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Steinbrenner Money Helps S. Florida Get Rose

Washington Post, The (DC)

April 4, 1980

Author: Byron Rosen, Washington Post Staff Writer

A $10,000 pledge from George Steinbrenner, a Tampa resident obviously enamored of wintertime winners as well as summertimers when they are his New York Yankees, has helped swing the deal and Lee Rose is off to South Florida as basketball coach.

Now Rose, fresh from taking Purdue to the NCAA final four as he had earlier with UNC-Charlotte, can go for a triple crown. He forsakes Boilermakers (after only two years) for Golden Brahmans, and a heavy building job faces him.South Florida had been operating with an interim coach since canning Chip Conner in January. Bill Gibson, the Former ACC coach of the year wooed away from Virginia a few years back to make the Tampa school a power, was on the right road, but South Florida basketball has never recovered from his death in 1976.

Rose, counting salary, pledges such as Steinbrenner's paid housing, summer camp and radio-TV package, should approach $80-85,000 a year. All this and a brand-new 10,500 seat Sun Dome to showcase his first team back in the Sun Belt Conference he helped organize . . .

You think home edge isn't meaningful in pro basketball? If you want to bet on the Bullets tonight, you must spot the Sixers' two points, in Jimmy the Greek's line. Washington favored! . . .

Ralph Sampson, the 7-foot-4 frosh Virginian, tells at least one inquirer that, yes, the fact the Celtics want him No. 1 will make him think extra hard about volunteering this month for the NBA draft . . . We stand corrected on the NFL draft note. The league isn't even charging ESPN cable TV to cover Draft Central on April 29; just thought it would be a nice idea. WMAL Radio's Andy Ockershausen reminds, meanwhile, that you can catch the same act "live" on AM, Ken Beatrice and Johnny Holliday, all regular programming interrupted as selections develop . . .

A signal honor for American U.'s junior forward Boo Bowers: outstanding visiting player against a Philadelphia Big Five team the past season. He receives the Harry Merrill Award from the Herb Good Basketball Club at an April 14 banquet, over fellow Big Five all-opponent teamers Sampson of Virginia, Mike Gminski of Duke, Kelvin Troy of Rutgers and Tracy Jackson of Paint Branch and Notre Dame.

Ron Valentine of Old Dominion is player of the year, ECAC South Section, with Navy's David Brooks rookie of the year; Andre Gaddy of George Mason among sectional all-stars . . . In the annual all-star hoop series for college seniors in Portsmouth, Va., this week, Nancy Lieberman and Inge Nissen of ODU's national champion women's team were invited to play along with the 64 guys. They declined -- after Valentine, one of the all-stars, grumbled that they would break the concentration as the men showed their wares for NBA scouts . . .

Six men were convicted and six acquitted by a federal jury in Harrisburg, Pa., yesterday on charges stemming from a scheme to fix races, lots of them, at Pocono Downs thoroughbred track in 1974. Three jockeys, two trainers and an associate or admitted fixer-star government witness "Tough Tony" Ciulla were found guilty; cleared were two of Ciulla's alleged associates, two jockeys, a trainer and a horse owner. Sentencing to come in what was only one of a series of trials involving an interstate conspiracy with alleged links to organized crime. Ciulla's testimony has led to convictions of 37 persons in five states. Granted immunity and guarded under a federal witness protection program, he ain't done yet.

The preseason baseball ax falls and goodbye Dracula: Pedro Borbon, veteran of so many big games for Cincy, released by the San Francisco Giants . . . The ranks dwindle: Died in Cleveland, Tex., Les Fleming, who bated .292 in 156 games for the 1942 Cleveland (Ohio) Indians.

