Laquincy Rideau nearing USF’s steals record

Only 19 games into his USF career, redshirt junior Laquincy Rideau already has drawn comparisons to the best point guards in program history.

Soon, he’ll have a statistical argument to bolster his fledgling case.

Rideau enters Saturday’s game at East Carolina (4 p.m., ESPNU) with 62 steals. With seven more, he breaks the Bulls' 45-year-old single-season record held by Hillsborough High alumnus Leon Smith.

Conceivably, the record could fall Saturday. Rideau, a Gardner-Webb transfer who sat out last season, had 10 steals two weeks ago in the Bulls' 82-80 overtime loss at Temple, when he notched an unconventional triple-double (18 points, 10 assists, 10 steals).

“I think the world of Quince,” Bulls coach Brian Gregory said. “A tough kid. One of the few guys, I think, in college basketball that bumped up a couple levels and is actually better, and that is because of the work he put in last year.”

If the Bulls (13-6, 3-4) can win an American Athletic Conference tournament game and reach postseason play, Rideau also appears within striking distance of Charlie Bradley’s single-season mark for minutes played (1,141). Through 19 games, he has logged 602 minutes; USF has a minimum 12 games remaining.