Tampa, Fla. – March 7, 2026 – Long Live My Pops. You can't miss the tattoo on the left forearm of USF men's basketball center Daimion Collins. He wanted a prominent reminder of the most significant man in his life. Collins' father was his mentor, his role model and his best friend — all rolled into one.
 
As Senior Day commences on Sunday afternoon at the Yuengling Center, when the first-place USF Bulls (22-8, 14-3 American Conference) meet the Charlotte 49ers (15-15, 9-8) in the regular-season finale, it's a time to reflect. Collins, surrounded by family and friends, said he's certain to feel his father's presence.
 
Everyone reaches the end point in different ways. The road rises and falls. But no one had a journey quite like Daimion Collins, a former five-star prospect and McDonald's All-American from Atlanta, Texas (population: 5,500) — a tiny dot on the map, tucked away near the top corner of East Texas, not far from the borders of Louisiana and Arkansas.
 
The story didn't turn out the way anyone predicted. Truthfully, basketball could have ended three-and-a-half years ago, when Collins' father, Ben, died of an apparent heart attack at age 43, leaving the son devastated.
 
Instead, he persevered.
 
"He always wanted the best for me,'' Collins said. "He wanted me to reach my goals. So, I kept going."
 
"I still struggle with the questions. I mean, why? I do know things happen for a reason and if that situation (his father's death) didn't happen, I probably wouldn't be the same person I am today. There's nothing that could bring me that low anymore. I want to be the best person I can be because I know that's what my father would have wanted.''
 


Small-Town Roots
Collins calls himself "just a kid from out in the country.'' His family owns about 30 acres, so he's used to wide-open spaces, while being around pigs and goats.
 
He raises standard-bred horses and loves to ride. A perfect day for Collins is tooling around on a four-wheeler, go-kart or dirt bike. He's a full-grown man, but a big kid at the same time.
 
"Give me outdoors time and time family, and I'm good,'' Collins said. "I'm really good.''
 
He's just a kid from out in the country.
 
Just a 6-foot-9, 200-pound kid with a 44-inch vertical leap.
 
And a 7-foot-4 wingspan.
 
"I've coached 15 guys who have put an NBA jersey on, and Damion is one of the best rim protectors I've ever been around and one of the best athletes I've ever coached,'' Bulls head coach Bryan Hodgson said.
 
Collins, an elite shot-blocker at his previous SEC stops of Kentucky and LSU, is the first McDonald's All-American to play for USF in its 55 seasons of men's basketball.
 
When Collins wore the maroon and white of the Atlanta High Rabbits — yes, they are the Rabbits — every major college coach in America knew the backroads to his hometown. As a senior, Collins averaged 32.5 points, 14.4 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 6.2 blocks, while accumulating 16 triple-doubles and five quadruple-doubles.
 
"DC must have some incredible stories to tell,'' USF forward Isaiah (Zurk) Jones said. "Can you imagine being in his gym back then? What that little town must have been like? The places he has been, the people he has seen … I can't imagine it. I love the fact that he's such a humble kid. He has those small-town roots.''
 
Bulls center Izaiyah Nelson, a native of Marietta, Ga., said he was excited to learn USF had acquired another front-court player from Atlanta.
 
"I was like, 'Oh snap, what high school did you go to?' '' Nelson said. "When he told me it was Atlanta … Texas … my jaw just dropped. I had never heard of it. I didn't know the place existed.''
 
Collins just smiled.
 
"I'm sure none of these guys (USF teammates) have been to Atlanta, Texas,'' Collins said. "It's a place where everybody knows everybody. I feel lucky to be from there. The relationships are deep, especially with my family. It's really true. Family is everything.''
 


Surrounded By Love
Senior Day is always about family. Sunday, Collins will be surrounded by the people he loves. And he'll undoubtedly think about the man he misses every single day.
 
Just before Collins' sophomore season with the Kentucky Wildcats, the father visited the son to celebrate his 20th birthday. The father once set the single-game scoring record for the Atlanta Rabbits and the son broke it nearly two decades later. The father, who owned a trucking company, was there to shoot some hoops with his son at UK's Joe Craft Center and get him in the right spirit for the season.
 
Before heading to the Lexington, Ky., apartment that the family leased for the season, Ben Collins pulled his son close and told him, "Dawg, you're so close to achieving all your goals. Stay humble. Keep working. You're going to accomplish those dreams.''
 
Daimion Collins awoke to jarring, unthinkably tragic news the following morning.
He grew emotional when remembering the last words he ever heard from his father.
 
"He always wanted what was best for me … and I don't think any son has been loved more by his father,'' Collins said. "He and my mom (Kim), they always sacrificed for me, making sure I had what I needed. When I hear about other guys not having a great relationship with their father or maybe not knowing their father, I feel so bad. Because I had the opposite. I feel like he's still looking after me. And every day of my life, I want to make him proud.''
 
Even in his short time at USF, Collins has made everyone proud.
 
He's a friendly presence, always smiling, an attractor of people. Last semester, he was the only USF men's basketball player to achieve a 4.0 grade-point average.
 
He mostly comes off the bench and never complains. He helps the Bulls however he can. Hodgson calls him "selfless'' and an "outstanding teammate.'' At times, Collins has delivered an immense impact. His blocked shots are consistently startling, prompting eye-popping reactions from the crowd.
 
"Did you see that?''
 
"I recruited him out of high school (as an Alabama assistant coach) and he was a phenomenon,'' Hodgson said. "We stayed in touch. I was drawn to him. Such an outstanding person. I'm so grateful that we've had this season together.
 
Regardless of where basketball takes him, DC will be a guy who makes a difference in life.''
 
As his college basketball career concludes, Collins said he feels gratitude.
 
"This journey I've been on, with all the ups and downs, it has prepared me for this moment, physically, mentally and emotionally,'' Collins said. "It came down to being with Coach B (Hodgson), somebody who I know I can trust. He's a genuine person. He cares. It has been a great year.
 
"When I think back (to high school), I was a so-called five-star, although I never cared much about that. But when you have that by your name, you're never supposed to miss a shot — ever. I'm a human being, just like everybody else. I feel like with my experiences — good and bad — and being with Coach B, I'm becoming more of the person I was meant to be. And that's what matters most, a lot more than the basketball.''
 
Senior Day signifies an end — but also a beginning. Regardless of where basketball takes him next, regardless of life's journey, Daimion Collins will always be a guy who's looking to make his father proud.
 
Long Live His Pops.
 
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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 55^th 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.

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