TAMPA — The players-only meeting, that time-worn measure employed by teams in turmoil or a major rut, already has been held in the USF basketball locker room.
Redshirt sophomore Troy Holston called it recently, a proactive gesture for a kid whose club has totaled 17 wins the past two years and already has dealt with a turbulent offseason. No sense waiting for another December slump or January swoon, either of which could be perilous for his coach.
Holston decided to get it out of the way in April. His message?
"We've got to buckle up, and we've got to make sure everything's done properly, and we've got to try and take it to another level because we can't have another bad season," said Holston, an Oldsmar Christian alumnus in the final stage of rehabbing a torn ACL that sidelined him all of last season.
"That's not an option, I told 'em that. I told 'em if they weren't about putting in the hard work, aside from what we're doing with the team — going hard in the weight room or just even acting right off the court with class — you might as well not even be a part of this team."
Anyone who wished to respond was afforded the chance, and several did. By its adjournment, Holston and sophomore point guard Jahmal McMurray indicated the team was unified in terms of its goals and approach.
"I feel like we're more together," McMurray said.
Of course, chemistry minus depth or talent likely won't even get you on the NIT bubble. As cohesive as the Bulls might seem these days, their kinship must be accompanied by some handlers, shooters and rebounders.
At last, the Bulls appear to possess all of those.
Even with the recent dismissals of point guard Roddy Peters and veteran power forward Chris Perry (for what the university said were repeated school-policy violations), the Bulls appear equipped to make coach Orlando Antigua's third season at USF as transformative as Willie Taggart's in football. Antigua, 17-48 in his first two seasons, understands it must be.
"Yes, absolutely," Antigua said from his office Tuesday, when asked if he must get it done in Year 3.
"It's been the same attitude that we've had to try to get things going and establish the foundation of what we're going to build our reputation on. And unfortunately, we've had some issues that we've had to deal with that come up, with injuries and all the other things we've had to deal with in the past two years."
USF was besieged by misfortune even before the 2015-16 preseason began, when Holston tore his ACL during a defensive drill in summer individual work. Then it got really grim. At one point in American Athletic Conference play, Antigua had only six available scholarship players.
Freshman Tulio Da Silva was an academic nonqualifier. Peters fractured his foot in mid December and never returned. Perry was suspended six games. Two transfers, guard Geno Thorpe (Penn State) and 6-foot-10 forward Isaiah Manderson (Texas Tech), had to sit out per NCAA guidelines (Manderson can't play until after the fall semester).
Yet while the program regressed on the court, Antigua's recruiting chops never did. Problem is, fans have only seen glimpses of the whole figurative harvest.
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Explore all your optionsMcMurray, the only freshman not to miss significant time last season, blossomed so well (15.2 ppg) that he put his name in the NBA draft, though he plans to withdraw it before May 25 and remain at USF. The cornerstone of the incoming three-player class, 6-8 Oldsmar Christian alumnus Troy Baxter, is ranked 90th in the ESPN 100.
Da Silva, meantime, was "probably the most athletic guy that we had on the team" in practices, Antigua said.
That doesn't even include the transfers courted by Antigua. Thorpe is widely believed to be the Bulls' best perimeter defender, and Manderson is "very, very skilled," Antigua said. "The times he was able to practice with us, he was probably our most skilled guy on the court this past year."
Barring another hard-luck epidemic, USF conceivably could go 10 or 11 players deep next winter. Amid all the upheaval, the Bulls finally may be reaching stability.
Could bracketology be far behind?
"I think in these first few transitional years, there's some (adversity) that happens," Antigua said. "It's natural, it's normal, and you want players that want to be here that are going to represent the program in the way we want it to represent, and that are fully committed to doing the things that we're asking them to do."
Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls.