USF Athletics

Bulls Make More Strides in 2019-20 With a Bright Future Ahead

March 24, 2020

By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, MARCH 24, 2020 – Adversity didn't stop shorthanded USF's men's basketball from pushing forward in head coach Brian Gregory's third season with the program.

Winning three of its final four regular-season games, USF was ready to make more noise in the postseason before the Bulls' 2019-20 campaign came to a halt due to the precautionary cancelation of the American Athletic Conference tournament.

"It's hard to evaluate the season without a little bit of what could have been," Gregory said. "At the same time, that doesn't do justice or give credit to what our guys were able to fight through this year while still putting some very important foundational pieces together for us to continue to build the program."

Dealt with a depleted roster that didn't include star forward Alexis Yetna, USF (14-17) had to make changes on the fly and still found a way to extend its double-digit win streak to three seasons, even with an increased strength of schedule. Before Gregory's arrival, the program hadn't reached 10 victories in any season since 2013-14.

"This year, when you could have taken some steps back, we've taken some steps forward and I thought that was big," Gregory said.

Gregory's Bulls also achieved notable league success the program hadn't seen since the Conference USA days. Thanks to Laquincy Rideau's buzzer-beating three on Senior Night, USF finished with at least seven conference wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2001-02 and 2002-03.

Posting seven AAC victories this season, and staying close in several others, was admirable considering the league as a whole was more competitive and deeper than past years. Inside the Yuengling Center, the Bulls beat UConn, rival UCF, East Carolina and SMU to finish with a winning record at home for the second straight season, a feat last accomplished by the Bulls in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

"We are starting to establish a secure home-court advantage," Gregory said. "The crowds are into it. The crowds are bigger."

USF's leading man is right.

An average of 3,754 fans watched the Bulls hoop it up at home this season. That average has gone up throughout Gregory's USF tenure and it's more than 1,100 fans per game than the 2016-17 season prior to his arrival.

"You take a look at the program and where it was three years ago and where it is right now. We're in a completely different situation," Gregory said. "It's a credit to my staff. It's a credit to the guys that we brought in. In a three-year span, we were able to change the perception of the program, change the attitude towards the program, not only recruiting-wise but with the support and different things like that."

Key Returning Bulls Showed Versatility
David Collins and Justin Brown were two key players who took on different roles to make sure the Bulls stayed productive after their preseason lineup plan blew up because of setbacks.

Normally a shooting guard, Collins was forced to play more of a small forward role and led the team in scoring for the second straight season with 13.7 points per game. The junior from Youngstown, Ohio, now ranks ninth in USF history with 1,266 career points and 68 double-digit scoring games. Aggressive Collins is the program's all-time leader in free throw attempts (623) and also ranks in the top 10 in free throws made (428, third) and steals (157, seventh).

"I'm expecting a big, big senior year out of him," Gregory said.

Switching from the wing to mainly a power forward out of necessity, Brown became arguably the league's most improved player during his career year. The junior from Atlanta continued to lead the team in three-pointers (55), ranked second in rebounding (5.4 per game) and third in scoring (9.1 ppg). 

"You just kept seeing him grow and grow and grow into that new challenge and that new role that he faced," Gregory said. "He's gotten to the point where it's not just about him making shots for him to be impactful."

Here's to the Seniors
Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Antun Maricevic (Zagreb, Croatia) are two names Gregory will always remember. 

"It's hard to separate the steps we've made over the last two years without giving a ton of credit to those two guys, each in their own different way," Gregory said.

Rideau, the hero of USF's final game of 2019-20, averaged 12.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.5 steals per game this season. The 2019 AAC Defensive Player of the Year ranks fifth on the Bulls' career steals chart (178) and dished out at least 130 assists in each of his two seasons at USF.

"We talked about the competitiveness and the fight we want to have in this program. Nobody exemplified it more than Laquincy did," Gregory said. "There were times where he just willed us to victory. That impact is gonna be felt for a long, long time."