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SPORTS LOG\ COLLEGES: ROSE QUITS PURDUE

Boston Globe

April 4, 1980

Author: Compiled By Bob Kinsley

Lee Rose has resigned as head basketball coach at Purdue University to accept a similar post at the University of South Florida. Rose reportedly has been offered an $86,000-a-year package to switch, but he said Florida's warmer climate and the fact that his wife has relatives who live near Tampa were major reasons for his decision. Rose guided the Boilermakers to a 50-18 record in his two seasons at Purdue . . . Ron Perry of Holy Cross and Rufus Harris of Maine have been named ECAC Division 1 North co-players of the year for the 1979-80 college basketball season (complete Division 1 North team in Scoreboard) . . . Senior catcher Jack Burke of Braintree had a day to remember yesterday as he hit three home runs, including a grand-slammer, to drive in nine runs and lead the unbeaten (3-0) Stonehill baseball team to a 23-10 victory over Providence College (6-4) at Providence . . . Seattle University is dropping out of NCAA Division 1 athletic competition and eventually will work down to Division 3 status. However, because students now holding athletic scholarships have been assured that their scholarships will be honored, the Chieftains will compete as a Division 2 school until those commitments have been met . . . Chicopee sophomore Gail Koziara of league champion Dartmouth

College has been named the Ivy League's woman basketball player of the year for 1979-80. Her teammate, freshman guard Ann Deacon of Westwood, was unanimously named the league's top rookie. The two were joined on the all- league first team by sophomore guard Ellen Tomasiewicz of Princeton, junior forward Lisa Brummel of Yale and junior center Trish Wurtz of Brown.

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BULLS WIN FLORIDA 4

Miami Herald, The (FL)

December 12, 1982

Author: GARY LONG Herald Sports Writer

Two big-time basketball "keepers" who got away returned to haunt the University of Florida and Coach Norm Sloan Saturday night.

Sensational Charlie Bradley scored 30 points to stake South Florida to a 77-73 victory over Florida and give the Bulls their second consecutive Florida Four tournament championship.

Florida State dumped Jacksonville, 81-66, in the consolation game.

Bradley, a 6-6 sophomore from Tampa Robinson High, was heavily recruited by the Gators two years ago. "It came down to South Florida and Florida," he said, "and I just decided to stay home and play for a great coach like Coach

Lee> Rose."

But just as important in the Bulls' tense victory before 6,128 in the O'Connell Center on the Gators' campus was seven- foot Jim Grandholm, a redshirt junior who played his 1979-80 freshman season at Florida under former Coach John Lotz.

Grandholm, whose octopus-like reach was critical to a smothering South Florida zone, also contributed 17 points.

He joined a mass exodus when Lotz was fired and Sloan inherited a dismal program in '80, and he ended up at South Florida, where he saw limited duty last season.

"I had come to play for Coach Lotz, and when he was fired, I was very upset," he said earlier this week. "He was the reason I had come to Florida, and we'd had such a bad year. I just needed a fresh start."

The Bulls were confronted by their largest deficit, 37-33, just before guard Dave Bastian sank a 20-footer at the buzzer in a first half that had 15 lead changes and six ties.

But, as in the Bulls' 90-77 semifinal victory over Florida State, in which Bradley scored 42 points, the tournament's Most Valuable Player split his production evenly. He scored 15 points in the first half, despite a box-and-one zone that generally left him in double coverage, and added 15 in the second.

His 20-footer gave USF its first lead after intermission, 48-47; his swooping stuff shot put the Bulls out of reach at 73-65, and whatever doubt remained was erased when he sank both ends of a one-and-one in the waning seconds.

"He's living up to everything we expected of him and more," said Rose, whose team now has built a 4-1 record, with the lone loss to De Paul in Chicago. "He's carrying a big burden. It's no secret you've got to stop Charlie to begin to stop us."

Because Florida couldn't, it fell to 2-4 in rugged competition. The Gators' other losses have been to Louisville, Illinois and Ohio State -- no slouches there -- and if there was consolation for Sloan, it was that the Gators bore only one small but striking resemblance to the snake-bitten 5-22 outfit of 1981-82.

That's the inability to sneak away for a narrow victory. Twelve times last season, they lost by four or more points, and this had to be a nagging reminder of that, even though they kept scrapping back from eight-point holes in the final minutes.

