Geaney, playing at middle and outside linebacker with a bit of defensive end, had 57.5 tackles -- third-most on a stacked Aquinas defense -- and 10 tackles for loss. He drew interest from I-AA schools and Ivy League schools (more on that in a sec) but liked the idea of staying close to home at USF.

"I'm very excited," said Geaney (GAIN-ee). "I was looking to stay in Florida, and I had a Bright Futures scholarship, so it made a lot of sense."

Geaney was accepted into Yale and Dartmouth and was being recruited by Harvard, but said the Ivy League wasn't a reasonable option financially. He graduated with a 4.1 weighted grade-point average, was a member of the National Honor Society and scored a 1280 on the SAT.

Geaney might just be the beginning for USF and St. Thomas Aquinas, as the Bulls are recruiting three rising senior receivers -- Dwayne Difton, who briefly committed to USF, as well as Gabe Holmes and Duron Carter.

(photo courtesy Aquinasfootball.com)

Bulls lose signee Ferrara to Cards

As expected, USF has lost a second baseball signee to a pro contract, as Riverview left-hander Anthony Ferrara, a seventh-round pick of the Cardinals, has signed, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Ferrara joins Middleton's Corey Thomas as would-be Bulls that won't be; catcher Adrian Nieto, taken in the fifth round by Nationals, is expected to join them sometime before the Aug. 15 deadline. USF coach Lelo Prado had four other signees drafted, but none until the 29th round. He hopes the other four all make it to campus.

"I hope we don't lose anybody else," Prado said Monday, with specific praise for Clearwater Central Catholic Sam Mende, who was taken by the Yankees in the 40th round. Mende could take over for another Yankees draft pick, junior Addison Maruszak, and start at shortstop as a freshman for the Bulls. "He has a chance to be a great college player," he said. "In three years, he could be Todd Frazier," referring to Rutgers' standout infielder, who was the No. 34 overall pick last year by the Reds.

We missed a USF signee last week -- Matt Reed, a 6-foot-3 left-hander from Albemarle, N.C., who was drafted by the Dodgers in the 44th round. Normally, such a low-round pick wouldn't be a big threat to skip college, but there's an interesting catch: Reed's father, Marty, is in his third season as the Dodgers' minor-league pitching coordinator and has worked for the Dodgers for the last 10 years.

"I"m pretty much set on going to college and playing at USF," Matt Reed said Wednesday, noting that his father once coached with Prado.

-- Talk about adding some zip to the strength and conditioning program: Ronnie McKeefery has added to his staff, naming Ray Weisenbarger, formerly at Akron, as S&C coach for men's basketball. Here's his Akron bio page, and USF's official announcement, which I missed back in April. Weisenbarger has a track background, including an NAIA national title in the shot put in 2004.

-- More baseball: Pinstripesplus.com had a Q&A with the Yankees' VP of scouting, Damon Oppenheimer, which mentions Mende and identifies Addison Maruszak as a potential late-round sleeper.

Marianna RB Battles commits to Bulls

USF has picked up its third commitment toward the 2009 recruiting class as Bradley Battles, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound running back from Marianna who is rated a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, committed to Bulls assistant Mike Canales on Monday night.

Battles, who rushed for 2,200 yards and 27 touchdowns as a junior, is rated as the No. 163 prospect in the nation according to Rivals, which has him as the No. 15 "athlete" in the country. Only 20 running backs are ranked higher nationally.

"It's a super pickup for South Florida," Marianna coach Rob Armstrong said. "He's a powerful runner, a good student, a good kid. He's the total package, for sure."

Battles, playing in the Panhandle about an hour west of Tallahassee, also had scholarship offers from Louisville, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Kentucky and Purdue, and was being recruited by the likes of Auburn and Florida State, Armstrong said. Battles had 70 tackles on defense, but is expected to come to USF as a running back. Armstrong said his strength is how hard he runs, and how durable he has been in carrying the ball 275 times last season.

"He gets stronger as the game goes on," he said. "He's better on his 27th or 28th carry than he is on the first five carries."

Battles, whose commitment was first reported by USFnation.com, is the third player to commit to USF for 2009, joining Dunedin running back Adaris Bellamy and Tallahassee linebacker Chase Griffiths.

Coach: Center Gilchrist lining up USF visit

Could the eighth member of Stan Heath's recruiting class be the best of the lot? Augustus "Gus" Gilchrist, a 6-foot-9 center granted his release from Maryland, has USF as one of three schools he's considering, according to his former AAU coach with the D.C. Assault.

