TAMPA, Fla., October 2, 2025 – As you travel along Fowler Avenue, the giant USF basketball banner spells out an unmistakable message:
Tampa Bay's Home For Hoops.
One week into the official fall practice tenure of new men's basketball coach
Bryan Hodgson, the running of the Bulls has begun. They've been running. And running. And running some more.
Heading into USF's home opener against the Florida A&M Rattlers on Monday, Nov. 3, Hodgson pledges that the Bulls will be fun to watch.
"If you live in the Tampa Bay area and you love ball, you need to come check us out,'' said Hodgson, a former Alabama assistant who was 45-28 in two seasons as head coach at Arkansas State. "Give us a chance to earn your fandom. I think we'll play an entertaining brand of basketball that's probably as similar to the NBA as you're going to get from a college standpoint."
"We're competitive. We're going to fight. We're blue-collar. If you make your way to the Yuengling Center and watch us this year, you'll be coming back for more. Tell a friend — and tell that friend to tell a friend. We're going for it, and we want to pack this place out every single game.''
If you haven't guessed by now, Hodgson is filled with intensity.
And that should be manifested through the on-court product.
"It's going to be a high-tempo, fast-paced kind of game,'' said forward
Daimion Collins, a 6-foot-9, 200-pound former five-star prospect who began at Kentucky, then shifted to LSU, where he started 22 games last season. "You're probably going to see a lot of three's, a lot of dunks, just a lot of fun basketball.''
Collins, or 'DC' as his teammates call him, is the oldest player on the roster and one of the thirteen new players on this fifteen-man roster.
"These are some of the hardest practices I've ever seen,'' said
De'Ante Green, who's one of just two returning USF players (along with sophomore guard
CJ Brown). "Man. Wow. We're going to play hard and we're going to go fast. There's no question about that.''
Green suffered a season-ending injury last year and is expected to still miss significant time during his recovery. Brown, meanwhile, is a high-flying talent who's hoping to build upon last season, when was selected to the American Conference All-Freshman Team.
In another era, 13 new players on a roster would be cause for concern. But in the transfer-portal era, it's a way of life.
Two of Hodgson's former players at Arkansas State — 6-10 senior forward
Izaiyah Nelson and 6-5 senior guard
Joseph Pinion — are expected to be integral parts of the lineup. The backcourt should include Brown, 6-5 senior
Devin Haid (Central Connecticut State), and 6-2 junior
Wes Enis (NCAA Division II All-American at Lincoln Memorial).
Collins has an intriguing resume as does 6-7 senior forward
Isaiah Jones (Detroit Mercy), 6-5 senior guard
Josh Omojafo (Robert Morris, 1,000-point career scorer), 6-2 senior guard
Xavier Brown (James Madison) and 6-5 freshman forward
Tristan Beckford (a four-star prospect, the highest-ever to sign with Arkansas State before his transfer to USF).
There's also potential building blocks in 6-1 freshman guard
Gavin Hightower (four-star prospect from Los Angeles), 6-9 freshman forward
Onyx Nnani (Edmonton, Canada), 6-5 freshman guard
Adriel Nyorha (Ottawa, Canada), and 6-6 freshman forward
Caleb Sanders (North Tampa Christian Academy).
"I love our roster,'' said Hodgson, who has set an ambitious goal for USF — finishing top 50 nationally in offense and defense. "I'm really thrilled with how it came together. I think the guys really enjoy each other, which is the first step. It's a hard-working group, and I feel like we've got depth at every position, which is important from a competitive aspect. I feel like iron sharpens iron every single day in practice.
"We're going to play extremely fast. We try to avoid mid-range shots, so we'll shoot a lot of threes and go to the rim for layups and dunks. Offensively, we want to play with pace and space. On the defensive end, we want to shrink and disrupt. That's who we are.''
Hodgson refuses to say USF is rebuilding in any way, even though the Bulls are coming off an emotional 13-19 finish. It came in the wake of head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim's tragic death on Oct. 24, 2024. Hodgson said he's leaning into the legacy of Abdur-Rahim, who led the Bulls to an American Conference regular-season title, a 25-8 mark, a program-record 15-game winning streak, and the program's first national ranking.
"Coach Amir showed what was possible at USF,'' Hodgson said. "We're going to honor that. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the country. It's a great job, a great fan base, and a great city. We love everything about it.
"Whatever you're looking for as a college basketball coach — facilities, great administrative support, and a competitive situation — this place has it. Now we've got to do our part and deliver by winning basketball games. I promise you we're going to work every day and make sure we're doing just that.''
Tickets:
Men's basketball single-game and season tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-Go-Bulls or by visiting USFBullsTix.com.
Follow us:
Follow South Florida men's basketball on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
About USF Men's Basketball
South Florida men's basketball named Bryan Hodgson, 37, as the program's 12th head coach on March 24, 2025. Hodgson came to Tampa from Arkansas State, where he led the program to back-to-back 20-win seasons and its first postseason appearance since 1999 in his two seasons at the helm.
The program, entering its 55th season in 2025-26, most recently won the American Athletic Conference regular season championship in 2023-24 and has made 13 postseason appearances, including three NCAA Tournaments, nine NITs, and a CBI championship in 2019. Three former Bulls – Chucky Atkins, Charlie Bradley, and Rodenko Dobras – have had their jerseys retired and are members of the USF Athletic Hall of Fame. The Bulls play their home games at the 10,400-seat Yuengling Center on the USF Tampa campus.
–
#GoBulls –
