Basketball recruiting, at this point, is much like the football coaching search, in that the easiest thing to do is offer up names of interest and trim the list down as things progress.

Along those lines, there's another big man that USF coach Stan Heath is courting: Aleksandar "Sandi" Marcius, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound center at La Lumiere School in LaPorte, Ind., who came to the United States from Croatia in August.

Marcius is averaging about 15 points and 17 rebounds a game, according to La Lumiere coach Delray Brooks, who was an assistant at Kentucky under Rick Pitino from 1992-97 and knows USF assistant Reggie Hanson well. Hanson graduated right before Brooks came to Kentucky but remained close to the program.

Brooks said that Heath has been to see Marcius play in person, along with Hanson and a second Bulls assistant coach. USF has offered him a scholarship, Brooks said, though Marcius won't begin the process of narrowing down his options until after La Lumiere's season ends Saturday night.

"They've shown considerable interest," said Brooks, who listed N.C. State, Purdue, Boston College and SMU as other schools that have shown the most interest. Providence is the only other Big East school that has inquired about Marcius, who has only played basketball about four years.

"He's 6-10, very athletic, rebounds extremely well, blocks shots well and hits his free throws well," Brooks said.

I got confirmation Thursday that shooting guard Mike Burwell of South Kent Prep in Connecticut is visiting USF this weekend. He'll get in Saturday night and will be attendance for Sunday's home game against West Virginia.