James Dare, who coached both Gilchrist and USF point guard Chris Howard with the Assault, said Monday that he spoke with Gilchrist on Sunday, and the coveted recruit was planning on a visit to USF's campus, perhaps as early as this weekend. Dare said Indiana and West Virginia were the other two schools Gilchrist is strongly considering: "Those are the three he's going to choose from."

USF offers him a chance to compete for significant minutes right away and the opportunity to play in the Big East, but Dare said one of the Bulls' strongest draws is Howard, who won a state championship with Gilchrist at Friendly High in Fort Washington, Md., four years ago. "Chris has a lot to do with his interest in South Florida," Dare said. Gilchrist was a freshman on Friendly's championship squad, called up from the junior varsity late in the season, while Howard was the team's starting point guard.

Gilchrist originally signed with Virginia Tech a year ago, but was granted a release after the campus shootings in Blacksburg last spring. He landed at Maryland, but asked for a release again, saying he was unaware of an ACC policy regarding inter-conference transfers that would limit his eligibility. He would need a waiver to play immediately at USF, but the Bulls would have a scholarship available whether he could play this season or not.

USF already has a sizeable class coming in for next season, with six players signed and another committed to sign: guard Mike Mercer enrolled in January, and point guard Dwan McMillan, guard Gaby Belardo, forward Eladio Espinosa and centers Alex Rivas Sanchez and Gene Teague have all signed; power forward Teeng Akol is committed to join the group after getting qualifying test scores this summer.

Shortstop Maruszak signs deal with Yankees

USF junior Addison Maruszak, drafted by the New York Yankees in the 17th round Friday, has signed a pro contract with the team and won't return for his senior season with the Bulls.

"It's awesome. It's a dream come true," said Maruszak, who earned second-team All-Big East honors this season.

Maruszak said he expects to report to Staten Island, where the Yankees have a short-season rookie-league team that begins its season next week. Maruszak's roommate at USF the last two years, outfielder Mike Consolmagno, is from Staten Island, so he'll have a familiar face around town this summer. Speculation had Maruszak being converted to a catcher because of his strong arm, but he said Monday that the Yankees haven't discussed any positions besides shortstop.

Maruszak said he's been listening to Yankees stories from USF volunteer assistant Tino Martinez the last two seasons, so the chance to be playing in pinstripes himself is still unbelievable for him.

"Tino tells amazing stories about the Yankees," he said. "They have such great coaches and great players. I couldn't ask for anything more than this."

Another USF junior drafted last week, right-hander Daniel Thomas, said he expects to hear from the Oakland Athletics in the next few days and could be signed by the end of the week. And left-handed reliever David Torcise, the only USF senior drafted last week, said Monday he'll be meeting Tuesday in Sarasota with representatives of the Cincinnati Reds, who selected him in the 47th round. Torcise said he had filled out a questionnaire with the Reds but was still surprised when they drafted him.

"It was a nice surprise. I'm very excited," said Torcise, who expects to sign Tuesday but doesn't know yet where he'll report for the Reds.

One out: Signee Thomas signs deal with O's

USF has officially lost its first baseball signee, as Middleton's Corey Thomas, a 13th-round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles, has signed a pro contract, the Times' Eduardo Encina reports.

Thomas was the third USF signee taken in last week's draft, following catcher Adrian Nieto (fifth) and left-hander Anthony Ferrara (seventh). The agency that is advising Nieto sent me an e-mail Sunday night, clarifying that the Washington Nationals had not discussed any financial terms with Nieto. So any reports that the two sides were far apart would be, at best, premature. Joshua Kusnick of Double Diamond Sports Management said Nieto is "hopeful" of reaching an agreement with the Nationals, but points out that if no such deal can be reached, "there is the very real possibility Adrian does USF."

Teams have until August 15 to sign their draft picks, so at this point, any updates short of signings are as much leverage as anything else. In other news, former USF catcher Braulio Pardo has signed with the Angels, so here's another link to Ed Encina's story.

New hoops recruit? That and other notes ...

I haven't been able to get calls out myself, but as some of the commenters pointed out last week, the Washington Post dropped USF as a possibility for another top-notch frontcourt recruit: Augustus "Gus" Gilchrist, who was supposed to play at Virginia Tech, then Maryland, but is transferring again, supposedly because he didn't want to sit out the first month of the upcoming season.