"The outside shots didn't go down," said Sloan, pointing to three-for-11 field-goal shooting from Miamian Vernon Delancy, one for five from guard Nabe Palmer and two for six from Charles Griffin.

Because they wouldn't, the Gators never could draw the taller Bulls out of the tight 2-1-2 and 2-3 zones that kept Ronnie Williams and Eugene McDowell from doing the kind of damage they can.

Nobody will ever work harder for 22 points than did 6-8 muscleman Williams, who also led both teams with 14 rebounds.

In the consolation game, the Seminoles took advantage of outmanned Jacksonville to prove it can win without Mitchell Wiggins.

"We talked about that before we went out there," said FSU Coach Joe Williams. "I told them I didn't want everybody trying to be Mitchell Wiggins, like they did last night."

Wiggins, a standout on the U.S. national team in a summer tournament, discovered Thursday that he has mononucleosis, a debilitating disease that could sideline him a couple weeks or for the entire season.

In a 90-77 loss to South Florida Friday night, the Seminoles looked disorganized. "We made 20 turnovers in the first half," said senior guard Tony William. "Tonight it was important we get into a groove. We had to be patient and get the ball inside. Our big men had a good game."

A 53-39 rebounding advantage helped FSU (3-2) shake off the Dolphins (3-3).

The Dolphins, who had a seven-point advantage midway through the first half, frittered it away and went to the locker room with a three-point deficit.

They still were threatening and trailed only 55-50 when the Seminoles ripped off nine unanswered points and never looked back.

Led by junior-college transfer Reggie Meadows with 15 points and nine rebounds, the Seminoles showed balance both in scoring and under the boards.

Williams was encouraged. "That's kind of what we needed right now," he said, "to win and give everybody a chance to relax a bit. We feel we still have a good basketball team, even if we don't have Mitchell, and we have no idea when he'll be able to come back, if at all."

CHAMPIONSHIP

SOUTH FLORIDA 77 -- Bradley 9-20 12-14 30, Azcoita 4-6 0-0 8, Grandholm 7-10 3-5 17, Card 0-1 0-0 0, Douglas 5-11 2-3 12, Tonelli 0-0 0-0 0, Bastian 3-4 0-0 6, Connors 0-2 0-0 0, Kitchens 2-6 0-0 4, Purvis 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 30-64 17-22 77.

FLORIDA 73 -- Delancy 3-11 2-4 8, Ron Williams 7-14 8-11 22, McDowell 4-6 3-5 11, Jackson9-14 0-0 18, Palmer 1-5 2-2 4, Griffin 2-6 0-0 4, Leath 1-2 2-2 4, Harris 1-1 0-0 2, Rod Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-59 17-24 73.

Halftime--Florida 37 South Florida 35. Fouled out--Kitchens. Total fouls--Florida 15, South Florida 20. Rebounds--Florida 36 (Ron Williams 14) South Florida 33 (Grandholm 10). Assists-- Florida 7 (Delancy 4) South Florida 6 (Purvis 2). A-6,128.

CONSOLATION GAME

FLORIDA STATE 81--Martello 1 0-0 2, Speights 4 1-2 9, Meadows 7 1-4 15, William 4 1-2 9, Johnson 3 6-8 12, Miles 3 0-0 6, Arnold 3 4-6 10, Phillip 1 1-3 3, Watson 0 6-6 6, Myrick 4 1-3 9. Totals 30 21-34 81.

JACKSONVILLE 66--Smith 4 4-7 11, Pike 1 0-0 2, Davis 3 4-4 10, Hinton 1 2-2 4, McLaughlin 5 2-2 12, Terrell 0 3-4 3, Roulhac 5 2-2 12, Council 0 0-0 0, Cross 5 1-2 11, Stovall 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 18-23 66.

Halftime -- Florida State 32, Jacksonville 29. Fouled out -- Smith, Roulhac. Totals fouls -- Florida State 21, Jacksonville 33.

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BRADLEY: S. FLORIDA'S 'RAGING BULL'

Miami Herald, The (FL)

January 16, 1983

Author: UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

Charlie Bradley made hardly a ripple as a freshman last year.

Although he saw action in all 28 games for the University of South Florida, the 6-5 Bradley, playing in the unfamiliar position of guard, hit only 38 per cent of his shots and averaged just five points a game.

But this season, moved to forward by Coach Lee Rose, Bradley has become "the raging bull."

After 13 games, the left-handed shooter was the NCAA's leading scorer, averaging 30 points per game while hitting 51.6 per cent of his shots from the field and 82.3 per cent from the free-throw line.

His Sun Belt Conference average is even better, 31.6,

because the conference scores three points for a basket from beyond 21 feet. Bradley is 13 for 20 from the three-point range.

While leading the nation in scoring, Bradley also is averaging almost three assists per game, while pulling down an

average 6.3 rebounds.

His high for the season has been 42 points against Florida State in the Florida Four tournament. Recently he hit for 38 against the University of Florida, sending the game into overtime with a 25-foot jumper with one second to go.

Had the game been played under Sun Belt Conference rules, it would have been a three-pointer and the Bulls would have won. But it counted for just two and they lost in overtime.

"I think the best thing that happene to Charlie was for him to have to play guard for us as a freshman," Rose said. "It helped his ball-handling and he found out how hard he has to work."

Bradley was a forward at Tampa's Robinson High until his senior year when he played center. When he came to South Florida, he lacked finesse as a dribbler and ball-handler. He developed those skills last year as a guard, and they are evident in his performance this year.

He keeps the ball low while dribbling, making it harder on defensive players to get a swipe at it. His quickness in making a move and getting off a shot has paid off.

With his speed, Bradley often leads the Bulls on transition but is as apt to feed off to a teammate as he is to pull up and shoot a jumper.

He plays down his position atop the national scoring list.

"We are all having fun," said Bradley. "I mean it's nice, I can't deny that. But I just want to be a team player. Our team is having a good time this year, and we are a team. Our offense is fun.

"It is designed to get the ball to the open man and somebody is always open. All we are doing is playing as a family. Nobody is hogging the ball."

"Charlie has two characteristics you are born with," said Rose. "One is quickness and the other is jumping ability. He'll get better because he will improve in judgment and in his ball- handling."

The 19-year-old sophomore is a native of Tampa, playing his early basketball on an outdoor basketball court in the Ybor City area. He blossomed as a player during his senior year at Robinson and was highly recruited by colleges, his decision coming down to a choice between Florida or South Florida.

"It was close," said Bradley. "Both had fine schools and name coaches. I just decided why go away to play when I could stay home and play?"

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STATE'S BASKETBALL ATTENDANCE UP

Miami Herald, The (FL)

February 18, 1983

Author: ASSOCIATED PRESS

College basketball attendance in Florida is up six per cent, but the state's NCAA Division I gymnasiums still are only half full as the 1982-83 season moves toward a close.

Larger crowds at South Florida, Jacksonville and Stetson are primary reasons for the boost, but attendance figures for those schools, the University of Florida and Florida State indicate an increase in the number of playing dates also will play a significant role by season's end.

Through 64 playing dates -- 13 remain -- this season, the five schools have drawn 308,206 fans for an average of 4,815 per game. That's up from the 289,440 and 4,320 per date for 67 games during the 1981-82 campaign.

While average attendance is on the rise, statistics show that the teams are playing to only 50.2 per cent total capacity. But in spite of the empty seats, the new spacious facilities have helped generate spectator interest in recent years. Last season, the figure was 47.1 per cent.

Florida, completing its third season in the 12,000-seat Stephen C. O'Connell Center, once again is the over-all leader, averaging 6,920 fans for 12 dates. But Stetson -- which plays its home games in 5,500-seat Edmunds Center -- has played to 74.5 per cent capacity in DeLand.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is Florida State, which has four home games remaining but is averaging only 3,191 per date and playing to 25.5 per cent capacity in the Tallahassee- Leon County Civic Center.

