Brewer advances to final in Olympic trials

Former USF standout Chandra Brewer has advanced to Saturday's shot put finals at the U.S. Olympic Trials, where a top-three showing will have her representing the Bulls -- and her country -- at the Olympics in Beijing.

Brewer had the sixth-best mark in qualifying Thursday at 56 feet, 10 inches (17.32 meters) but with the Olympics taking only the top three, that mark was about a foot behind the third-place mark, so she'll need a strong showing Saturday. Impressively, her mark is more than four inches better than her best mark at USF, which was 52 feet, 4.5 inches.

Hope everyone had a festive Fourth of July, and I have a few leftover notes and links to share ...

-- Phil Steele isn't the only pundit who likes USF as a top 10 team in football. Bleacherreport.com has the Bulls ranked ninth in its preseason poll, one spot ahead of West Virginia.

-- My editor Mike has certain pet peeves, and one of them certainly is high school underclassmen making oral commitments for college. He doesn't put much faith in them, and this is why. USF women's basketball coach Jose Fernandez has lost a commitment for 2009, as Jennifer George, a 6-foot-1 post player from Orlando Bishop Moore, has re-opened her recruiting after committing to the Bulls last summer. George said she's still considering the Bulls but just decided she may have committed too early; there aren't any big schools moving in yet, though George did say she took a visit recently to Central Florida, which has a promising young roster under coach Joi Williams, a USF grad.

-- Again, I really don't think he'll wind up at USF, but 7-foot-2 center John Riek, who cited a knee injury in backing out of the NBA Draft, is hoping to land at a major college this fall. Riek had considered attending IMG Academy in Bradenton, but after undergoing successful knee surgery, he's targeting colleges, according to advisor Fatah Muraisi. Thing is, he won't be able to take the SAT until September, so he'll need a program that will take him long after the fall semester begins. That's not likely to be USF, but could a school like Cincinnati, which Muraisi said is on a quarters calendar.

-- Pinstripesplus.com has a feature on former USF shortstop Addison Maruszak, who is hitting .310 as a rookie with the Staten Island Yankees. Not sure why he hasn't played since June 26, but you can find him here in this cool clip of a pitcher who can throw as a lefty or righty battling against a switch hitter late in a game last month. You can see Maruszak around the 2:55 mark in the clip ... thanks to loyal reader Myron for the link.

-- I'll give the folks at Louisville site CardChronicle.com for a wild headline: "Five Big East Players I'd Like Dan Aykroyd and Daniel Stern to Kidnap." You don't get more random than a "Celtic Pride" reference, but USF's Tyrone McKenzie and George Selvie make the list at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively. You'd rather have Rutgers receiver Kenny Britt before Selvie? Maybe that Pat White guy? Fun idea though, and I'd be curious to see what Big East player USF fans would most like to add to their roster.

Comments

[AGW]

Even if Riek is not able to play until January or even next year he is worth a scholarship this year because he has the potential to be great on the defensive end of the floor. He will be much better than Rivas-Sanchez and Teague. Also, we are looking towrads next year anyway. We should def. offer him a scholly and see what happens. He, Gilchrist and Akol would make for a pretty good frontline. Then, with our last scholarship for season we can get a small forward like Philmore and Ari Stewart or a point guard like Galloway or Morris. That would set USF up pretty nicely for next season.

[Windbane]

Great to see some people recognizing that WVU lost a lot of people and USF has beaten them the last 2 years.

[T. Bever]

Terril Bird and Mike Mickens are the only two that come to mind immediately - and not sure if Bird went in the draft or not. Lesean McCoy is a great one, but not sure it's as much of an upgrade as we could get at OT. Bussey from UL is the only underclassman recognized in All Big East at OT position. And McKillop from Pitt would allow McKenzie to stay outside. Guess those would be my picks. Oh yeah, for a fifth... a receiver like Tiquan Underwood, Kenny Britt or Mike Williams certainly wouldn't hurt.

[G.A.]

Byrd is back. McCoy would be a top five pick, even with USF's depth at running back.

[Dave W]

I'd take Anthony Davis from Rutgers. He's only a sophomore and will an beast at either LT or RT. On defense, Scott McKillop is the tough SOB we need to replace Ben (I think T-Mac belongs on the outside to utilize his speed). As far as WR goes, I think Carlton Mitchell is going to explode this year, and a healthy TJ, Hester, Edwards (as long as he isn't busy fumbling punts) should make for a good enough top-4. OT is a bigger need. That said, Underwood, Britt, and Kinder would all be upgrades.

I highly doubt that Riek comes to USF, but I would like to see how he stacks up against the elite big men in the conference. I think Thabeet would mop the floor with him. That said, we could use more size to create some competition because of all the inexperience. Right now, all of those guys, even Gilchrist, are projected to be good, but we can't be sure. Adding Riek would give us another body to try out. The SAT dates pretty much preclude him from joining, though, so it probably is a moot issue.

[K Maruszak]

Maruszak on the DL with an injured leg after a hard slide. Due back in lineup on July 9th.

[G.A.]

Thanks, K. Had even checked the transactions page for the NY-Penn League and hadn't seen that. Wednesday it is ...