USF has "emerged" as a possible destination for Gilchrist, a 6-foot-9 center, according to this Post story. We'd heard Gilchrist's name as a possiblity for USF last summer when he'd ask for a release from Virginia Tech following the tragic campus shootings there. Gilchrist previously attended Friendly High in Fort Washington, Md., where USF point guard Chris Howard won two state championships. I know Howard called Gilchrist last summer, but he wound up at Maryland, apparently unaware he'd have to sit out a season by switching from one ACC school to another.

USF has a scholarship available and has plenty of opportunity at power forward and center, with basically one experienced player returning between the two positions. If he can't go to an ACC school, the Big East is the next logical major conference that would allow him to play games close to home. Again, we'll get calls out and see what we can find out in the next day or two ...

-- We'd pretty much written off the possibility of USF signee Adrian Nieto making it to campus after his being drafted in the fifth round Thursday, but the Miami Herald has an intriguing development. Apparently one of the reasons Nieto wasn't taken higher -- he'd been projected as a second-rounder or higher -- was that he was telling teams not to draft him because he had a deal in place with the Baltimore Orioles, with a certain signing bonus arranged regardless of where he was picked.

Nieto went to the Nationals, but the two sides are "far" apart financially, according to the Herald. USF would be extremely fortunate if the Bulls can get a fifth-round draft pick to campus for at least three years. Something else we'll be making calls on ...

-- From the Where Are They Now Department: Remember Darren Haliburton? He did little more than get into trouble off the field at USF (I don't think he ever caught a pass with the Bulls) but apparently is doing well trying to work his way into the pro ranks. He's playing for the American Indoor Football Association, according to this Albuquerque Journal report, and claims to have a workout coming up with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings.

Remember Greg Walls? He's playing af2 football for the Florida Firecats and, according to the Naples Daily News, has stepped up into a leadership position, trying to help his team to a championship before his playing days are over.

-- Looks like you could see Mike Jenkins and Anthony Henry lining up in the same Cowboys secondary. Dallas' glut of cornerbacks could have the Cowboys shifting Henry to safety, where he played at USF, according to the Cowboys' official site.

-- One West Virginia newspaper writes about Mike Tranghese going out on top, having led the Big East through tremendous change in the last three years. Another wonders who his successor will be, suggesting it likely won't be anyone in the current Big East staff. Who, then?

Draft roundup: Torcise goes in 47th to Reds

Further proof that good lefties are hard to find: USF reliever David Torcise, who posted an 8.36 ERA in 14 innings as a senior, was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 47th round of Friday's baseball draft, the third Bulls player taken and the first senior.

Torcise, who started his college career at Duke and played a season at Louisville before following coach Lelo Prado to USF, had a 4.38 ERA with the Cardinals in 2006. He joins juniors Daniel Thomas (13th round, Athletics) and Addison Maruszak (17th, Yankees) as 2008 Bulls who were drafted.

Six of USF's 11 signees were also drafted, though only three were taken high enough that they'd be considered a serious threat to choose a pro contract over college. Catcher Adrian Nieto (5th), left-hander Anthony Ferrara (7th) and outfielder/pitcher Corey Thomas (13th) will have difficult decisions ahead, while third baseman Sean Buckley (29th), pitcher/outfielder Alex Mendez (38th) and shortstop Sam Mende (40th) must also decide between the pros and the Bulls.

And just as a curiosity, the Reds used their next-to-last pick, in the 49th round, to select West Virginia quarterback Pat White, who was a high-round pick out of high school before choosing to play college football. Cincinnati has until Aug. 15 to sign White ...

Football adds home-and-home with W. Ky.

USF's football team has announced a home-and-home series with Division I-A newcomer Western Kentucky in 2009 and 2010, completing the Bulls' schedule through the 2010 season.

The Bulls will play in Bowling Green, Ky., on Sept. 12, 2009, then will host the Hilltoppers on Sept. 25, 2010. USF will be the first BCS-conference program ever to play a game at WKU, with Indiana following in 2010 and Iowa State in 2015. WKU, which won a I-AA championship in 2002, is in the process of transitioning to I-A and won't be fully bowl-eligible until the 2009 season.

