Injuries end careers for Tolley, Herzhauser

Danny Tolley and Joe Herzhauser, two reserve offensive linemen who have been limited by injuries, will not be back next season, coach Jim Leavitt said Wednesday. Tolley, a junior who has been sidelined by groin, knee and ankle injuries in the past two years, will be on a medical scholarship next season, while Herzhauser, a walk-on from St. Petersburg who played in six games this season before suffering a serious knee injury, will not be able to return to the Bulls. Herzhauser, a 25-year-old who joined the Bulls after a stint in the Air Force, had worked on the second-team offensive line up until his injury.

Leavitt said defensive end Shane McElwain and defensive tackle Marvin Peoples, two fourth-year juniors who have been limited largely to special-teams work at USF, will be graduating this spring and are not expected to return for their final year of eligibility. McElwain, who had one tackle in eight games this season, had also worked some at tight end while with the Bulls, and Peoples, a converted linebacker, had two tackles. Both have the option to return, but Leavitt said he would be surprised if they did.

Leavitt said USF is seeking medical redshirts for four true freshmen who played in games this season but suffered significant injuries early enough to have a chance to regain a year of eligibility: quarterback B.J. Daniels (wrist), defensive tackle Cory Grissom (leg), linebacker LaDre Watkins (knee) and receiver Daniel Bryant (groin). All four meet the NCAA's requirements for seeking a medical redshirt -- we've previously reported all but Bryant, who played in only two games, logging one punt return for 6 yards.

If the medical redshirts are granted as expected, USF will have been able to redshirt all but two members of its freshman class -- kicker Maikon Bonani and tackle Danous Estenor.

Niceville defensive end Sager commits to USF

Luke Sager, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound defensive end from Niceville, has joined USF's incoming recruiting class, confirming Tuesday that he committed to the Bulls earlier this month.

"They were my first offer, and that was big. I've been talking to their coaches for a long time, and I like the campus and I like Tampa," said Sager, who chose the Bulls over N.C. State and Clemson.

Sager's commitment, first reported by USFbullseye.com, gives the Bulls more help at defensive end, where starter Jarriett Buie graduates and All-American George Selvie could be lost to the NFL Draft. He's one of the more highly touted members of USF's 2009 class, earning three stars from Rivals.com and ranked among the nation's top 55 defensive ends by Rivals and ESPN.com. Scout.com rates him with two stars.

Sager registered nine sacks as a senior and eight as a junior, and said he also played tight end at Niceville, though he'll be a defensive end at USF. He did not attend a Bulls game this fall but said he watched them regularly on television. Sager said he is fully qualified academically and will make an official visit on Jan. 9.

Knee surgery today for receiver Love

Sophomore receiver A.J. Love, who started every game for USF and finished third on the team in catches and receptions, is scheduled for surgery today to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Love sustained the injury on the opening play of USF's win against Memphis in the St. Petersburg Bowl. He will miss spring drills, but a normal recovery period would allow him to return in time for the 2009 season. Love, from Bradenton, had 30 catches for 352 yards and two touchdowns.

-- USF announced the official signing of defensive tackle Anthony Hill, a former FSU signee who played with Terrell McClain in high school in Pensacola. Here's the story on USF's official site, and here's what we wrote about Hill back in September. Fun story on USF's site about the story behind the white helmets that debuted in the St. Pete bowl.

-- With the Arena Football League not an option this year, I have updates on former Bulls signing deals to play football in small leagues across the country: Linebacker Maurice Jones has signed with the Columbus (Ga.) Lions of the American Indoor Football Association. Scanning the rosters of other teams, I see former Bulls quarterback Ronnie Banks is with the Charlotte-based Carolina Speed. Defensive tackle Julian Riley was on the roster of the Florence Phantoms last year, and receiver Darren Haliburton was with the New Mexico Wildcats.

-- Defensive tackle Richard Clebert has signed with af2's Spokane Shock in Washington -- I'll check their rosters in a sec. Saw safety Jeremy Burnett at South Carolina's Outback practice at Jefferson High School -- he had signed with the Storm, but now is looking into a new league set to start play in February. More to come there ...

Selmon wanted winless Lions to avoid infamy

Lee Roy Selmon, who was a rookie on the 0-14 Tampa Bay Bucs of 1976, said Monday that he'd hoped the Detroit Lions could pull off a victory and avoid the unfortunate honor of becoming the NFL's second winless team.