Florida, which set a state attendance record of 11,410 last week against Kentucky, averaged 7,103 for 10 home games in 1981-82 during a 5-22 campaign, worst in school history. The record-setting turnout was the fifth crowd of better than 7,000 this season, but the Gators are still playing to only 57.6 per cent capacity, down from 59 per cent.

Stetson's average attendance through 14 dates has jumped

from 3,584 -- of 65.1 per cent capacity -- in 1981-82 to 4,098 this season. The Hatters, with four home games left, drew 5,938 -- 438 more than announced capacity -- for an early season matchup with West Virginia.

South Florida, meanwhile, is headed toward a school attendance mark as Coach Lee Rose continues his latest building project. The Bulls are averaging 5,075 per game or 49.4 capacity in the 10,259-seat Sun Dome for 15 dates. A year ago, South Florida averaged 4,247 and 41.4 per cent for the same number of games.

Jacksonville, which has one home game remaining, has boosted its average attendance from 3,720 in 1981-82 to 4,495 this season with crowds ranging from 3,683 against Wolford to 5,637 for Florida in the 9,000-seat Jacksonville Coliseum. That's 49.9 per cent capacity, compared with 41.3 per cent a year ago.

Florida State made the move from 3,000-seat Tully Gym to the civic center last season, but attendance did not pick up. The Seminoles averaged just 3,756 -- 30 per cent capacity -- for 13 dates and are doing worse in 1982-83.

Coach Joe Williams' club is struggling on the court and crowds have ranged from 2,072 for Tulane earlier this week to 6,080 for nationally-ranked Louisville last month. Attendance has dipped below 3,000 five times, including crowds of 2,959 and 2,674 for Florida and Jacksonville, and the Seminoles have topped the 3,600 mark just once.

Complete attendance figures were not available from Bethune- Cookman or Florida A&M, where Sports Information Director Alvin Hollins estimated the Rattlers, suffering through a losing season, are averaging between 1,200 and 1,500 in 5,200-seat Gaither Gym.

ABILITY, VICTORIES AREN'T ENOUGH TO ENDEAR USF BASKETBALL COACH

THE ORLANDO SENTINEL

January 8, 1986

Author: By Barry Cooper of The Sentinel Staff

You sit across from Lee Rose and he cuts into you with steel-blue eyes, a gaze that is so rigid that it appears Rose is stalking a target. In a way, life has become a lot like guerrilla warfare for Rose, the University of South Florida's embattled basketball coach. He is considered a brilliant tactician, able to mentally dissect the most complex defense or construct the most intricate offense. But the one thing Lee Rose has not been able to do is make people love him.

They take pot shots at Rose at South Florida, directing their barbs at him through newspaper articles or by attending games with brown bags pulled over their faces. They complain that Rose won't play tough teams, that he cannot recruit, that he is not sensitive to the wishes of the student body. The detractors are both common fans and people employed by the university.

Certainly Rose, 49, is not widely appreciated at South Florida, where he has built a 99-57 record in just more than five seasons. He had critics at two of his other coaching stops, too, the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and Purdue.

It is Rose's unyielding personality that gets him in trouble. He will not make small talk with people he does not like and is not fond of all the mushy handshakes and false smiles coaches are expected to deliver. At South Florida, he has become a human powder keg, and his never-ending insistence that things be done only his way begs his critics to go ahead and light the fuse.

Rose's temper has exploded more than a few times. Moments after a 1984 homecoming victory over UNC-Charlotte, Rose, frustrated by a lack of fan support, grabbed the microphone at the Sun Dome. ''All this school has ever had is a bad image,'' he said. ''We're trying to give it a **** positive one. Get behind us!''

They haven't rallied around Rose. Monday night, South Florida played an important Sun Belt Conference game against Alabama-Birmingham -- the county's 14th ranked team. A crowd of 2,945 showed up in the Sun Dome, which seats 10,257.