Get ready to hear it from Central Florida fans, as this home-and-home essentially replaces what USF had from 2005-08 with UCF, as an even series with a non-BCS conference opponent. When UCF has lobbied to continue the series in the past, USF officials have said they have enough games with in-state opponents on the schedule already, with Miami, Florida Atlantic and Florida International on a regular basis, and Florida in 2010. Again, a loss to Western Kentucky, while humbling, wouldn't have a direct impact on USF's standing in the state of Florida; a loss to UCF could hurt the Bulls more directly and in recruiting local players as well. If it sounds like ducking, looks like ducking ...

By scheduling Western Kentucky, it's also a nod to USF's early years -- the Bulls lost to WKU in 1997 and 1998, but beat the Hilltoppers in 1999 and 2000, all while a member of Division I-AA.

USF will now have seven home games in 2010, though the nonconference trio of Samford, Western Kentucky and Florida Atlantic means the Bulls won't host a BCS nonconference opponent. As nondescript an opponent as WKU would seem, the two previous games against WKU in Tampa, in 1998 and 2000, both drew announced crowds of more than 30,000, making them two of the four largest crowds in the first three seasons at Raymond James Stadium.

USF's previous contracts with Sun Belt teams had been 2-for-1 contracts, with the Bulls getting two home games each against FIU and FAU in exchange for one road game. So does signing a 1-for-1 with a distant member of the same league make it less likely the Bulls will be able to land future 2-for-1s with those in-state Sun Belt schools? If you go back to 2006, when we wrote about the possibility of USF scheduling Western Kentucky, it seemed to only make sense as a 2-for-1 back then.

What's curious is that no BCS-conference program has ever given WKU a home-and-home. Indiana and Iowa State got 2-for-1s, and Iowa State's deal doesn't start until 2012, after USF's is completed. All of WKU's previous games with BCS-conference opponents have been "guarantee" games, with a paycheck for a road game and no home game in return -- the Hilltoppers played at Florida this past season, go to Virginia Tech, Alabama and Kentucky in 2008, Tennessee in 2009 and 2013 and Nebraska in 2010, all with no games in return.

Yankees take Maruszak in 17th round

How's this for finishing a season strong: USF junior shortstop Addison Maruszak was selected by the New York Yankees in the 17th round of Friday's baseball draft.

Maruszak, of course, traded jabs with Yankees phenom Joba Chamberlain at USF's leadoff banquet before the season, then got to meet Derek Jeter and Co. when the Bulls played an exhibition against the Yankees at Legends Field in February. Want more? Check out the May 29 edition of USF's student paper, The Oracle, where staff writer Martin Bader asked Maruszak which team he'd like to draft him.

"I don't really have a team preference, but it would be awesome to play for the New York Yankees," Maruszak told the Oracle.

One more USF-Yankees tie in: Bulls volunteer assistant Tino Martinez was the Yankees' official representative at the draft in Orlando. There's been talk that Maruszak could be drafted as a catcher, but MLB.com lists him as a shortstop in its online draft tracker.

Maruszak is the second Bulls player drafted, following right-handed pitcher Daniel Thomas (13th round, Athletics). He's the 11th Bulls player drafted by the Yankees, joining the likes of Brian Baisley and Scott Glaser in recent years.

Update: Three more signees have been taken in the late rounds, starting with King third baseman Sean Buckley, was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 29th round. Barring an unusually high offer, there's a good chance USF can convince him to stick with the college route ... same goes for a fifth signee, Alex Mendez, a left-handed pitcher from Orlando Bishop Moore who went in the 38th round to the Twins. Clearwater Central Catholic shortstop Sam Mende went in the 40th round to the Yankees.

Signee Thomas, pitcher Thomas drafted in 13th

The 13th round of Friday's baseball draft was, depending on your perspective, a lucky one for USF baseball, as signee Corey Thomas of Middleton was drafted by the Orioles and junior right-hander Daniel Thomas was selected by the Athletics.

Thomas, who could play outfield or help as a left-handed pitcher as USF, is the third USF signee drafted and is listed in MLB.com's database as a third baseman. Both he and Daniel Thomas had been projected as high as the top 10 rounds.

Daniel Thomas is likely to sign after four seasons with the Bulls, but Corey Thomas' draft position will make it a tough decision as to whether he'll honor his commitment to USF or sign a pro contract. Only four of 30 13th-round picks did not sign with the teams that drafted them in last year's draft, according to Baseball America.

Corey Thomas joins catcher Adrian Nieto (fifth round) and left-hander Anthony Ferrara (seventh) as Bulls signees who could be lost to the draft.