"I was pulling for them right to the end," said Selmon, now working in fundraising as president of the USF Foundation Partnership for Athletics. "You know what players go through, and certainly we went through it, and we wouldn't want that to happen to anyone, including the Lions."

Selmon said he didn't watch the Lions' loss to Green Bay on Sunday, but still remembers the frustration of his rookie season. He said at least his Bucs were an expansion team with a built-in excuse for a lack of success, something Detroit doesn't have this season.

"It's not something easy to go through. It challenges you individually and as a team and an organization to hold it together, to not just give up and play your best," the Pro Football Hall of Famer said.

The '72 Dolphins may celebrate each season when the last unbeaten team takes a loss, but Selmon said there's no such joy for him, even knowing there are two teams sharing the dubious distinction.

"We're not popping champagne or anything," Selmon said. "If anything, you just sympathize."

Bulls on short list for Buckeyes point guard

Another midyear transfer for USF men's basketball? The Bulls have had five players join the Bulls at midseason in the past three seasons, and another could join the list next season.

USF is in the mix for Anthony Crater, a freshman point guard at Ohio State who is transferring after playing a limited role in 10 games. Crater is from Flint, Michigan, which is Stan Heath's old backyard, and the Bulls have a scholarship available and an opening for help at point guard.

Jason Smith, his coach at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, said Crater is "wide-open" and considering as many as 10 schools. This story from Bucknuts.com has USF with Louisville and Tennessee as the schools at the top of his list.

Remember Jeremie Simmons? USF went hard after the junior college standout last season but lost out to the Buckeyes, and he's actually helped the Bulls here. Simmons has earned considerably more playing time than Crater, who had been committed to Ohio State since he was an underclassman in high school. The lack of playing time is why he's bolting. The spring semester starts at USF next week, so he'll have to make a decision in the next week or two.

-- USF's women's basketball team got its 59-point win Sunday against Jackson State without starting guard Alexis Givands, who is away from the team due to personal reasons. Bulls coach Jose Fernandez couldn't say Sunday when or if Givands (7.4 points per game) could return to the team, only that her absence is not academic or disciplinary in any way. Depth has been one of USF's strengths in the Bulls' 12-1 start, so getting Givands back is important with the Big East opener at Marquette this weekend. Without Givands, Fernandez kept supersub Janae Stokes coming off the bench -- she went for 20 on Sunday -- with senior Ashley Sanders getting the starting nod instead.

-- Forgot to mention it during the live blog the other day, but Mitch Emory, the freshman walk-on forward from Cocoa Beach, will not be with Heath's team for the spring semester. He had only played one minute thus far and wouldn't have likely played in Big East games, and Emory is at USF on a Bright Futures scholarship, so he has a higher grade-point average to maintain than most student-athletes.

Fernandez sets USF mark in 59-point win

USF women's basketball coach Jose Fernandez is now the winningest basketball coach in Bulls history, men's or women's, having won his 128th career game with an easy 110-51 rout of Jackson State on Sunday.

Fernandez (128-124) passes men's coach Bobby Paschal, who totaled 127 wins in 10 seasons with the Bulls. His team helped him set the mark in record fashion, hitting a school-record 15 3-pointers against the Tigers. The Bulls' 73 points in the first half were the most ever in a half in the program's history.

The Bulls (12-1) have won eight straight, matching their longest win streak in the past 32 years. Senior guard Jazmine Sepulveda led USF with 26 points, and no players were in the game more than 22 minutes. Guard Janae Stokes scored 20 off the bench, all in the first half, and forward Jessica Lawson had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The 59-point win matches the second-largest margin of victory this season. The Bulls entered this season with eight wins of 54 points or more in their history -- they've had five such wins this season.

USF women score record 73 in first half

We've written a lot about how prolific USF's women's basketball team has been this season, averaging 91.6 points per game, but the Bulls continue to set records with their offensive output.

I'm here at the Sun Dome, in part because a win today will make Jose Fernandez the winningest basketball coach in USF history -- men's or women's. The Bulls lead Jackson State by a ridiculous margin -- it's 73-22 at halftime, and the Bulls have already hit 12 3-pointers in just one half.

