Greg Auman

i will not be there today, but i'll check in with our bucs writers, and see if i can get an andre photo for the blog ... greg

hey all. tim jones is among the 28 undrafted rookies trying out at bucs minicamp, which starts today. terrence royal is also there, but that's already been reported ... both are listed as defensive ends ... greg www.sptimes.com/blogs/usf

I'd be very surprised if Peyton still wanted to go to Pitt. He was recruited to Pitt by then-offensive coordinator JD Brookhart, now the coach at Akron, and backed out of his commitment after Brookhart left for the Zips. Peyton didn't like the cold weather up there, either - not that Akron is much warmer in November. And if Peyton did want to go to Pitt, Leavitt wouldn't be blocking it; the Big East would be. New league rules do not allow any in-conference transfers in football or basketball under any circumstances.

interesting. it gets very tricky when an athlete on scholarship in another sport wants to play football. as i understand it, there's a rule -- called the Bear Bryant Rule informally -- that says if you want to play football and you're on an athletic scholarship, it has to be a football scholarship. basically, it's because they say bear bryant would use up all his football scholarships, then bring in athletes on scholarships in other sports. so now if a track athlete wants to play football, they either have to earn a football scholarship or give up their track scholarship. so good news for the track team -- which got a lot of good news today -- but might be tough for this signee to get on the football field ...

good post, sheriff. so unless louisville is able to reschedule the two games it had rained out earlier this year ... usf needs only to win three of its last four games to clinch the regular-season championship. (or two out of four with one loss each from louisville and notre dame) usf is 14-2, and they have the tiebreaker edge on l'ville at 13-3, having swept the cardinals. notre dame is 14-4, so they need two USF losses and two louisville losses to have even a share of first place ...

Tennessee and Texas both have better third-string tailbacks than the Bucs do ... Tennessee: Chris Brown, Travis Henry, LenDale White Texas: Domanick Davis, Jonathan Wells, Tony Hollings (2nd round/2004), Vernand Morency (3rd rd, 2005) Don't evaluate these teams based on their starters -- be realistic. Hall's an undrafted free agent -- he's not trying to start, he's trying to make a roster. So you put him up against the No. 3 tailback and see what his competition is ...

just fyi, players can be signed after may 17, but it's not a letter of intent after that date, it's a grant-in-aid, which is ultimately non-binding ...

It's still in wait-and-see mode. Talked with Mayfield's AAU coach today, and he plans on sitting down tonight and ironing out what schools he's going to consider, map out some official visits. USF is still in the mix, but the coach said they got "a million and one" calls from new schools after he got his release last week. Seems like Love is the more likely of the two, though he still has some academic hurdles to clear himself ...

Terrence has not signed with the Bucs. He's been invited to attend a rookie minicamp this week, from which the team is likely to sign a few players as undrafted free agents. Craig Kobel did the same thing last spring. Last year's rookie minicamp netted four signings, as I recall ...

presuming the bulls return all the scholarship players that are supposed to return, usf has one scholarship remaining for this signing period.

hey. i'm getting called out all over the place. have not heard anything on josh love, though i know his plan was to visit Texas-San Antonio this coming weekend before he made any decision ... i'll make another round of calls tonight to check on updates for him and on Jeremy Mayfield ... greg

hey. thanks for the idea. the wire, for what it's worth, only really picks up news items, like a signing or a firing or an arrest or something, but it's an interesting thought. even then, it's rare they acknowledge the newspaper unless it's something they can't confirm themselves ... if anything, andre hall not getting drafted reflects the norm for recent big east rushing champions. you guys know who led the big east in rushing in 2004? Connecticut's Cornell Brockington ... who finished third on his own team in rushing in 2005. he'll be a senior this fall, but i wouldn't expect him to be drafted ... how about 2003 champ Derrick Knight of Boston College? he rushed for 1,721 yards and wasn't drafted ... seeing the title of the thread, i feared a lot worse than a story suggestion, so i'm happy with this ...