Poor attendance, budget cuts -- nearly $90,000 was pared from Rose's budget this season -- and infighting among USF officials has sullied Rose's dream of building the Bulls into a national power. Not that Rose has done badly. His teams, aided by a weak nonconference schedule, have posted five consecutive winning seasons and participated in the National Invitation Tournament three times. And Rose boasts that more than 90 percent of his players have earned their degrees.

Still, finger-pointing is rampant on the campus because the Bulls have not built a Top 20 program and because other such lofty expectations have not been met.

''You name it, and I've taken a pounding for it here,'' Rose said. ''It doesn't matter what it is.''

The most celebrated confrontation Rose has had was with John Wadas, the former athletic director. Both men are reluctant to discuss the matter, but the popular contention is that Wadas wanted to build a broad-based program and spread money evenly over all the Bulls' sports while Rose wanted basketball emphasized. By the time Wadas resigned last summer, the Bulls' athletic office was full of dissension and saddled with a $650,000 debt.

Rose doesn't duck the Wadas matter. ''He put us $500,000 in debt and blamed me. He took the whole staff and unified them against me so that I'm the guy doing all the things wrong and they are doing all the right things, which was total nonsense.''

Wadas, who was transferred to a non-athletic job at the university's Fort Myers campus, was unavailable for comment.

The bickering and money problems are starting to take a toll. When assistant coach Mark Wise resigned after last season, Rose was unable to replace him because of budgetary restrictions.

When Rose was in Japan this summer for the World University Games, school president Dr. John Brown agreed to play crosstown rival Tampa, a Division II school. That move went against Rose's wishes, and he burns inside now that it has been done.

''I did not know the budget was going to be cut or I was going to lose a coach or they were going to schedule Tampa until I got back from Japan,'' he said. ''They told me when I got back. The president told me, 'You're going to play Tampa.' And I said, 'The fallout from this game is going to be devastating and you're going to see it.' We have hung our whole program here, and I've given 400 talks in this community, about being a solid, respectable Division I program. And since I have been here,we have scheduled nothing but Division I teams.''

Not all the Division I teams on the schedule have been powers. ''I am trying to build a program, and you don't build an office building at the 10th floor,'' he said. ''You can't build a basketball program starting at the top.''

The question now is whether Rose will stay around long enough to reach the top. He can hardly be fired; he has a revolving contract that forever has four years to run. For South Florida to fire him, the Bulls would have to give him four years notice or pay four years in a lump sum. Rose didn't come cheaply, either. He earns about $118,000 a year.

Though he was keenly interested in the Kentucky job that went to Eddie Sutton, Rose otherwise has shown no interest in leaving.

''You hope,'' he said. ''You hope things are going to get better because you are not going to quit.''

ROSE'S RECORD

Year School W-L Post-season

1964-65 Transylvania 21-10 NAIA finalist

1968-69 Transylvania 20-7 NCAA Div. II regional

1969-70 Transylvania 21-7 NCAA Div. II regional

1970-71 Transylvania 21-3 none

1971-72 Transylvania 21-6 NCAA Div. II regional

1972-73 Transylvania 16-10 none

1974-75 Transylvania 20-7 NCAA Div. II regional

1975-76 UNC-Charlotte 24-6 NIT runner-up

1976-77 UNC-Charlotte 28-5 NCAA Final 4

1977-78 UNC-Charlotte 20-7 Sun Belt champ

1978-79 Purdue 27-8 NIT runner-up

1979-80 Purdue 23-10 NCAA Final 4

1980-81 South Florida 18-11 NIT

1981-82 South Florida 17-11 none

1982-83 South Florida 22-10 NIT

1983-84 South Florida 17-11 none

1984-85 South Florida 18-12 NIT

1985-86 South Florida 7-2 –

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SOUTH FLORIDA'S WOES MAY FORCE ROSE TO LEAVE

Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)

February 20, 1986

Author: John McGill Herald-Leader sports columnist

TAMPA, Fla. - He came here at the start of the decade with a mission, to give a still-young, still-growing university an identity by injecting it with a dose of winning basketball.

