Mike Camunas and Oracle Report on Stan Heath

[Brad]

STAN HEATH BECOMES THE EIGHTH MEN'S BASKETBALL COACH AND VOWS TO MAKE THE BULLS A CONTENDER

By: Brendan Galella, Asst. Sports Editor

Issue date: 4/4/07 Section: Sports

"I woke up this morning and said, 'Wow, I'm here. I get to work here,'

and that is an exciting feeling for me."

-Stan Heath

Stan Heath ushered in a new era for the men's basketball program with a joke.

After donning a green-and-gold USF hat for the first time, he immediately took it off before addressing the audience, citing his team policy.

"I'm not going to let you guys wear hats inside the building, so I'll take mine off," Heath said.

But the joking quickly turned to business - Heath has the Bulls scheduled to work out at 7 a.m. today.

Point guard Chris Howard looks forward to proving himself to a new coach prior to the beginning of the season.

"Bringing in Coach Heath gives everyone a little more hunger," Howard said. "For me, it's like being a freshman all over again. So it's a new start and a new beginning, and I'm definitely looking forward to it."

Kentrell Gransberry, the leading rebounder in the Big East last season, said the addition of Heath is the first step in transforming USF into a legitimate basketball school.

"Getting Heath to come here was key. We're going to just go out there and get some wins," Gransberry said. "Hopefully, we can do what we need to do and make it to the NCAA Tournament and then bring some recognition to the school."

Heath, 42, has taken on the daunting task of turning around a program that has gone 4-28 in conference play since moving to the Big East two years ago. USF is the only program that failed to appear in the conference tournament for the past two seasons.

Heath brings instant creditability to the Bulls after spending five years as an assistant under Tom Izzo at Michigan State and helping the Spartans to three straight Final Four appearances, including a national championship in 2000.

Kent State made Heath its head coach in 2001, and after an Elite Eight appearance, Arkansas chose Heath to replace Nolan Richardson.

Arkansas fired Heath abruptly last week after he met with Athletic Director Frank Broyles. In five seasons at Arkansas, Heath guided the Razorbacks to a record of 82-71 with back-to-back 20-win seasons and consecutive NCAA Tournaments.

But after Arkansas struggled with a 31-49 record in Southeastern Conference play, Broyles decided to take his program in a new direction.

Immediately after the announcement about Heath's firing was made, USF Athletic Director Doug Woolard focused his pursuit for a replacement for Robert McCullum on Heath.

"We talked to several people, and we felt (Heath) was a great fit," Woolard said. "He's won at every level, won at Michigan State, at Kent State and Arkansas. He was just a great fit for us."

Heath is due a base salary of $325,000, with $350,000 for radio and television appearances. Before incentives, his five-year contract is worth $675,000 per year, up nearly $425,000 from McCullum's salary last year.

After officially being introduced as the eighth men's basketball coach in school history, Heath discussed the opportunity of putting his own imprint on a young Big East program.

"This is a job with great up side, and we've got to progress and move forward," Heath said. "(South Florida) is a great area to sell (for recruits) [ch65533] and I see a lot of good with it."

Izzo realizes the opportunities his former assistant has at USF and feels this position was tailor-made for Heath.

"I think it's awesome," Izzo said Monday in a telephone interview. "I know Stan is excited, and if I know him, he'll start working those kids right away. He's really looking forward to this opportunity, and I think he can really make that program into something special very quickly."

Heath agrees.

"We're going to win, and we're going to win soon," Heath said. "People look at things differently, and I see great possibilities here. [ch65533] We want to win this season, and we can do that."

The Bulls haven't made an NCAA Tournament appearance since 1992 and haven't had a winning season since going 15-14 under Seth Greenberg in 2002-03.

Although trying to build a basketball program in the Big East from scratch was a task eight coaches publicly announced they weren't interested in, Heath relishes the

opportunity.

"I woke up this morning and said 'Wow, I'm here. I get to work here' and that is an exciting feeling for me," Heath said. "You go through ups and downs [ch65533] but once South Florida contacted me, there wasn't anywhere else I wanted to be."

Link

[Brad]

DOUG WOOLARD MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE IN HIRING HEATH, WHO ALREADY HAS BIG PLANS FOR USF

By: Mike Camunas, Sports Editor

You could see it, no matter what.

There was standing room only, and you'd have to bob and weave and lean forward to see what surely everyone else saw.

