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Posted: Thursday October 31, 2002 4:56 PM Updated: Sunday November 03, 2002 7:40 PM South Florida Bulls
The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518. Team Preview | Blue Ribbon Analysis
For all those Memphis fans who think their team suffered the most severe loss of personnel in Conference USA, South Florida coach Seth Greenberg can make a compelling argument to the contrary. It isn’t every day a team loses the first and third all-time leading scorers in its conference. But that’s exactly what happened to the Bulls when Altron Jackson and B.B. Waldon used up their eligibility. The duo finished their careers with 3,886 points, 1,507 rebounds and 396 steals between them. Jackson (2,107) is the all-time leading scorer in C-USA’s brief history and second all-time at South Florida. Waldon (1,869) finished third all-time in the conference and fourth at his school. "Obviously, when you lose two players that have scored as many points and Altron and B.B. have during a four-year period, it’s significant," Greenberg said. "But I also think that it is a great opportunity for someone else to step up and make a tremendous impact. We have players that have played against those guys every single day in practice that will emerge. "We have gotten into a comfort zone [with Waldon and Jackson]. There is going to be attrition and there is going to be turnover, but that’s what college basketball is all about. … For four years, we ran our offense through Altron and B.B. This year, we’ll run the offense through someone else."
The likely candidates to emerge as the Bulls’ primary offensive threats are 6-foot-11, 249-pound senior Will McDonald (11.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and 6-foot-1 senior point guard Reggie Kohn (9.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.9 apg). McDonald enjoyed a breakout season in 2001-02 after averaging just 2.7 points and 1.3 boards his first two years. He finished third on the team in scoring and rebounding while topping the Bulls and finishing fifth in C-USA in field-goal percentage (.554). Last season, McDonald, who runs well and has a solid low-post game, reached double figures in points 18 times and passed the 20-point mark five times, no small accomplishment on a team with Jackson and Waldon doing the bulk of the scoring. McDonald had a monster game against UCF, reaching career highs with 29 points and 13 boards. He also scored 28 against Northern Illinois and Cincinnati, 23 against the imposing front line of Memphis and 20 versus Houston. "Will McDonald is a guy that through his actions has embraced the opportunity to be a leader," Greenberg said. "He can talk to the younger players and let them know that you have to make a commitment and work hard, and when the opportunity presents itself, you have to seize the moment. "That’s exactly what he did. He worked hard in the summer, he changed his body, he made a commitment, and he seized the opportunity." McDonald got some invaluable experience over the summer while playing with the NIT All-Stars on a seven-game tour of Canada, averaging 15.7 points and 6.9 points and shooting 58 percent (49-of-84) from the field. Kohn is one of C-USA’s steadiest and toughest point guards. A year ago, he led the league in assists, was fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.79) and third in 3-point percentage (.431). All that while playing in pain. Kohn had to deal with a severe stress fracture in his left tibia all season. He walked with the aid of crutches and rode a stationary bike as the Bulls practiced, but he didn’t miss a game. "Reggie earned such a tremendous amount of respect last season playing with his injury," Greenberg said. "There are not many guys out there that can play with basically a broken leg. It was an injury that was bad enough that the doctors had him off his feet for six months after the season ended." Kohn has skill to go along with his toughness. "Reggie has a tremendous handle and the ability to get the ball to people when they are open," Greenberg said. "He sees the floor well and advances the ball extremely effectively. He shoots the ball with range, which stretches the defense and is key in order for him to play the two-man game with Will McDonald." Greenberg has no shortage of size in the frontcourt. He’s hoping that 6-foot-10 Gerrick Morris (1.