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Bulls out to show 6-3 Big East record no 'fluke'
TAMPA -- One of the perks of the Big East's 18-game conference schedule is that as USF finds itself a surprising 6-3 at the halfway point, coach Stan Heath has ample golf metaphors at his disposal.
"We've got the back nine of this league, and it is a little bit harder than the front nine we've had," Heath said Thursday as his team prepares for what would have to be considered a par-5, facing No. 14 Georgetown on the road at 11 on Saturday morning. "We've done more than everyone expected us to do, but there's still a lot more that we need to do."
USF (13-9) will be challenged to match the 6-3 record in the second half of the season, if only because the competition will be tougher. USF's first nine opponents are a combined 37-50 in conference play; the next nine are 42-46, including a difficult four-game final stretch: Syracuse, Cincinnati, Louisville and West Virginia. The Bulls know many fans and pundits are skeptical when they see their record. ... Read more
Bulls lose WRs coach McGeoghan to Dolphins job
Just a day after national signing day, USF coach Skip Holtz has lost one of his top young recruiters, as receivers coach Phil McGeoghan has accepted a job with the Miami Dolphins as the team's assistant receivers coach.
Just Wednesday, McGeoghan, 32, was honored as one of the nation's top 50 recruiters by 247sports.com, having been the primary recruiter for USF on four-star tight end Sean Price of North Marion and three-star recruits Chris Bivins and Tashon Whitehurst from Gainesville. Holtz was contacted by the Dolphins on Wednesday night and McGeoghan flew to Miami on Thursday morning for an interview. Players were told of his decision to accept the job on Thursday night.
McGeoghan is leaving behind one of the Bulls' deepest and most talented positions, though one that has been severely limited by injuries over the last two seasons. USF saw three of its top receivers entering the season -- Sterling Griffin, A.J. Love and Terrence Mitchell -- miss significant parts of the year with injuries. It should be much improved in 2012, with the addition of Florida transfer Chris Dunkley and true freshman D'vario Montgomery of Winter Park. ... Read more
Links! Signing day notes and, yes, Quavon Taylor
Remember links posts on the blog? Used to do them all the time. Today's a good day to bring it back, with lots of notes with ties to USF, some more direct than others. We'll start with a few non-recruiting ones ...
-- Very sad to hear that former Saint Louis basketball coach Charlie Spoonhour had died Wednesday at 72. Spoonhour remained close friends with USF athletic director Doug Woolard from their days at SLU together. Here's a great remembrance from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and a story where Charlie talked about Woolard back in 2007 (back when it was the old St. Petersburg Times.) ... Read more
Recruiting notes: McGeoghan, Fitch draw praise
For a day that had few actual surprises, there's a ton of notes to share about USF's 2012 recruiting class -- today's the first chance we have to talk to Skip Holtz and his staff about the players and exactly how they fit in. It might not all come today, and we'll get a post up that's just coaches talking about the 11 new additions today, since we addressed the nine midyear guys last month.
-- Holtz praised his whole staff for their recruiting efforts, but assistants Phil McGeoghan and Todd Fitch are picking up a lot of attention. McGeoghan was tabbed by 247sports.com as one of the nation's top 50 recruiters after serving as primary recruiter for three of USF's top signees in tight end Sean Price, cornerback Chris Bivins and linebacker Tashon Whitehurst. Fitch, who recruits the Orlando area for USF, helped the Bulls land five players from there, including top receiver D'vario Montgomery and athletic defensive end Guito Ervilus. ... Read more
Bulls land LB Whitehurst, OL Davis as signees
(UPDATE: Trying to get more signing-day pics from the newest Bulls -- here's one from running back Mike Pierre. And here's one of Armwood safety Jarvis McCall from the Times' Laura Keeley.)
USF has gone 2-for-2 in its signing-day decisions, as the Bulls have formally announced the additions of Gainesville linebacker Tashon Whitehurst and Oakland Park offensive lineman Kam Davis.
The Bulls beat out Big East rivals for both recruits -- Davis was deciding between the Bulls and West Virginia, while Whitehurst, a Syracuse commitment, had visited Rutgers just 10 days ago. The two additions put USF at 10 confirmed signings, and the Times' Laura Keeley confirmed at 11:45 a.m. that Armwood safety Jarvis McCall has signed with the Bulls, potentially completing the 2012 class. Counting the nine newcomers who started classes last month, USF now has 20 new scholarship players on board. ... Read more
Signing day: Price, Montgomery official for USF
10:15 update: USF now has eight signees confirmed -- add RB Mike Pierre and DE Daniel Perry to those we listed earlier. All that's left is Armwood safety Jarvis McCall among USF's commitments, and he's due to sign at 11 a.m. ... One player USF had courted late, Orlando Lake Brantley running back Tion Green, will stick with his commitment to Cincinnati, coach George Clayton said this morning. Green is likely headed to a junior college due to academics, however, so don't be surprised if USF is on him again when he comes back around in 2014.