Always a selfless player, Maricevic's senior season was filled with adjustments and less time on the court. Still, the forward averaged more points (4.1) and rebounds (2.9) than in his USF debut. Maricevic went out with a bang, registering two double-digit scoring outings in his final three games.

"Antun was a guy who just embodied everything we want from our student-athletes," Gregory said. "Because of the adversity we faced this year, his role was dramatically changed from what we thought it would be. He had to sacrifice some stuff in order to really help us in that situation and really did a great job of that."

Yetna Update
Gregory provided a very positive progress report on dynamic forward Alexis Yetna, who missed the entire season with a knee injury.

"He has started to do some light on-court stuff and some light jogging, Gregory said. "He's really doing well. His strength is tremendous right now."

That's very exciting news for Bulls fans who enjoyed watching the 2019 AAC Freshman of the Year set the conference record with 346 rebounds (9.6 rpg), rank 23^rd in the NCAA with 23 double-doubles and average 12.3 points per game two seasons ago.

Gregory also is pumped up about the return of the Paris native who brings more order and production to the USF lineup.

"We're gonna remain cautious, obviously, during this offseason. Our goal is to have him start doing more basketball stuff as the summer progresses and when we come back that he'll be ready to go full-go," Gregory said. "He's done a tremendous, tremendous job. I not only know he's gonna make a full recovery, I think he's gonna come back better than ever."

Promising Talent Entering the Mix for 2020-21
More firepower for 2020-21 is on the way in the form of two promising freshmen and a playmaking transfer already in Gregory's system.


Four-star combo guard Caleb Murphy will head to Tampa after shining for Grayson High School, which ranked as highly as No. 2 in the nation this season and No. 1 in Georgia. Murphy was ranked No. 55 nationally by Rivals when he committed and Rivals currently lists him as the 13^th-best shooting guard in the class of 2020.

Last summer, Murphy averaged 12.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in seven games at the Adidas Gauntlet in Birmingham, Ala., and led his team to the 17-under platinum-level championship.

"He's a guard who can make plays for other people, but also put the ball in the basketball and also do a lot of different things," Gregory said. "He's like the modern-age guard. He's got great length, good size, great athletic ability and can really hurt you in a lot of different ways. I'm excited about coaching him and watching his development."



Gregory also sees lots of potential in Emmanuel Okpomo, a 6-foot-10 big man with a 7-foot-4 wingspan. Most recently, Okpomo played for Oak Hill Academy, the top-ranked team in Virginia and a top-10 program in the Xcellent 25 Writers' Poll.

"He became a key figure for that team, starting games at the center spot and kind of anchoring their defense, both with his rebounding and shot-blocking ability. I think he's just scratching the surface," Gregory said. "He's cut out of the same mold as Alexis Yetna in terms of unbelievable energy, unbelievable communication skills. I think in a couple years, people are gonna say, 'How did all these schools pass this guy up?' because I think his best basketball is in front of him."

Young stars from other states will be joined at USF by Iowa State transfer Luke Anderson (Lakeland, Fla.). The 6-foot-8 forward was tabbed the 17^th-best player in the state of Florida in 2018 and has been preparing well for his redshirt freshman season as a Bull.

"His work in the weight room during the time he's been part of our program has been really good," Gregory said. "He's added 15 pounds already since he got here in January."

Prior to Iowa State, Anderson averaged 21.8 points and 10.1 rebounds as a senior for Lakeland High School on the way to county and regional player of the year honors.

"He's excited about playing close to home and really helping us take another step as a program," Gregory said.
 
About USF Men's Basketball
The USF men's basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory. On March 22, 2017, Gregory was introduced as the 10^th head coach in program history. He previously led programs at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11). Gregory spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State's Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo and helped the Spartans win the 2000 NCAA National Championship. Gregory owns nearly 250 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship. In his second season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to the best win turnaround in the NCAA, the most single-season wins in school history and the 2019 College Basketball Invitational championship. 

USF has retired three numbers in its 47-year history: Chucky Atkins (12), Charlie Bradley (30) and Radenko Dobras (31). The Bulls have earned three NCAA tournament bids, appeared in the NIT eight times and won the 2019 CBI championship.

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