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg) can make the same sort of strides McDonald did in his junior year. Morris could wind up as McDonald’s backup, but Greenberg hopes to get both players on the floor at the same time. "I think Gerrick Morris is the 'X' factor on our team," Greenberg said. "He needs to emerge as the leading power forward candidate playing opposite Will McDonald. The one thing that he can do is affect the game on the defensive end of the floor, and that’s an area that we need to improve in without a doubt." Morris, a rail-thin 208, can definitely turn back shots. As a freshman, he blocked 2.4 per game and set a school record with 11 against George Washington. Last season, he rejected 42 of his 46 shots in the first 15 games, including back-to-back eight-block games against Pittsburgh and Prairie View and five blocks against Illinois-Chicago and Florida State. Greenberg gave Morris a goal of adding 20 pounds over the summer. If he could do that, Morris might be able to be more consistent over the course of the season. Terrence Leather (1.8 ppg. 1.7 rpg), a 6-foot-9 junior, and 6-foot-8, 249-pound sophomore Brandon Brigman (1.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg) also will get a chance to join the low-post rotation. Leather, who can play either forward spot, shot .553 from the field a year ago. Brigman began to show more and more promise as the season progressed, averaging 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in the last four games, including an eight-point, four-rebound effort against Cincinnati in the C-USA Tournament. "Brandon is huge for our basketball team," Greenberg said. "However, he needs to learn to play hard and compete all the time and that he can’t take plays off. But his skill, his feel for the game and his ability to make shots is undeniable. He has great soft hands, and he has the ability to block out and rebound." Besides McDonald and Kohn, the Bulls’ third returning starter is 6-foot-6 senior Greg Brittian (5.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg), who was fifth on the team in scoring a year ago. Brittian can play either forward spot with his leaping ability and perimeter touch. The transfer from Central Florida Community College shot .406 from 3-point range (13-of-32) as a junior but just .379 from the field. "Greg is a guy that we recruited as an impact player and he needs to become that impact player this year," Greenberg said. "He needs to be more involved in the offense and needs to rebound the ball from the wing position, where we’re losing Altron's and B.B.'s rebounding." Another candidate to play a wing spot is 6-foot-5 junior Jimmy Baxter (4.1 ppg, 1.7 rpg), who is a big-time leaper. The two-sport athlete puts his 38-inch vertical jump to good use for the Bulls’ track team. At one point last year, the two-time C-USA high jump champion had the best collegiate jump in the country (7-4.5) and the sixth best in the world. In the backcourt, 6-foot-3 sophomore Marlyn Bryant (2.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg) and 5-foot-10 sophomore Brian Swift (2.8 pg, 1.0 rpg) will have to play a lot. Swift logged some time backing up Kohn last season and is a solid point who excels in transition and can shoot from beyond the 3-point arc. Bryant is yet another strong leaper and good athlete who also can shoot (.387 from 3-point range) and defend. South Florida brings in four freshmen, but two of them are coming off reconstructive knee surgery. Yusuf Baker, a 6-foot-8 forward from Maynard Evans High School in Orlando, Fla., was rated a top 100 player by several recruiting publications. The first-team all-state pick averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds as a senior, but in April, he tore the ACL in his right knee. He underwent surgery in May. Sheldon Franklin, a 6-foot-3 guard from Laurinburg (N.C.) Institute and Our Savior New American School in the Bronx, N.Y., also underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL. Last season at Laurinburg, Franklin averaged 17 points, six assists and five rebounds per game. A year earlier at Our Savior New American, Franklin averaged 14 points and six rebounds. USF also signed 6-foot-1 guard Danny Oglesby and 6-foot-5 forward Sam Barber. Barber, from Lake Worth (Fla.) High School, averaged 22.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.0 blocks a year ago. At 17 years old, he has a huge upside. Oglesby was a shooter/scorer deluxe at Hamden Hall (Conn.) Country Day School, where he finished as the all-time leading scorer with 3,049 points. He shoots with range and can also get to the rim in a hurry with a 43-inch vertical leap. South Florida lost a ton of firepower with the departure of Jackson and Waldon. But Greenberg believes he has several candidates to step forward and fill the void. The Bulls have good size in the frontcourt, including All-C-USA candidate McDonald, and tremendous athleticism and versatility in the backcourt. If Kohn, the valued point guard, can stay healthy, McDonald continues to improve and forwards Morris and Brigman elevate their games, it’s highly likely the Bulls will enjoy a sixth straight season of .500 or better under Greenberg.
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