It's only 9:30, but national signing day is well underway -- we have six confirmed USF signings as expected by Bulls commitments, including a pair of four-star recruits in Orlando receiver D'vario Montgomery and Citra North Marion tight end Sean Price.
USF successfully held off late charges by national powers -- LSU was working on Montgomery and Price was being courted by Oklahoma. Four others have made their commitments official in Georgia offensive lineman Kofi Amichia, Orlando defensive end Guito Ervilus, Pensacola cornerback Jalen Spencer and Plant City receiver LaMarlin Wiggins. ... Read more
Palmetto QB Miller accepts USF walk-on offer
The night before national signing day, USF has picked up a new quarterback for 2012, as Palmetto's Trenton Miller said he has accepted the Bulls' offer to join the team as a preferred walk-on.
Miller said he was accepted into school at USF on Tuesday and has been told he has a spot on the Bulls' 105-man roster, allowing him to work with the team from the start of preseason practice. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound quarterback, who transferred to Palmetto from New York before his senior year, had Division I-AA scholarship offers from Monmouth, Wagner and Sacred Heart.
USF is not expected to sign a scholarship quarterback in the 2012 class, having lost commitment Tyler Cameron to Wake Forest. The Bulls return starter B.J. Daniels as a senior in 2012, with junior Bobby Eveld and redshirt freshman Matt Floyd as backups. The Bulls also have walk-on Baylin Trujillo, who redshirted as a freshman last fall. USF has offered a preferred walk-on spot to Jesuit's Tommy Eveld, but he is waiting until after signing day to decide between the Bulls and offers from smaller schools. ... Read more
Bulls hope for strong finish on signing day
TAMPA -- It has been a quiet final month of recruiting for USF, but if Wednesday pans out as expected -- beating out Big East rivals for a pair of in-state prospects -- the Bulls will have closed out their 2012 class as a relative success.
Skip Holtz hopes to hear good news today from Gainesville linebacker Tashon Whitehurst, who had been a Syracuse commitment, and Oakland Park offensive lineman Kam Davis, who is deciding between USF and West Virginia. Both are rated as three-star recruits by Rivals.com, which has USF with the fifth-best class in the Big East. Holtz will have made it through January without losing a commitment, despite defensive coordinator Mark Snyder leaving for Texas A&M.
USF has held onto a pair of four-star recruits in Orlando receiver D'Vario Montgomery and Citra North Marion tight end Sean Price -- Montgomery was targeted by LSU in the past week, with Price drawing strong interest from Oklahoma and Georgia. And Holtz brought in eight newcomers in January (nine with grayshirt WR Alex Mut), giving them an early start to help fill the holes on a team that returns a strong nucleus from last fall's 5-7 team. ... Read more
USF close to deal for Sun Dome management
As a $35 million renovation continues on the Sun Dome, USF's athletic department is finalizing an agreement that would turn over management of the basketball arena to Global Spectrum, a national firm that already manages several arenas around the state.
No contract has been signed, but Global Spectrum is already at work with the Sun Dome -- USF will pay the company a management fee, but the plan is that Global Spectrum can increase the revenue created by the arena, whose renovations should be completed by May. Global Spectrum, based in Philadelphia, already manages UCF Arena in Orlando and the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami. ... Read more
USF: Most improved league record in Power 6
We did this same research two years ago when USF went from 4-14 in the Big East to 9-9, and the Bulls are taking a huge stride forward in conference play again this season, going from a 3-15 Big East mark to their current 6-3 record.
Checking the standings from last year and this, USF has the biggest improvement in confererence record of any team in the "Power 6" conferences -- ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac 12 and SEC -- with already three more league wins than they finished with in 2010-11. The only other teams in those conferences to already improve by more than one win are Iowa State and Indiana, which now have five wins after just three last season.
The only other Big East team with more conference wins now than they finished with last season is DePaul, which had one last season and now has two. ... Read more
About the blog
South Florida Bulls fans, you've come to the right place: the USF Sports Bulletin blog. Tampa Bay Times sportswriter Greg Auman, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin, and we invite your participation in the comments area.
Follow the Times' coverage of USF athletics on Twitter.
E-mail Greg Auman:auman@tampabay.com.
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