2011 South Florida Bulls Basketball
Written by James Zerfoss - Google +
2010-11 Results:
Overall: 10-23 (Home 7-9 Road 1-12 Neutral 2-2 Post Season 1-1)
Big East: 3-15
Conference Tournament: Lost in the second round of the Big East tournament.
Postseason: Failed to qualify for a post season tournament.
Stan Heath guided South Florida to a disappointing 10-23 record and the Bulls once again missed the NCAA tournament. South Florida likely won’t fare any better this year in the competitive Big East Conference even with most of their players returning. The Bulls only loss was Jarrid Famous among last year’s key contributors.
The Bulls got off to a .500 start going 6-6 before losing to Cleveland and then lost their first five conference games before beating Providence. Overall the Bulls did not fare well in the competitive Big East conference finishing second to last.
South Florida ranked 15th in the Big East in scoring last year and 12th in scoring defense. Not much is expected of South Florida this year with a lot of new players. It would be a real surprise if the Bulls qualified for the NCAA tournament.
Roster
Returning Starters
Hugh Robertson
Augustus Gilchrist
Ron Anderson Jr.,
Other Returning Players
LaVonte Dority
Jawanza Poland
Alberto Damour
Toarlyn Fitzpatrick
Newcomers
Blake Nash
Anthony Collins
Jordan Heath
Victor Rudd
Head Coach
Stan Heath
Key Losses
The Bulls third leading scorer and center Jarrid Famous has departed and will need to be replaced in the starting lineup
2011-12 Preview
Competing in the Big East is tough enough when you have the recruiting base of UCONN or Syracuse but it is an uphill battle for a perennial loser to build a program in the toughest conference in the nation.
Two years ago it appeared that the Bulls had taken a step forward after a 20-win season but they have been unable to sustain that success. Heath continues to try and recruit players that will allow South Florida to be competitive in the Big East Conference.
Backcourt
The Bulls backcourt has the potential to be good but they will have to break in a new point guard after starter Anthony Carter was kicked off the team for violating team rules. Backups Mike Burwell and Shedrick Haynes also transferred during the offseason.
LaVonte Dority is back and will compete with Blake Nash for playing time. Nash is a JUCO transfer and is good at both ends of the floor and distributes the ball well due to his exceptional view of the floor. Look for him to get to the rim and provide South Florida with some extra offense. Freshmand Anthony Collins will also try to earn playing time as well.
At the two guard position Jawanza Poland was the team’s number two scorer last season, but will be out until early December with a back injury. Victor Rudd, who transferred from Arizona State last year, will look to earn the starting nod at off-guard while Poland is out. He may help improve the Bulls overall offensive game.
Frontcourt
Center-forward Gilchrist will be needed to provide an increased scoring touch after averaging 13.4 points and six rebounds last year.
Ron Anderson, who transferred from Kansas State, provides both scoring and a physical presence inside having lead the team with 6.4 rebounds a year ago. He will combine with Toarlyn Fitzpatrick to try to stop things from happening in the paint and showing that the Bulls can play just as physical as the top Big East teams such as Pittsburgh.
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