Excitement Builds for 'Big' and 'Strong' Bulls During Individual Workouts
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, AUG. 24, 2020 – Things are looking up for the USF men's basketball program in the midst of a highly beneficial preseason training period.
For fourth-year head coach
Brian Gregory, he's having to look up more than he ever has before when the Bulls are on the court for individual workouts.
"We're big and we're strong and we are deep," Gregory said last Thursday.
Gregory spoke to the media just days after USF was placed in the very respectable fourth spot on CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein's American Athletic Conference
preseason power rankings. Several sizable reasons for the continual rise of USF from a national perspective – eight on the roster, to be exact – stand at least 6-feet-6 in their adidas hoops shoes.
 "No question about it," said Gregory when asked if the 2020-21 Bulls stack up as the biggest and deepest team he's had yet with the program.
Other playmakers, like returning senior scorers
David Collins and Justin
Brown, also are bringing out lots of optimism in Coach "BG" while the Bulls work through weeks of individual skill instruction.
"I've been very, very pleased," Gregory said. "We've got some guys who have really vastly improved."
Limited to four players on the court at a time, USF will continue to follow COVID-19 safety protocols in its mission of making more progress for the foreseeable future. "As of right now," Gregory said USF is set to begin team practices on Sept. 29, when the Bulls' physical brand should be at a greater level than ever before under the current staff.
"There's a remarkable difference in the weight room," Gregory said. "Four guys take up a lot more space than you would think."
Gains and physical improvements are steady under the direction of new strength and conditioning coach
Travis Wallace. Previously at FGCU, Wallace has a solid track record of training NBA players, such as Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry.
"It's the first strength coach I've ever been associated with that was a basketball player," said Gregory of the former North Florida forward with 1,338 career points to his credit. "… Our guys have really been drawn to him, in terms of his expertise and so forth."
New Bulls Bolster Frontcourt
Gregory got a good laugh about a recent text he sent to supporters that served as a huge program update.
"I told them we had almost 21 feet of eligibility announced over the last two weeks," he said.
Two of the towering transfers he mentioned were former Texas Tech center
Russel Tchewa (7-0, 270) and former Mississippi State forward
Prince Oduro (6-8, 250).
"They played for two of the best coaches in the country," Gregory said. "They're immediate transition was very, very smooth."
The other newcomer in the discussion was 6-8
Luke Anderson, a forward/guard from Lakeland, Fla., who can shoot from deep. Anderson also has the athleticism to defend much of the floor, which is now the norm for a "more skilled" frontcourt that returns forwards
Alexis Yetna and
Michael Durr.
"I like that fact that those guys can guard guys on the perimeter," Gregory said. "You can take advantage of your length out there."
Another Good Yetna Update
Bulls fans can rejoice because forward
Alexis Yetna is now motoring around the Muma Center after missing all of last season with a knee injury.
"He is a full go in every activity, in terms of workouts, strength and conditioning, and he is making really good progress," Gregory said.
Gregory noted Yetna also is on track to be "full go" when team practices start at the end of September. Until then, the staff is handling Yetna's training workload with care in anticipation of getting a huge piece to the winning puzzle back on the court. The Paris native led The American with 15 double-doubles and averaged 12.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game during his AAC Freshman of the Year campaign in 2018-19.
"He's shooting the ball well. His body looks great, so I'm pleased with where he's at," Gregory said.
Murphy Off to a 'Tremendous' Start
Aside from successfully adding athletic big men in the offseason, USF also signed the highest-rated recruit in program history.
Four-star combo guard
Caleb Murphy, ranked 13
th nationally at his position by Rivals, is now training with USF in the Muma Center after earning Georgia Class 7A first team all-state honors. As a prep senior, Murphy helped Grayson High School reach a top-10 national ranking, post a 30-2 record and make an appearance in the state championship game.
So far, so very good for Murphy as a Bull.
"
Caleb Murphy has been tremendous in the workouts for us," Gregory said.
Congrats to Coach Herrion
Another notable development this preseason was the promotion of
Tom Herrion to associate head coach.
"It was something that I wanted to get done and now was the right time," Gregory said. "He's earned it."
The promotion is well-deserved for Herrion, who has helped the Bulls win 48 games in the past three seasons, including 24 during the 2018-19 campaign that saw the program capture the CBI crown.
"He's been so instrumental in building our program and the culture of our program, the recruiting, the relationships with the players," Gregory said.
Stepping up to associate head coach certainly won't be a problem for Herrion, who posted four 20-win seasons and made three postseason trips during his time as a head coach at Marshall (2010-14) and the College of Charleston (2002-06). Prior to becoming a Bull, Herrion was a special assistant for Jamie Dixon at TCU, which won the the 2017 NIT championship.
"It's good to have a guy like that alongside you," Gregory said.
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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 10th 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 300 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.Â
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 College Basketball Invitational.
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