Daniel Thomas is USF's highest-drafted player since pitcher Casey Hudspeth went in the fifth round in 2006.

Former Bulls catcher Pardo drafted in 12th

Catcher Braulio Pardo, who played two seasons at USF before transferring to Division II Saint Leo in eastern Pasco County, was drafted by the Angels in the 12th round, going ahead of his former USF teammates.

Pardo, who batted .247 with 16 RBIs for USF in 2007, saw significant improvement in his numbers at Saint Leo, hitting .356 with 21 RBIs and nine steals. The former Gaither star was in the crowd for USF's final home games against Notre Dame and talked with coach Lelo Prado for some time after the first game of the series.

Draft update: Lefty Ferrara goes in seventh

The baseball draft is back underway, and it didn't take long for another USF signee to be taken. Left-handed pitcher Anthony Ferrara of Riverview went to the Cardinals in the seventh round, which should be high enough to keep him from making it to campus this fall.

Ferrara is the second USF signee to be drafted, following catcher Adrian Nieto in the fifth round. Ferrara obviously could keep his commitment to the Bulls, hoping to land a higher bonus in three years, but the 215th player in last year's draft, for comparison, got a $120,000 signing bonus, according to Baseball America.

Bulls junior right-hander Daniel Thomas is likely the next USF player to be picked. We'll keep posting updates throughout the day ...

-- While we're writing about baseball: Former USF pitcher John Vigue has been named baseball coach at St. Petersburg Catholic, athletic director John Gerdes announced Friday.

"John Vigue has been around successful baseball programs since before he

was five years old,” Gerdes said in a statement. “Whether it was watching his father lead championship teams, or playing for USF teams that reached NCAA Tournament play, or coaching at St. Petersburg College, Dunedin, Seminole and Palm Harbor University, he has been involved in success. But what really makes him stand out is his passion for instruction. He will be a tremendous instructor of the game for our players at SPC."

Vigue, 29, was the pitching coach at SPC this past season, and was previously a head coach at Palm Harbor University High and assistant at Dunedin and Seminole, also in Pinellas County.

USF billboards: Can U find them?

The Burma Shave folks have nothing on USF these days. A year ago, the existence of a Bulls billboard had me standing on the median of Fowler Avenue amid traffic, taking a picture of a super-sized Matt Grothe.

How far has USF football come in that year? This summer, there will be 18 billboards across the Tampa area, featuring Grothe, All-America defensive end George Selvie and coach Jim Leavitt. There's even a digital number on Hillsborough Avenue (0.6 miles east of Race Track Road, north side, facing west), that rotates between all three of them. If you want to be pleasantly surprised by them as you drive about town, then -- SPOILERS! -- better skip the rest of the post. If you haven't seen one driving around, here's a handy guide to where you can find them:

MATT GROTHE (5)

I-4, 0.5 miles east of 50th Street exit, north side, facing east

I-275, 1 mile north of Bearrs exit, west side, facing north

Adamo, 1.1 miles east of U.S. 41, north side, facing east

Dale Mabry, 0.8 miles south of Gandy, east side, facing south

U.S. 19, 0.5 miles south of Curlew Road, east side, facing north

GEORGE SELVIE (6)

I-275, Floribraska exit, east side, facing north

I-4, 700 feet west of Park Road, south side, facing west

Florida Ave., 100 feet south of Fowler, west side, facing south

Dale Mabry, 0.5 miles north of Hillsb., east side, facing south

Busch Blvd., 0.75 miles east of I-275, north side, facing west

Ulmerton Road, 1,200 feet east of U.S. 19, south side, facing east

JIM LEAVITT (3)

U.S. 19, 0.25 miles north of 38th Avenue, west side, facing north

U.S. 19, 200 feet north of Roosevelt, east side, facing north

Gandy, 0.5 miles west of Dale Mabry, north side, facing west

There you have it. And no, I haven't been driving randomly around town for three days scouring area roads for billboards for such a comprehensive map -- USF hooked me up with a list. There will be three more later this summer. Notice the nuances of the geography, how St. Pete-raised Leavitt has more of a Pinellas presence, how Lakeland-born Grothe sticks to the Hillsborough side ...

Bulls signee Nieto drafted in fifth round

The first four rounds of the MLB's annual draft came and went without a USF player or recruit selected, with the first and only hit Thursday coming much later than expected, as signee Adrian Nieto, a catcher from American Heritage High School, was drafted in the fifth round by the Washington Nationals.

