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HOOPS WBB 'SHOCKER'

Top-Seeded South Florida Falls to Wichita State, 65-53, in AAC Quarterfinals

Elena Tsineke led the Bulls with 19 points and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu added 15 points.

FORT WORTH, Texas (March 7, 2023) — For the first time in its 10 seasons in the American Athletic Conference the University of South Florida women’s basketball will not play in at least the conference tournament semifinal round as the top-seeded Bulls fell to eighth-seeded Wichita State, 65-53, in the quarterfinal of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth, Texas Tuesday afternoon.

South Florida falls to 26-6 on the year while the Shockers improve to 18-13.

Times Stadium article….

Here is the stadium article by Times. As I heard the plan is to incorporate the football only facility into the stadium. Now it sounds like Lady’s Lacrosse will also use the stadium.

This is a big deal. They already had quite a bit raised for the football only facility that can now go towards the multi l/faceted facility. Now with more uses means more income potential….this brings far more certitude This stadium is coming and will be valuable to USF…now football, lacrosse, meeting rooms, and football only facility. Accretive is the name of the game and they’re planning for this to be value add for USF Athletics.

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/bulls/2023/03/06/usf-football-stadium-ocs-bulls/

HOOPS GAME THREAD: USF at Wichita State

It's the regular season finale between USF and Wichita State today at Charles Koch Arena.

Game time is 2 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU

Both sides are playing for both seeding and momentum heading into next week’s AAC tournament.

USF could end up anywhere from sixth to eighth but their first order of business is to get a win in an arena that they have never won in.

Due to a schedule conflict, I am at Day 2 of the Hoop Exchange Spring Player Showcase so I'll miss this game unfortunately.
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HOOPS Bracket Set for 2023 American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship

IRVING, Texas – The bracket is set for the 2023 American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, to be held March 9-12 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Houston (29-2, 17-1 American) is the No. 1 seed in the American Championship for a third time (2019, 2022) after finishing conference play 17-1. The Cougars are the two-time defending tournament champions. The Cougars will face the winner of East Carolina/South Florida on Friday, March 10 at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT on ESPN2.

Memphis (23-8, 13-5) earned the No. 2 seed and is led by guard Kendric Davis, who leads The American with 21.3 points and 5.8 assists per game. The Tigers will take on the winner of SMU/UCF on Friday at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT on ESPNU.

Tulane (19-10, 12-6) claimed the No. 3 seed after defeating Temple, 83-82, on Sunday, March 5. It is the highest seed the Green Wave have earned since joining The American. Tulane will face the victor of Tulsa/Wichita State on Friday at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.

Two-time tournament champion Cincinnati (20-11, 11-7) will be the No. 4 seed. The Bearcats will take on No. 5 seed Temple (16-15, 10-8), which earned a first-round bye for a fifth time, on Friday at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

2023 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship Schedule

First Round | Thursday, March 9


Game 1: No. 9 East Carolina vs. No. 8 South Florida | 12:30 p.m. | ESPNU
Game 2: No. 10 SMU vs. No. 7 UCF | 2:30 p.m. | ESPNU
Game 3: No. 11 Tulsa vs. No. 6 Wichita State | 7 p.m. | ESPNU

Quarterfinals | Friday, March 10

Game 4: Game 1 vs. No. 1 Houston | 1 p.m. | ESPN2
Game 5: No. 5 Temple vs. No. 4 Cincinnati | 3 p.m. | ESPN2
Game 6: Game 2 Winner vs. No. 2 Memphis | 7 p.m. | ESPNU
Game 7: Game 3 Winner vs. No. 3 Tulane | 9 p.m. | ESPNU

All times are Eastern.

USF's greatest player ever

Hands down it's Bill Russell. I'm talking University of San Francisco, not University of South Florida. Sorry for the false alarm. Not!!

I just watched Bill Russell Legend on Netflix. It took me back in time to when I used to watch the Celtics during their Hey Day. But the real grabber was seeing #6 on a USF jersey. It made me do some research on the USF Dons.

University of San Francisco started as St Ignatius College in 1910. Their record was hovering around .500 mark until the arrival of Pete Newell in 1946. Newell had returned after a 4 year hitch in the Navy during WW II. He turned the corner for the Dons on the hardwood. During his 4 year term at USF the Don's compiles a 70-37 record and won the 1949 NIT championship with a 48-47 vitory over Loyola of Chicago. Newell bolted for the Michigan State job after a great run at USF. Newell did a 4 year term at Michigan State and in 1954 moved to University of California where he coached the Golden Bears to the 1959 NCAA Championship.

In 1960 Pete Newell coached a great US Olympic team to the Gold Medal by winning 8 straight games and defeating Brazil 90-63 in the Championship game. The 1960 Olympic team aka "The Dream Team" was voted into the Olympic HOF in 1984.

