TAMPA -- According to their roster on UofLSports.com, the Cardinals have a whooping 20 players from the state of Florida.
The teams have a laundry list of players connected from their high school or junior college days. To be exact, 11 UofL student-athletes have direct playing connections with 15 USF players:
• UofL junior LB Brandon Heath attended the same high school, Palm Beach Lakes, as USF junior DE
David Bedford.
• UofL freshman Damien Copeland attend the same high school, Palmetto in Bradenton, as USF junior defensive back
Mistral Raymond.
• Four BIG EAST teams - West Virginia, Rutgers, USF and UofL - have players from Glades Central high school, where
Jessie Hester Sr. is the head coach. UofL sophomore DB Karldell Dunning attended Glades Central, as did USF's
Jessie Hester and
Aston Samuels.
• UofL junior running back Bilal Powell and freshman safety Lee Champ are Lakeland natives that attended Lake Gibson HS, the same school that produced USF players
Matt Grothe and
Josh Garvin.
• USF true freshman
Julius Forte and UofL freshman LB George Durant both attended Boca Ciega high school.
• UofL sophomore OL Ryan Kessling attended Tallahassee's Chiles high school, which also produced USF redshirt-freshman wide receiver
Daniel Bryant.
• UofL senior LB Chris Campa and senior DT Tyller Jessen both attended Butler Community College, the same juco that produced USF punt return specialist
Faron Hornes.
• UofL junior LB Antwon Canady attended Hutchinson Community College and was a teammate of USF junior offensive lineman
Jamar Bass.
• UofL sophomore OL Hector Hernandez is from the same hometown, Naples, as Bulls
Matt Milk and Mo Plancher.
• Among those with connections to USF are offensive lineman Kamran Joyer, who signed with USF in February 2009 but eventually landed at Louisville.
