Bulls Q&A

Posted Oct 28, 2011 by Adam Adkins

Updated Oct 28, 2011 at 09:40 PM

I am a 1990 USF Grad and played for the Bulls Baseball team from 1988-1990 under coach Eddie Cardieri. I was curious if you have any further information regarding the recent ‘commitment’ of Daniel Portales of Jesuit to USF. I saw the blurb in the Tribune and found it unusual as it indicated that “Portales didn’t play much for Jesuit as a sophomore last season, but has had a solid fall and tremendous upside.” My concern is how players (in the Tampa area) are falling through the cracks and don’t get an opportunity to play ball at the next level despite outstanding stats, athletic and academic accolades etc…. in this particular example, the individual is committing as a junior with not much on his resume. Is it safe to assume that he was not necessarily offered a scholarship, but merely being given a chance to walk on? Perhaps the upside potential is more than meets the description? Thanks in advance for your insight.
Dave, Tampa

Sometimes statistics don’t show the complete picture. Consider this: when James Ramsay, currently a sophomore outfielder with the Bulls, committed during his junior year, so too did a young man named Thomas Dorminy, a pitcher at Alonso High who had logged all of 10 innings on the mound as a sophomore. As a junior, Dorminy ended up going 14-1 and led the Ravens to a state title.

Now Dorminy never ended up at USF, choosing instead to go the junior college route so that he would be draft eligible again, but just pointing out that at the time you probably could have questioned taking a commitment there, but a few months later it looked like a brilliant move. And statistics work the other way as well – sometimes players look great on paper, but in person it’s another story.

With baseball being a year-round sport in Florida and players often on various travel ball teams, I’m sure Lelo Prado and his staff got a good enough gauge on Portales’ abilities to feel comfortable that he would be a solid addition to the program. Now, what percentage of a scholarship will Portales receive? That information I’m not privy to. What I do know is that he made a visit to the campus and gave a commitment to the staff, per his high school coach, Richie Warren.

Is USF actively pursuing a new conference? If not, why not? What is the AD’s position? It is pretty obvious that the Big East is becoming Conference USA all over again for the Bulls. With West Virginia now on the way out the door this is starting to look like a major step backward for USF. I have not seen USF get mentioned much in conference realignment discussions. Why not?
Ryan, Tampa

Why isn’t South Florida in any conversations regarding moving to another conference like the Big 12 or SEC? I understand the ACC because that puts three Florida schools in that conference. Is it USF academics? Lack of an on campus stadium? Just wondering.
Kevin, Merritt Island

USF president Judy Genshaft and athletic director Doug Woolard have chosen not to address conference realignment with the media, outside of the interview Woolard granted a few weeks ago. At that time Woolard made clear that his top priority was keeping USF in an AQ conference and that both he and Genshaft were actively engaged in discussions regarding conference realignment on a national level, though he declined to discuss specifics.

I know Woolard feels USF is positioned well, with numerous facility upgrades recently taking place and the Tampa TV market among the reasons. Those are obviously good things to have in your corner, but USF also has a young football program that while it has enjoyed some success has also been a middle-of-the-pack team in what has been regarded as the weakest BCS league, and a men’s basketball program that hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1991-92 (and has just four NIT berths since then). So the Bulls aren’t bringing a whole lot to the table there.

There had been a handful of mentions recently of USF being a potential candidate for the Big 12 in the Big 12 decided to expand past 10 teams, which now doesn’t seem to be the case. My gut tells me the Bulls are staying in the Big East, and if the Big East is able to lure the teams it is targeting through realignment, I think the conference will be in good shape to remain a BCS league going forward.

Any chance of the Big 12 going to 12 teams and adding USF and Cincy/Louisville in addition to WVU?
Nabeel, Beavercreek, Ohio

It certainly appears that the Big 12 is going to stay at 10 - and that is 10 assuming Missouri leaves to join the SEC - at least for now. If the Big 12 wanted to get to 12, certainly could have taken Louisville along with West Virginia.

Maybe it’s because of the conference realignment mess, but USF has been quiet on securing future non-conference games. Would it be helpful to recruiting to secure some ACC and SEC games to show that the schedule will still be of interest?  Might even help secure fan interest since we need to develop a culture of traveling and selling tickets outside of Tampa.
Andrew, Tampa

USF had already booked its schedule through the next two seasons (2012, 2013), though that of course was counting on TCU coming into the conference in 2012, which now is not the case (TCU is joining the Big 12 instead). So right now the Bulls have an opening on the schedule in each of the next two seasons, though that’s likely to be taken care of when the Big East adds new members.

Not sure how much future schedules has regarding an impact on recruiting, but I know fans want to see big names on USF’s schedules. The Bulls have upcoming nonconference games against Michigan State (2013, 2017), Miami (2012, 2013), Florida State (2012), Indiana (2015, 2016) and N.C. State (2014), as well as a game with Florida that needs to be rescheduled. I think you’ll see some more action regarding future schedules once the Big East’s realignment plan is complete.

When will USF staff and Skip Holtz learn that recruiting average football athletes will constantly lead to our demise as a football team? With this poor recruiting annually and the pending demise of the Big East football conference where will USF land – Conference USA or Sun Belt Conference or independent?
Jimbo, Tampa

I think most recruiting pundits would agree that Holtz and his staff have put together a solid recruiting class for 2012 as it stands right now. The Bulls already have 12 commitments for a class that likely won’t include more than 17, and most of those recruits are rated in the 3 to 4-star range. The latest commit, Orlando Olympia defensive tackle James Hamilton, was previously an FSU pledge, yet he switched to the Bulls.

Be careful in thinking the amount of stars next to a recruits name will automatically lead to success. Just look at UCLA, which had top 15 recruiting classes from 2008-10 and a higher-rated class than USF last year, yet the 3-4 Bruins are on pace for their third losing season in the past four years (went 7-6 in 2009) with all those blue-chippers. Also, I think the Big East will be around for a little while longer, and I think USF will continue to be a member there.