The 1960 Dream Team roster: Jay Arnette G Texas, Walt Bellamy C Indiana, Bob Boozer F Kan St, Terry Dischinger F Purdue, Burdette Haldorson F Colorado, Darrell Imhoff C California, Allen Kenny G Kansas, Lester Lane G Oklahoma, Jerry Lucas F Ohio St, Oscar Robertson G/F Cincinnati, Adrian Smith G Kentucky and Jerry West G West Virginia U. Five players averaged in double figures led by Oscar Robertson 17.3, Jerry Lucas 16.8, Jerry West 14.1, Terry Dischinger 11.5 and Adrian Smith 10.9. The team averaged 101.9 per game and Held opponents to 59.5 per game.

Pete Newell is in the NCAA HOF as well as the NBA HOF. After retiring from coaching Newell scouted for the Milwaukee Bucks he secured a trade that allowed the Bucs to draft Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Newell then served as a scout and general manager of the SanDiego Rockets and later as a scout and GM for the Los Angeles Lakers. You guessed it, Newell negotiated the trade from Kareem Abdul Jabbar from the Milwaukee Bucks. Pete Newell knew talent, maybe better than anyone in the game sans Red Auerbach.

My research told me that #1 a great coach is a coach who can sign talent and develop talent as well. Newell had a history of doing this very thing. He got the ball rolling for the USF Dons. Newell's successor Phil Woolpert segued the recent sucess of the Don's into the big time. #2 sign and develop a great Center. Bill Russell was ththat very thing, but not all on his own. Bill Russell had to be developed, he didn't come by it all naturally say like a Wilt Chamberlain or a Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Russell lacked confidence and he had a penchant for overanalizing things, but he had a tremendous work ethic and a thirst for knowledge. #3 Sign and Develop a great PG. KC Jones was it. He and Russell cliqued and led the USF Dons to a 60 game streak and back to back National Championships in 1955 & 1956.

The day the USF Bulls can sign that great center and great PG will mark the day the Bulls emerge from the dregs of the conference and become a perennial contender for the conference championship. The fact the Bulls signed those 2 key players tells you they hired the right coach.

Just maybe Anthony Robertson can be that guy. But like Bill Russell he needs a coach who believes in him and teaches him how the big boys play the position. Woolpert gets much of the credit for Bill Russell's development from Bill Russell himself. USF need a Pete Newell, Phil Woolpert kind of hire this go round.

GO BULLS !!!!!
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FOOTBALL Golesh Needs to Immediately Quit

...chewing so much gum. Chewing excessive amount of gum can increase his risk of tooth decay and can also strain your jaw.

620 WDAE was actually mocking him this week for chewing so much gum. Aaron said it's disgusting to watch him chew gum at press conferences and when talking to people. That's led to an apparel company selling shirts with Golesh's likeness with the phrase "Chew On This".
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USF this is embarrassing…

Ok everyone tell me what isn’t right about this photo posted by the University of South Florida on LinkedIn remembering FL’s anniversary.


It looks like someone at USF that manages their LinkedIn account was a bit to insecure and decided to make Tampa look like ‘south Florida’…they seemed to have cut off Ft. Myers and Naples and dropped Tampa and USF about 150 miles south. Oh and for honoring the state of FL they conveniently forgot to include a portion of the panhandle and drew a state map that geographically looks absolutely nothing like the state of FL (the parts they did include) Come on guys….👍🙄😳😔. Yet another social media FUBAR by USF!😔

CBG Buyout and contract

I want to make a correction, and make this its own thread instead of getting buried on another one:

BTW, I actually have the buyout wrong; I didn't really read the contract front to back until today (skimming it before- my bad), the $750k is actually Brian Gregory's buyout. Contractually it is better for USF since they only owe him 20 weeks of $400k, which is around $142,857 (SEE the BOLD SECTION BELOW WHERE IT IS STATED straight from the contract). They had a similar buyout of Jeff Scott, he had a base salary of $500k, and the buyout was identical and payment amount was $192,000. Now the rub is the Foundation has a larger buyout which no one knows exactly what that dollar figure maybe. The rumors are has high as $3MM and maybe above, which seems egregious because if you compare the recent football coaches contracts and eventual buyouts they are not at that level. The football coaches make more salary, and are compensate higher, but the contract and buyout structure for CBG in contracts are identical for CBG as they were for CJS and CCS. Jeff was being paid total compensation in 2022 of $2.4MM (now before the extension he was slotted to get $2.5MM), and the rumored separation amount was close to $2.8MM (the remainder coming from the Foundation). Which suggests he was getting paid somewhere in the neighborhood of a full year's total compensation, plus the $192,000. Charlie Strong separated for $3.1MM, his total compensation was $2.6MM, with a base salary of $600k and separation amount of $235k, which put him around the $3.1MM (they are getting some annuity from the foundation, which is usually nominal as further compensation so that could equate in the buyout). Below provides details to several of their contracts and buyouts.

