TAMPA - The University of South Florida men's basketball team announced its team award winners for the 2010-11 campaign at the program's annual banquet, hosted by the Embassy Suites Tampa on the USF campus Monday evening.
Junior Augustus Gilchrist was named the John & Cynthia Ruzic Most Valuable Player while senior forward Jarrid Famous was honored with the Academic Achievement Award.
Jim Lighthall, the Voice of the Bulls basketball team, opened the evening with highlights of the 2010-11 season and individual accomplishments of the Bulls.
Doug Woolard, Director of Athletics, then took the microphone to recognize the academic accomplishments of the team, honor the donors of USF's men's basketball scholarship program and speak about Coach Stan Heath.
"He's a tireless worker and he is getting players who will be successful at this level," Woolard said about Heath. "He cares about his players and he cares about the University."
After thanking staff and personnel, Heath highlighted the accomplishments of the team, including battling a pair of NCAA Final Four teams (VCU and UConn) to overtime this season and overcoming a 16-point first-half deficit to upset No. 10-seed Villanova in the First Round of the BIG EAST Basketball Championship. He then previewed the future with updates on the Muma Basketball Practice Center and introduced the 2010-11 men's basketball players.
"Every night this year we brought it," said Coach Heath. "We laced them up and we competed. We didn't complain and that will allow us to take the next step. We did some good things this season and we have the ingredients necessary to be a good team next year."
Heath then honored senior Jarrid Famous as the lone senior on the team, saying, in part, "He means a lot to me. He is one of my favorite guys. He took a chance on us and we appreciate his hard work the past two years."
Famous then took a moment to give thanks and reminisce on his time at USF.
"I grew as a person here at USF," said Famous. "I'm about to earn a college degree, one of the first males in my family to do so. I'm sad I have to go, but I'm glad I'm a Bull."
The following individual awards were handed out by assistant coaches and staff:
*Assistant Athletic Director of Academics & Student-Athlete Development Jodie Heinicka bestowed the Academic Achievement Award to senior Jarrid Famous, who will graduate in May with a degree in interdisciplinary social sciences. In two seasons at USF, Famous posted 10 double-doubles and scored more than 10 points in 30 of his 63 career games. The 6-foot 11-inch forward transferred to USF from West Chester Community College, joining the Bulls for his final two seasons. In his junior campaign, he averaged 10.4 points and 7.5 rebounds in 32 games. Famous set his career scoring high this season with 22 points at Cleveland State in December and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with 15 points against Providence in January. For his two-year career, Famous pulled down 409 rebounds and scored 605 points, while shooting 52 percent from the field. A native of the Bronx, New York, Famous finished the season ranked 15th in field goal percentage (47.8 percent) and 15th in offensive rebounds (2.35 per game) in the BIG EAST Conference. He recorded double-digit rebounds in 13 games and had back-to-back double-doubles in both his junior and senior campaigns.
* Director of Operations Andy Hipsher honored Jarrid Famous and Shaun Noriega with the Free Throw Award, recognizing the player who statistically averaged the highest free throw percentage with a minimum of 40 attempts. Famous hit 75 of his 99 attempts this season, producing a 75.8 percent clip while Noriega hit 80.5 percent of his charity shots, hitting 33-of-41. Famous connected on a season-high nine free throws against Auburn and was perfect from the line in 11 games. Noriega hit a season-high seven-straight free throws from Feb. 26-March 8, hitting his last shot against DePaul, going 5-of-5 at St. John's and hitting his first vs. Villanova in the tournament.
* Assistant Coach Jeremy Cox presented Toarlyn Fitzpatrick with the Bull Pride Award, which recognizes the player who best exemplifies the responsibilities associated with being a student-athlete at USF, both on and off the court. Fitzpatrick has played in every game in his two-season career at USF. He averaged 4.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in just 14.2 minutes per game this year. The Tampa native hit 42.2 percent (49-116) from the field and 73.3 percent (33-45) at the line in his sophomore campaign.
* Assistant Coach Reggie Hanson honored Ron Anderson Jr. with the Chairman of the Boards Award. Anderson Jr. led the team this season with his 6.4 rebounds per game and eight double-digit rebound nights. His breaking out game was against Liberty, the native of Upper Marlboro, Md., earned his first start and grabbed 15 rebounds to tie the school record (since the 2002-03 season) for most rebounds in a half. He finished the night with 17 boards, six points, three assists and a steal in 27 minutes. Anderson Jr. out rebounded the entire Liberty Flames team during the first half, 15 to 12 and his 15 first-half rebounds are more than any Bull pulled down in an entire game during 2009-10.