Nieto had been projected as high as a second-round pick, but fell to the 151st pick. It's still likely the Bulls will lose Nieto to the pros, as the comparable pick in last year's draft earned a signing bonus of around $150,000.

The draft stopped Thursday night after six rounds, and with only Nieto taken, the Bulls took about as little damage as could be hoped for. Another signee, lefty Anthony Ferrara, had been projected as a sixth round pick, as had junior right-hander Daniel Thomas.

"We are very lucky right now that Nieto was the only player or recruit drafted in the first six rounds," coach Lelo Prado said in a release from USF.

Ferrara and Thomas could still be taken in the first few rounds Friday as the draft resumes, and it'd be hard for USF to compete with the allure of a pro contract if any player is drafted in the first 10 rounds or so. Beyond that, there's at least a chance a signee could actually make it to campus, as freshmen Stephen Hunt, Derrick Stultz and Juan Carlin did last year.

Check back for more baseball updates throughout the day Friday, and I'll have another post either tonight or Friday morning ...

Big East's Tranghese to step down in 2009

Mike Tranghese, commissioner of the Big East since 1990, will step down from that post in June 2009, the league announced Thursday.

"I have been privileged to work with outstanding Presidents and athletic directors for nearly 30 years," Tranghese said in a statement. "Looking back to when Dave Gavitt created the conference, it is truly amazing how far we have come."

Tranghese, the conference's first employee in 1979, oversaw the creation of the league's football existence and helped build its current 16-member basketball powerhouse, adding five schools -- including USF -- in 2005.

“I believe our conference is undergoing an unprecedented period of success,” Tranghese said. “Our basketball conference does not have to take a back seat to anyone and our football has progressed so quickly. Our Olympic sports are stronger than ever. And I believe everything is in place for the BIG EAST to be even better in the future.”

A news conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Big honor for Lockwood; did you say Heisman?

No, no, Ryan Lockwood won't win the Heisman. We'll get to that in a sec.

First, big honors for USF's redshirt freshman outfielder, who was named by Collegiate Baseball as the 2008 National Freshman Player of the Year. Lockwood had the second-highest batting average in USF history and piled up the nation's longest hitting streak at 30 games, but this is an impressive honor, especially for a player who wasn't even Big East Rookie of the Year.

"Ryan Lockwood had one of the best freshman years I have ever seen," USF coach Lelo Prado said on the Bulls' official site. "He played the game the right way and we are very happy he is a part of our baseball program. He is one of the guys we are counting on to get us to Omaha.”

And how's this for humility? "This was so unexpected; to be recognized nationally is a great honor," Lockwood says on USF's site. "This award is truly a testament to my coaches, teammates and family. I could not have done this without them."

Lockwood earned a spot on the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America team, as did designated hitter Stephen Hunt.

-- USF has unveiled its marketing campaign for the 2008 football season, with new billboards in town and TV and radio ads built around the slogan "Can U Feel It?" -- with the iconic U logo, so it doesn't come off like a 14-year-old text-messaging. I'm waiting for the Rays to jump on this, with a marketing campaign called "Where U At?" ...

USF has pics of the new billboard shots here, and as Ari already noticed in a comment, USF is calling Matt Grothe a "Heisman candidate" in showing highlights of Grothe and Selvie in the radio and TV ads. And Grothe should certainly be considered a Heisman candidate -- he was briefly on ESPN.com's "Heisman Watch" last year and will be there again if he leads USF past Kansas in September. As with any Heisman candidate, he'll need his team to be nationally relevant to have any chance of winning, but as a junior, he has enough name recognition to be in that conversation.

Scout.com has Grothe No. 23 on its Heisman contenders list, while Rivals.com didn't have him in their top 10 -- it'd be a reach to put him there without USF establishing itself as a top 20 team.

USF says it'll have 18 -- eighteen -- billboards around town advertising season tickets, which start at $88. Remember last year when fans got excited because there were, what, three? I'll see if I can get a list, just so you guys aren't driving around town with your eyes off the road ...