Charlie Strong's USF Contract: Salary, Buyout, and Bonuses

Salary and buyout details from the contract Charlie Strong signed in December 2016.
herosports.com

herosports.com
www.tampabay.com


USF owes Charlie Strong $3.1 million, per termination letter

The former coach’s notice of termination was provided on Friday
www.tampabay.com

www.tampabay.com

sports.betmgm.com


Jeff Scott Fired: What Is Jeff Scott’s Buyout at South Florida?

Read about Jeff Scott’s South Florida contract and buyout details.
sports.betmgm.com

sports.betmgm.com

Hoops coaches, certainly at our level, don't get paid nearly as much as football coaches. If we applied the same rationale then the presumption is the total buyout for Brian Gregory would be in the neighborhood of $2MM, the $142,857 from the actual contractual buyout, and the Foundation paying a year's worth of total compensation in the neighborhood of $1.7MM (at his highest contractual amount). If the Foundation is providing buyout guarantees of $3MM or north, and this is before the $142,857, (as some have rumored) of CBG that would be the dumbest deal around. They would be compensating him for nearly his final four years of contract. USF has never done that before and contractually that's out of wack for our level of program, but who knows too since some are keeping tight lipped about where the Foundation deal is in all of this mess. I will say based on recent football team firings the expectation is the total separation for buyout is probably closer to $2MM or less.

Below is the termination language:

IX. Termination by University. The University may terminate Coach's employment under this Agreement
at any time without cause.
A. Liquidated Damages: In the event that the University terminates this Agreement or otherwise
relieves Coach of is duties hereunder for reasons other than ‘or cause, the sole obligation of
the University under this Agreement shall be to continue to provide the Base Salary to Coach
as set forth in Paragraph V above (exclusive of benefits) as if Coach were fully performing his
duties fora period equal to the lesser of the time remaining in the Term or 20 (twenty) weeks
(the, “Liquidated Damages Period"). This payment may be accelerated at the sole discretion of
the University. By agreeing to this Agreement, Coach agrees that this amount will constitute
full settlement of any and all claims that Coach might otherwise assert against the University
and any of its agents or employees. The Parties agree that the foregoing shall not be construed
as a penalty and shall be the sole remedy of the Coach against the University for any issue
relating to termination of employment


I think the bigger thing is after April 1, 2023, USF has to give Brian Gregory this 65% raise, plus other big step ups for the program and assistant coaches. When we consider this fact, it means the cost to run the basketball program day-to-day will increase significantly. I am presuming today that hoops are not a breakeven operation from a pure tickets and revenue to cost (maybe once we add in our conference payout it's a small profit), and it is really not going to see any increase in revenue in the foreseeable future under Gregory. Therefore, costing more to run a program with no foreseeable improvements on the horizon is more sunken costs for the University. The fact he will now be in his final 3 years of his contract after April 1, 2023, also means the University must rationally consider a contract extension for facial purposes. While terms and conditions may remain the same in the extension, the optics are horrific at this juncture. Why is that important to denote, well if we're trying to attract the attention of bigger conferences extending the contract of a coach who is 79-105, and 33-71 in conference, with one winning season out of six is not the way to go about bringing positive attention to ourselves. Furthermore, even if we didn't extend his contract, the optics are even worse because it shows an unwillingness to commit to anything with hoops, and just kicking a can on a program that in most of these big conferences we covet like the B12, and ACC is a sport those conferences think very highly of. They will want a program committed to hoops as well when we will probably be competing with programs like Duke, Wake, and Syracuse. What we do now will be watched closely. We must remember some of our competitors for those spots in those conferences- SDST, Memphis, ECU, Tulane, etc., have shown more life in hoops. I would add, Stan Heath was given seven years to produce, and to Stan's defense he did in fact get us to 2 post seasons in those years. In fact, he got us farther in the NCAA tourney then USF ever had before two seasons before his firing. Whereas Brian is now 3+ seasons removed from his CBI run, Stan was only 2 years removed from when he did the NCAA run and was fired....which we can all agree was less of an achievement then Stan's run in the NCAA's. Stan's last two-year record before being fired, 24-40, Brian's last two-year record before being fired, so far 22-39. Precedent is usually an indicator for future decisions.

If USF wants to continue to be attractive to big time conferences as a future member, particularly conferences like the B12 and ACC, then making a change now in hoops is imperative.
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HOOPS Up next for USF

Up next for USF is Tulsa at Yuengling Center on Wednesday and at Wichita State on Sunday March 5.

Tulsa trails UCF by 29 early in the second half.

Craig Porter Jr. had a triple-double, Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 28 points, and Wichita State defeated Tulane 83-76 on Sunday.
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