MBB Begins New Era Under Heath

[Brad]

Courtesy USF

MBB Begins New Era Under Heath

TAMPA, Fla. -- With the arrival of first-year head coach Stan Heath, the 2007-08 season will be the start of a new era for the University of South Florida men’s basketball program.

Heath will lead USF into its third BIG EAST season after successful coaching stints at Arkansas and Kent State that included three NCAA Tournament appearances, a 30-win season and an Elite 8 finish.

Practice opens Oct. 12 with the season opener set for Nov. 9 vs. Cleveland State at the Sun Dome.

“This is a great basketball league with outstanding coaching,” said Heath. “We’re the new kids on the block and we’re trying to climb that ladder. We’re going to put in the work just like everybody and we’re going to fight for a championship. We probably have a long way to go to get there, but we’re still going to hunt every time we get that opportunity to step out on the court.

“We definitely want to make the BIG EAST tournament, and we definitely have aspirations to fight our way into some kind of postseason play. We have to do a good job in the non-conference portion of our season and then carry momentum into our conference play. We know right now we’re not on the radar screen in a lot of people’s minds, but we feel, like every year, that there’s an opportunity for a surprise team to open some doors and we want to fight our way into that kind of situation.”

Leading the way for Heath and his staff will be senior center Kentrell Gransberry. Gransberry, a 6-9, 270-pound force in the middle, is the top returning rebounder in the country. The Baton Rouge, La., native pulled down 11.4 boards per game last season, tops in the BIG EAST and third-best in the nation, averaged 15.6 points per game and shot 57.7 percent from the field in his first season in Division I.

Gransberry, an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection, saved one of his best performances for last, posting career highs of 26 points and 23 rebounds at DePaul in the final game of the season. The 23 rebounds were tied for second-most in the country in a single game last year and matched the second-best single-game total in BIG EAST history. It was the fourth-best single-game rebound performance in USF history.

He also became just the fifth player in USF history and ninth in BIG EAST annals to notch a 20-point, 20-rebound game.

“We’re very excited about having a big man the caliber of Kentrell Gransberry,” said Heath. “On any given night he's capable of posting a double-double. Obviously teams are going to give him a lot of attention so it’s important for our other guys to contribute in different ways.”

The big man will have some help as the Bulls return six of their top eight scorers, seven letterwinners and three starters in Gransberry and sophomore guards Chris Howard and Solomon Bozeman.

Howard has battled a knee injury for the past year and a half and missed the first 16 games of last season, but the point guard returned to start 13 of the final 14 games. He wasted little time making his presence felt, averaging 5.86 assists per game in BIG EAST play, second-best in the conference. Bozeman appeared in all 30 games, starting 24, and was fourth on the team in scoring at 9.6 points per game. He was nearly automatic at the free throw line, hitting 88 percent from the charity stripe, second in the BIG EAST and 16th in the country. Bozeman also contributed 3.47 assists per game.

Junior guard Jesus Verdejo became eligible in mid-December after transferring from Arizona and played in 22 games (14 starts), including eight starts in conference play. He averaged 7.0 points per game. Also returning are junior forward Aris Williams (10 games played, two starts), sophomore G/F Amu Saaka (29gp/2gs) and senior G Eddie Lovett (26gp). Williams had right knee surgery in January and missed the entire conference portion of the schedule.

The Bulls welcome six newcomers, many who will be expected to contribute immediately. The newcomers consist of two true freshmen (G Dominique Jones and F Orane Chin), a redshirt freshman (G Dante Curry), a redshirt freshman transfer (G Aaron Holmes), a junior transfer (F Mobolaji Ajayi) and a senior transfer (C Mohamed Esseghir). Curry missed last season due to an Achilles tendon injury while Curry transferred from Florida State and will be eligible by mid-December. The 6-9 Ajayi and the 6-10 Esseghir will both add much needed depth along the front line.

Heath has also hired a top-notch coaching staff that includes Dan Hipsher, Reggie Hanson, Byron Samuels, Tommy Tonelli and Jamie Angeli. Molding everything together is the task that Heath and his staff have ahead of them.

“Right now we’re instilling in our team things that we feel are important,” said Heath. “Things what I would call our signature, our stamp. We want to be a team that runs the floor both offensively and defensively. We want to be a team that defends very aggressively. We also want to be a team that rebounds the ball at both ends in order to start our running game.

“And then the signature part, that I think all good teams have, are very strong fundamentals. Being able to pass, shoot and make free throws. We want to be a team that plays very well together out there on the court.”

Team chemistry is something that has been evident since Heath arrived on campus.

“I’ve been pleasantly pleased with the character of the players on our team,” said Heath. “I really think that there’s a good foundation in place with the guys returning. They take care of business. They’re good in school. They’re not in any kind of off-court trouble. They’ve done a great job of working together. We’re still in our process of making it stronger, but I do think the basics are in place and we just want to build on that.”

Heath understands the challenge ahead and feels the BIG EAST and Tampa are the perfect place to do it.

“I couldn’t be more excited about being in a place like Tampa,” said Heath. “I think it has so much opportunity, a great wealth of resources and talent in the state. There’s a buzz about sports in this town and I really believe that fans here get excited about teams that win. We certainly feel that we have a great university to sell.

“We just feel like being in the BIG EAST opens a lot of doors. We feel like we can not only recruit our state hard, but we can reach out to other areas and there’s a strong interest from kids that would not only love to come to Tampa, but to play in the BIG EAST as well.”

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Anyone else ready to get this program on the comeback trail?

[Mag Pie]

Was so excited to see the team at the WV game.  So ready for bball season too.

On another note:  Buckley is playing in the Ukraine.  Received a facebook message from him letting me know that he knows USF football is doing well.  Seems like Buck is doing ok too.

[deters]

I wish the BB team good luck this season and get that BE title!

[Herman_Momart]

Is it weird that I am just as excited for basketball season as i am for football season?  I have problems.  Big East!  maybe some playing in march this year? 

Football success can only help the basketball team out as well. 

Wait until we get good in bball.  Hop on the bandwagon now boys and girls!!

[mgoda]

I'm ready. Lets pack the sundome

[BigShoop]

Cant wait for the Sundome to look similar to what RayJay looked like the other night.....

[Guest USF08]

I'll be at all the games... as long as one of my required courses isnt on that night. Hey, one more semester at that point, I'm gonna have to make the tough decisions!

[gobulls83]

I was just thinking Monday how I have been completely distracted from the lead up to Stan Heath's first season by the football team's incredible rise. It's such a great time for USF athletics in general. I don't know about a No. 6 ranking, but I definitely think Stan Heath will bring a noticeable improvement this year. I'm so excited!

[JoeB]

In Stan We Trust!!!

[smazza]

it will be alot easier to recruit at usf in comingyears