The new men's basketball coach, Stan Heath, walked into the Big East room flanked by Athletic Director Doug Woolard, and then Heath, just a little more than a week

removed from Arkansas, sat down next to his wife, Ramona, and two sons, Jordan and Joshua.

But then pan to the man in a pinstripe suit sitting next to him. Yeah, that's Woolard, who made his sixth hire during his tenure at USF on Tuesday.

But without a doubt, this was his biggest. It doesn't take an expert to make that call.

But it's probably going to be the one that receives the most scrutiny - the one that is examined under hundreds of microscopes.

"(The past couple of weeks) have been pretty intense," Woolard said following Tuesday's press conference. "I'm very happy with the result."

Woolard stood at the podium, and his eyes lit up. He must have seen the amount of people present, which nearly the entire athletic staff - some coaches included - all there to see the new face creating buzz.

He let the new coach speak. People hung on to Heath's every word, carefully listening to him as if he were a Sunday preacher.

Heath talked about community ties, winning and, most importantly, putting people back in the stands.

"I'm not going to paint myself green and take my shirt off for them," Heath joked. "But I want to work with (the Student Bulls Club) and do what I can to fill the seats."

Heath spoke as though he could have been a prophet. He said the right things - things such as that basketball games should be the things to see during the winter.

Music? It was like the words of God in the ears of those in that room. After years of a below .500 basketball record and more empty seats than Michael Richards' next comedy show, it sounded as though Heath's voice was golden. He likely has a green-and-gold cult following him already.

He came in as a man who's more approachable than Santa Claus in December. How refreshing, especially when he talks about bringing the fans back.

"I think (fan attendance) was important to both of us. It really was," Woolard said. "I know he's passionate about that, and he said, 'I want to do everything I can do to get students to the games.'

"He said that's an important piece of getting that environment back at the Sun Dome."

Guess what, folks: This man is reaching out. That's something McCullum might not have done enough. Fans couldn't confide in him, and eventually, they felt they couldn't rely on him either.

They felt he didn't reach out, and Heath is already doing that. He may not go all Bruce Pearl on you - which quite frankly can be a little too intense for most - but Heath said he knew the type of environment that can arise in the Sun Dome on a Wednesday evening.

He wants that, and apparently, he's willing to do everything to get the seats filled. He knows winning is going to do that. Woolard does, too.

It's easy to say this hire is going to define Woolard, because his others haven't been as major as this.

No offense to the other sports that have received new coaches in the Woolard era, but basketball has always been his baby.

"I loved his competitiveness," Woolard said of Heath. "The more that I've been around him, the more I love that about him."

That was an easy call, too.

A harder call is whether Arkansas screwed up. Did it give up too early?

Or did USF, blinded by its losing mess of a program, miss what Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles saw after this season?

Woolard saw something - something that felt right for the first time in a long while for men's basketball. Woolard and Heath spent more time together than Heath did with his wife at the Final Four in Atlanta. They connected. They said they did.

And Heath connected with USF.

Immediately.

Everyone saw that.

Link

[sdgukhsdgl]

He may not go all Bruce Pearl on you - which quite frankly can be a little too intense for most -

Blatantly false statement... if the uber old school conservatives of east TN can embrace Pearl, than anyone can.  

p.s. Bruce Pearl is amazing

[___ Eats It]

He may not go all Bruce Pearl on you - which quite frankly can be a little too intense for most -

Blatantly false statement... if the uber old school conservatives of east TN can embrace Pearl, than anyone can.  

p.s. Bruce Pearl is amazing

Your man crush is showing...

[SANJAY]

Hearing Coach Heath talk I see someone with energy and who is hungry to win.  This guy has something to prove.  Hope he can do it for USF.

[bulls96go]

nice to hear

[smazza]

He may not go all Bruce Pearl on you - which quite frankly can be a little too intense for most -

Blatantly false statement... if the uber old school conservatives of east TN can embrace Pearl, than anyone can.  

p.s. Bruce Pearl is amazing

TOO MANY USF FANS SHARE  bulliever'Sultra conservative  button down views and that has held usf back for decades

too intense?  it is called passion and enthusiasm

get some

[___ Eats It]

If you're "passionate and enthusiastic", Steve, I don't want to be anything like you.  I'll stick with Stan Heath's focused energy, thanks.

[Omniscientbull]

Off topic - Bruce Pearl displayed his amazing gagging abilities while choking away a large lead in this year's NCAA tourney.

[dabull80]

After listening to his press conference I see why he can be a good recruiter.  

Calm,articulate and  very open.

I am excited about our future.  This guy seems like "all class" to me.