They've reset the school record for points in a half -- it was 69 against Morris Brown in 2001. Two players have already reached 20 points themselves, as guard Jazmine Sepulveda has 21 points and guard Janae Stokes has 20 -- off the bench, no less -- and six of the 3-pointers. The team's leading scorer, guard Shantia Grace, has been comparably quiet, with six points.

The current margin of 51 points would rank in the top 10 all-time entering the season, and the school record for 3s in a game is 14. Only three times in their history have the Bulls hit in an entire game as many threes as they've hit in the first half.

I'll have more on Fernandez's accomplishment and where it stands in the context of other Big East programs in a bit ...

USF football and the state's 'Big Three'

I'm helping out with our coverage of the Outback Bowl this week, and it's always interesting to see what the perception of USF is from people outside the Tampa area. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was asked about how playing in Tampa helps his team's recruiting efforts in the area, and this is what he said:

"There are an awful lot of good players in this state, and they don't all go to the three schools in-state, the three major schools, so there are other players to maybe be found," Ferentz said.

Ferentz caught himself a little mid-sentence, but the perception is still lingering that there are three schools to beat for recruits in the state. Miami losing its bowl game to Cal puts them at 7-6, a worse record than USF for the third year in a row, and that keeps them close to USF in a perceived second tier behind Florida and Florida State. But Miami lost to a nine-win BCS team in California, and USF beat a six-win Conference USA team in St. Pete, so the last game is only so telling.

That's why USF coach Jim Leavitt is eager to continue an annual series next season with Miami, with the two schools playing Thanksgiving week each season for the next five years. As Leavitt has said, he won't feel like USF has a place in the state's elite until he's beaten one of those teams head-to-head. ...

Jones scores 36 to lead USF past Iona

TAMPA -- Stan Heath doesn't want to lean on guard Dominique Jones as much as his Bulls did Saturday night. All things considered, it's not a bad strategy.

Jones had a career-high 36 points, going 7-of-9 on 3-point attempts, to carry a struggling Bulls team to a 68-55 win against Iona at the Sun Dome.

"Dominique had a phenomenal game," Heath said. "I haven't seen many games like that in my career, up close like that. He just had a hot hand, and his teammates did a great job of understanding that, getting him the ball, screening for him and riding him out."

The burden on Jones' back has somehow gotten a little bit heavier.

The Bulls open Big East play Friday at home against No. 17 Syracuse, but they'll do so without junior guard Mike Mercer, who is lost for the season after tearing the ACL in his right knee Sunday. Mercer, who tore the same ligament while at Georgia in February 2007, would be eligible for a sixth year of eligibility to regain the season he just lost.

Losing Mercer, and coming off a 23-point loss Monday to an Oral Roberts team that had been 2-10, the Bulls (5-7) needed a lift before starting conference play.

"We had been reeling a little bit, so to get back on the right track, so I was really happy for our guys," Heath said. "Psychologically, it's huge ... We needed to win, and we've got a challenge in front of us with the Big East schedule. We're going to need more guys to step up. We're not going to be able to count on (Jones) doing that every night by himself."

Jones came in cold, having gone scoreless in 39 minutes Sunday against Wright State, then mustering eight points against Oral Roberts, going a combined 3-for-23 in the two losses. On Saturday, he was hot from the start, hitting a three on his first attempt and ending the game with a 25-footer at the buzzer.

"I felt like my old self a little bit. I'm still trying to get it going," said Jones, who finished one 3-pointer shy of the school record. "I'm trying to get my confidence back because my team needs me."

The game drew an announced crowd of just 1,615 to the Sun Dome, the first time the Bulls have drawn less than 2,000 there in at least five years. Senior guard Jesus Verdejo had 14 points for USF, which committed only five turnovers, three under the previous low in two seasons under Heath.

Iona (5-8) led 44-43 with 11 minutes to play when Jones hit a three to spark a 10-2 run -- the Gaels wouldn't get closer than four points the rest of the way. Iona played without leading scorer Gary Springer, who was sidelined with an ankle injury.

Jones has career high, Bulls up nine late

Sophomore guard Dominique Jones has a career-high 32 points, including a 3-pointer that gave USF a 59-50 lead with 5:05 to play against Iona.

Jones' previous career high was 31 points, set last season against Seton Hall and earlier this month against Central Florida. He's 11-of-14 from the field, with a career-high six 3-pointers on eight attempts beyond the arc.