Now - six seasons, three NIT bids and 105 wins later - Coach Lee Rose finds himself in a quandary as the University of South Florida double-dribbles all over itself.

"Right now," Rose said Tuesday as he sat behind his office desk, "we're just treading water."

It shows. His team is a disappointing 13-12 after Monday's loss to Old Dominion, while only 1,647 people bothered to watch in USF's 10,000-seat Sun Dome.

BUT THOSE ARE only symptoms of a much deeper problem. There are others. Everett Bass, who played at Lexington Henry Clay and later played for Rose at

Transylvania, is the only full-time assistant Rose has. The copying machine, broken down two weeks ago, still is on the fritz. And tacked on a wall in Rose's office is a newspaper headline that screams the reason:

"Budget Cuts Place USF Basketball on the Skids."

Rose - the man who sent Transy to six post-season tournaments in eight years, the man who then guided both North Carolina-Charlotte and Purdue to the Final Four - sums up the dilemma in a nutshell.

"You've got one program here - basketball - that makes money," he says. "You've gotta put fuel in it to make it go. And now, there's no fuel."

Don't be surprised, then, if Rose doesn't wind up at a major school next season. The rumor mill already has it that C.M. Newton may become athletic director at Vanderbilt and hire Rose as the basketball coach. And there are jobs currently available at Minnesota, Florida State and Ohio State.

"This (the budget cuts) puts me in a position where after the season I've got to sit down and re-evaulate my priorities," Rose says, "and that's what I'm going to do. Right now, we're just doing our best to get through the year.

"I know there are some good openings right now. But I don't think you can get yourself involved in it. One of the biggest problems is to let yourself be distracted from the immediacies of your coaching . . . "

HE STOPS HIMSELF, and almost sighs.

"But you see, I don't even know what that totally means. I've just got to get away from it once the season is over and give it a long look. And I'll have to see what kind of commitment is made here."

If recent history is any indication, the commitment from USF will not be much. The problem began three years ago when a new athletic director decided that USF's minor sports should be expanded, with basketball tagged to provide the financial support. In an ideal world, the idea of handing out 10 full scholarships for a woman's softball team may be nice . . . but in this case, it was an example of sheer suicide.

"We went from 46 to 121 scholarships in two years," Rose says, "and from 39 to 54 staff positions. Eventually, the athletic department had a deficit of $500,000."

According to the Tampa Tribune, the deficit is now $655,000. Two things happened. The athletic director was reassigned, and university president John Lott Brown was told by the Board of Regents to erase the deficit or be fired.

THE RESULT? USF's basketball budget is $545,500 this season, a decrease of more than $100,000 since the '82-'83 season, and a cutback of almost $88,000

from last season alone.

With a university president under the gun to make the cuts, the possibility of a change in thinking seems remote. But clearly, unless USF commits more to basketball, there is no way the program can remain big-time, much less become a major force.

"I sympathize with him (Brown), but at the same time it puts us in a poker game where the other guys get five cards and you get three," Rose notes.

Much of the cutback took place when Rose was in Japan coaching the U.S. team in the World University games. Assistant coach Mark Wise, who took the head job at Lindsey Wilson Junior College in Kentucky, left during that period. When Rose returned, he learned the position had been frozen.

"We have gone through this year about two bricks shy of a load," Rose says. "There has been a tendency to blame the major part of the indebtedness on a lack of revenue from basketball. Well, basketball here wasn't intended to support 13 different programs."

AND THAT SPEAKS to just how ludicrous a situation it is. Bigger schools with major football programs are experiencing problems with funding minor sports, yet USF - which doesn't have football - decided basketball could do the trick. It was a course that virtually guaranteed failure - particularly in a state where football is king and basketball is still a sport that has to promote itself.

Rose, who had lobbied hard to hire University of Kentucky assistant athletic director Larry Ivy three years ago, has been asked to join the committee that will select a new athletic director. The deadline for applications is tomorrow. Might Rose himself apply for the job?