* Assistant coach Eric Skeeters presented sophomore guard Shaun Noriega with the Most Improved Player Award. Noriega improved his numbers tremendously from his freshman to sophomore season, and even more from the beginning of the 2010-11 campaign to the end of the year. As a rookie, the native of North Port, Fla., scored only 17 points in 20 games played, but started his sophomore season with 15 points in the November game against St. Francis. After hovering around 4.5 points per game for most of the season, Noriega averaged 12.5 points per night in the last eight games, hitting 43.5 percent (30-69) from the field and 45.6 percent (26-57) from long range.
* Skeeters also honored junior point guard Anthony Crater with the Assists Award. Crater, from Flint, Mich., tallied five or more assists in 14 games this season and posted a career-high 10 assists against Louisville. He ended the season 71st in the NCAA in assists per game, dishing out 4.6 per night and was fourth in the BIG EAST Conference in assists per game. Against Villanova in the BIG EAST Championships, Crater grabbed a steal and put in a layup with 24 seconds left in the game, then drove to the cup and hit the game-winning layup. He scored six points in the game and had seven assists.
* Coach Heath presented Hugh Robertson with the Defensive Player of the Year Award. Robertson, a junior from Macon, Ga., was dealt the opponent's best offensive player throughout the season. He anchored a defense that held eight of the league's top 10 individual scoring opponents below their season average during the regular season, as well as holding eight of USF's last 11 regular-season opponents under their scoring average.
* Coach Heath honored Augustus Gilchrist with the John & Cynthia Ruzic USF Most Valuable Player Award. Gilchrist led the Bulls in scoring this season, averaging 13.4 points, hitting 44.9 percent from the field and 70.2 percent at the line. He was also second in rebounds, grabbing 6.0 per night. He ended the season averaging 19.5 points in his last six games, scoring 16 in each of his last three outings. In those six games, he shot 53.9 percent (41-76) from the field and 82.9 percent at the line (34-41). Gilchrist started the hot streak with 22 points against Georgetown, then at DePaul, the forward from Clinton, Md., scored a career-high 32 points, hitting 13-of-15 at the free throw line, and grabbing eight rebounds. In those two games, he hit 63.3 percent (19-30) from the field and was 15-18 (83.3 percent) at the line. Gilchrist led the team with 14.5 points and 6.2 rebounds in 18 league games, 11 of which were against nationally ranked squads.
Five players have earned academic scholarships or endowments, including Augustus Gilchrist (Paul and Anne Givens Endowed Scholarship and the Roslyn and Richard Wittcoff Endowed Scholarship), Toarlyn Fitzpatrick (Dow Sherwood Endowed Scholarship), Ron Anderson Jr. (Kenneth Wittcoff Endowed Memorial Scholarship), Jarrid Famous (Wittcoff Endowed Scholarship) and Shaun Noriega (Bill Jones Endowed Memorial Scholarship).
The endowments the Wittcoffs provide permanently represent the University's competitive spirit and commitment to excellence in NCAA Division I basketball.
The Bill Jones Scholarship Award is given to the player that best exemplifies the qualities of Bill Jones, a donor and a season ticket holder for men's basketball who lost a courageous battle with cancer, which included leadership, determination, a fighting spirit, courage and passion.
2010-11 USF Men's Basketball Award Winners
John & Cynthia Ruzic Most Valuable Player - Augustus Gilchrist
Defensive Player of the Year - Hugh Robertson
Chairman of the Boards - Ron Anderson Jr.
Most Improved Player - Shaun Noriega
Most Assists - Anthony Crater
Free Throw Award - Jarrid Famous and Shaun Noriega
Academic Achievement Award - Jarrid Famous
Bull Pride Award - Toarlyn Fitzpatrick
Roslyn and Richard Wittcoff Scholarship in Basketball - Augustus Gilchrist
Wittcoff Family Endowed Basketball Scholarship - Jarrid Famous
Paul and Anne Givens Endowed Basketball Scholarship - Augustus Gilchrist
Dow Sherwood Endowed Basketball Scholarship - Toarlyn Fitzpatrick
Bill Jones Memorial Scholarship Endowment - Shaun Noriega
Kenneth Wittcoff Endowed Memorial Scholarship - Ron Anderson Jr.
