Caught up with former USF quarterback Matt Grothe during halftime of Saturday night's USF-Providence basketball game, which he watched from the second level with his dad and brother Chris. Grothe has been pleased by his progress in recovering from the knee injury that ended his season in September and is optimistic he can do everything at USF's Pro Day for NFL scouts on March 30.

Grothe, as much as anyone at USF, benefits from the school's decision to bump its Pro Day from March 5 to March 30, giving him more time to gain confidence in his health before the big workout.

"It gives me over three weeks to prepare that much more. It's definitely a good thing. I'll be over in Orlando for a couple more weeks now, with more time to get back to 100 percent," Grothe said. "My leg has shown a big improvement over the past month. This past week, I did everything, lateral-wise. I'm running full speed, with some pretty good times on the shorter shuttles."

Grothe is still hopeful of getting a shot in the NFL, but also has a workout scheduled for March 20 with the Canadian Football League's Hamilton Tiger-Cats, where former USF receiver Amarri Jackson recently signed.

Another sign that Grothe's getting back to his old self: He golfed Saturday for the first time since his injury, and is excited that next month he'll be taking part in actor Bill Murray's Caddy Shack Celebrity Golf Tournament in Jacksonville on March 25-26.

"I don't really know how it happened, but my agent did it," Grothe said. "He said 'Do you want to golf with him?' I said, 'Sure.'"

We'll have more on Grothe in the next month as he prepares for Pro Day and a future in pro football. ...