bigbullsogold: three years? woolard hasn't even been at USF two years.

funny you should ask ... check the board ...

hey. frank davis signs with lions. more here ... sptimes.com/blogs/usf

glad to drop off the news. gruden initially addressed Hall as a possible signee, said they were on the phone with him, then moments later, he was talking about him as a member of the team. there's a lot more to andre's story on a more personal level for him, and we'll have more about that in tomorrow's paper ...

hey guys. bucs have signed andre hall to a free-agent contract. more to come soon ... sptimes.com/blogs/usf

sentinel had this on tuesday ... http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/knights/orl-ucf2506apr25,0,5114364.story?coll=orl-sports-headlines-knights

for sure. just making it clear it's not that the name is right and the orlando part is wrong ...

the story's supposed to be about UCF. they just got the name of the school wrong ...

sorry you guys missed that -- was on the front page of sports on monday. on the web, it got tagged as a bucs story, which is probably why it wasn't on the right team pages ...

these oklahoma signees really aren't transfers. it's not much different from a kid committing somewhere and then changing his mind. there's a ton of transfers on the roster, but these ones and solomon bozeman shouldn't count as transfers ...

one game ahead of Nova, two ahead of Pittsburgh with nine to play. makes the georgetown series awfully important ...

hey folks. this isn't on the official site, but figured i'd pass it along ... here's the release from USF ... Tampa, FL (April 24, 2006) – Former University of South Florida women’s basketball player Ezria Parsons (Bushnell, FL) has signed a free agent contact with the Charlotte Sting of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Sting is coached by former National Basketball Association standout Tyrone “Muggsy†Bouges and their general manager is former USF head coach Trudi Lacey (1988-96). “We wanted to add depth to our post position,†said Lacey. “Ezria is a very good rebounder and defensive player and possesses the athleticism we are looking for in a post player.†Parsons, who graduated in December with a degree in interdisciplinary social sciences, helped lead the Bulls to a 19-12 record and a 9-7 slate in their first year in the BIG EAST Conference this past season. At the conclusion of the regular season USF advanced to its first-ever NCAA Tournament earning a No. 9 seed in the Bridgeport Region where it faced USC in the first round in Norfolk, VA. “I am really excited to have this opportunity with the Charlotte Sting,†said Parsons. “I wasn’t really expecting this to happen, but not that it has I’m just going to do all of the little things and work hard to show the staff that I have what it takes to play against the talent in the WNBA.†“This is a great opportunity for Ezria,†said USF head coach Jose Fernandez. “She has the ability to defend, rebound, and play several positions, and I think her versatility, work ethic, and unselfishness on both ends of the floor will impress the Charlotte Sting organization.†Parsons played three years for the Bulls after transferring from Auburn following the 2001-02 campaign. She averaged a career high 8.9 points per game during her senior season, however it was on the glass where the six-foot forward excelled. Parsons led the team in rebounding, and was fifth in the BIG EAST, grabbing 8.5 boards per game. She grabbed double digit rebounds eight times during the 2005-06 campaign and a season high 14 twice against Florida International (Jan. 2) and No. 21/22 Notre Dame (Jan. 28). Parsons also became just the third player in school history – and the first since Wanda Guyton (1986-89) – to lead the team in rebounding in back-to-back seasons. Parsons is the second USF player to attend a WNBA training camp. She joins Guyton who played – and started – during the 1997 and 1998 seasons with the Houston Comets. Guyton was drafted in 1997 in the first round of the inaugural WNBA Draft with the fifth pick overall. During her time in Houston the former Bull won two straight World Championships with the Comets. She currently plays professionally in Germany. Parsons began training camp with the Sting on Monday.

Jeremy Burnett had a great spring and is one of the top four safeties in the mix (with Verpaele, Gachette and Williams) ... he's really the only senior at defensive back though ...