"No," he says, "because I was an athletic director for 11 years, eight at Transy and three at Charlotte, and it just takes up too much time. At Charlotte, I went so hard I was burned out. Well, don't say burned out, but that was a 12-month burn three years in a row."

Rose speaks highly of UK's Ivy, and perhaps he's hopeful that this time the committee will make a pitch for him. But regardless, the direction USF takes in its hunt for a new AD will give Rose a good idea of what kind of future he can expect.

"Since I'm on the selection committee, I can get a feel for whomever they select," Rose says. "And after the season, I'll be able to do more research and be better prepared when I make my case. So far, I've just talked in general terms about the problem."

Right now, the school clearly has its foot halfway in the water and halfway out. It made a big commitment when it built the Sun Dome and lured Rose away from Purdue, but it now is faced with the decision of pumping money into the program before it can expect to reap the benefits.

And if that realization doesn't come?

"Well, I have no strings now," says Rose, whose son Mike is a graduate assistant football coach at Clemson and whose son Mark is a standout pitcher for the USF baseball team. "The children are grown, so we wouldn't be moving them out of one school to another."

Meanwhile, Brown told the Tampa Tribune: "You want to see de-emphasis of basketball? Wait 'til you see what happens if we don't get our budget in order. We'll be headed for Division II."

Clearly, USF might make Rose's decision an easy one.

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SOUTH FLORIDA'S ROSE TAKES POST WITH SPURS

THE ORLANDO SENTINEL

July 10, 1986

Author: Compiled from wire reports

Lee Rose, head coach at the University of South Florida, was named assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs, officials of the NBA team said Wednesday.

''I was very impressed with Lee Rose in our interview. He has an impressive record,'' said Spurs head coach Bob Weiss. ''I like his basketball philosophy, and I like the way he deals with players.''

Rose, who has been at South Florida the past six years, said an ever- shrinking operating budget, signaling what he perceived as a lack of commitment to developing a quality college basketball program, was one of the factors that influenced him to leave South Florida.

''Actually it's an accumulation of things, one of them being the opportunity to coach in the National Basketball Association,'' Rose said in a telephone interview.

While at South Florida, Rose, 49, has compiled a 106-69 record.

Earlier, he coached at Transylvania College in Kentucky from 1964 to 1975 and then three years at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

[Matt]

since i can read this does that make me a Premium member?

[Apis Bull]

since i can read this does that make me a Premium member?

Uh, sure!!  Now send me $49.99 to pay for it!!   ;D

[crambone]

PayPal?

[flsportsfan83]

interesting

[Matt]

i was gonna say.....

i didnt pay any money.  unless brad kept my CC# and is running charges i dont know bout.     >

[Guest BasketBull.]

It's a joke. Lighten up, Francis!

[Triple B]

Good stuff, BB. Hopefully, all the youung whippersnappers on here will read both of these threads to get a crash course on USF hoops history.

I had forgotten that Granny was a UF transfer. Gotta love that ....  8-)

[USFan]

Good stuff, BB. Hopefully, all the youung whippersnappers on here will read both of these threads to get a crash course on USF hoops history.

I had forgotten that Granny was a UF transfer. Gotta love that ....  8-)

Really?  There is a lot to read, but I thought that it was between USF and UF when he was in HS.

I was not aware that he transferred from UF... if true.

[hightechbull]

Thanks for posting that BasketBull.

I have been preaching the glory days of USF BB to deaf ears around here.  

I know a little of the Florida Four, Charlie Bradley, Tony Grier, & Lee Rose days, and all that happened before I was at USF.  I am from the early '90's era of Bobby Paschal, Gary Alexander, Rodenko Dobras, and the 2 NCAA bids.  We may not have a lot of history, but the diaper dandies need to know that we had success in the past.

Maybe they should dig up the old Florida Four and NIT banners and hang them again as points of past pride.  I never understood why they took them down during Greenburg's tenure. (If they put them back up after Seth left, then I will have to take my foot out of my mouth because sadly I have not been to the Dome in several years).