-- Back to baseball, the MLB draft starts today at 2 p.m., and it'll be interesting to see how quickly USF's incoming recruits are gobbled up. It's hard to imagine the Bulls not losing catcher Adrian Nieto and lefty Anthony Ferrara, who should be picked in the first five rounds. Outfielder Alex Mendez, shortstop Sam Mende and outfielder Corey Thomas could be gone in the first 10 rounds, which probably would mean they don't make it to campus either. That's nearly half the incoming class of 11 signees, which is why Prado is ready to be on the road this weekend, wooing their replacements. Remember that at this time last year, USF fans hadn't heard about Brian Hobbs, Brandon Smith, Trey Manz, Chris Rey or even Lockwood, so don't underestimate the potential impact of these late additions ... we'll have updates on the draft as the picks come in, and expect righty Daniel Thomas to be the first Bulls taken, perhaps the only one today.

Could Kohn help Bulls land forward Clanton?

For the second day in a row, we have intriguing news of a former USF guard taking a new job in the high school coaching ranks. On Tuesday, it was David Bastian getting the head coaching job at Wharton, and Wednesday, there's news from the Orlando Sentinel that former Bulls standout Reggie Kohn is leaving Lake Howell High to accept a position at rising powerhouse Orlando Christian Prep.

For now, Kohn is listed as OCP's director of basketball operations, but there's a possibility he could take over as the program's head coach. Either way, it's a promising development for Bulls fans, as OCP has one of USF's top targets for 2009, a 6-foot-7 power forward named Keith Clanton. He's a three-star recruit according to both major recruiting sites, and USF was one of the first schools to offer him a scholarship.

You can check out a video clip of Clanton -- albeit a four-second clip -- on Youtube.com. Don't be afraid to add a second play when putting highlights online, folks ... We've got a call out to Kohn, so we'll have more once we've talked to USF's all-time assists leader.

Now step back and take off the heels ...

Not sure why I always find it fascinating when athletes are measured to the nearest quarter-inch at a pro combine, but scanning those numbers always piques my curiosity. We know that roster heights, as in football, are the little white lies of sports, something we use and question at the same time.

So for two years, we've written that USF's Kentrell Gransberry was 6-foot-9, 270 pounds, with the understanding that both measurements might be a little off. NBAdraft.net has all the numbers for the participants in last week's pre-draft camp in Orlando, which has KG listed as 6 feet, 7.75 inches and 290 pounds.

The first number isn't that disconcerting -- I think your typical athlete probably gains an inch on a roster. The measurements also list percent body fat (I shudder to think what my number might be) and Gransberry had the highest percent at the combine at 17.4 percent, one of 12 players to list over 10 percent. Again, nobody reading this ever confused Gransberry with McHugh Mattis.

The same site also has combine results from the camp. Gransberry finished in the top 10 in the bench press, getting 18 reps at 185 pounds -- West Virginia's Joe Alexander finished second with 24. Gransberry's vertical leap of 27.5 inches isn't great, but it's somehow a half-inch better than Keith Brumbaugh, who weighs 100 pounds less. Gransberry was faster than fellow big men Brook Lopez and David Padgett in agility drills, and had a quicker sprint time than Georgetown's Patrick Ewing Jr.

Most amusing, however, is that the camp lists two heights for each player -- with and without shoes -- as if NBA players made a habit of playing barefoot. There's a strange disparity in how thick those shoes are, with some adding less than an inch. Alabama's Richard Hendrix gets my Michael Dukakis Award with an outstanding 2-inch bump with his lifts, er, shoes on. UCLA's Kevin Love picked up 1.75 inches.

Anyway, just wanted to share. It's not often we get to rank a draft class by the thickness of their soles. Carry on ...

Woolard not interested in Huskies' opening

Bulls fans need not worry: Athletic director Doug Woolard said Tuesday night he's not going anywhere, happy with the progress he's seen in four years with the Bulls and eager for more.

Woolard, 58, was contacted about the athletic director job at the University of Washington, but said Tuesday he wasn't interested in leaving USF and would not be pursuing the position.

"It's not something I'm interested in," Woolard said. "I'm really pleased with the infrastructure we've been able to put into place here, and I look forward to continuing to move our athletic department forward."

Woolard had connections with Washington, having hired Huskies men's basketball coach Lorenzo Romar when he was athletic director at Saint Louis; he also worked at rival Washington State from 1988-94.

A priority for Woolard in USF's immediate future is upgrading the program's athletic facilities. Construction is ongoing this summer on a joint-use track facility to be shared with Hillsborough County that should be completed in August, in time for soccer season. The Bulls continue fund-raising efforts to upgrade the existing softball and baseball stadiums, as well as an ambitious renovation of the Sun Dome that would include a practice facility for USF's basketball programs.