Does USF men's basketball have "Sleeping Giant" potential IF it can sustain some success?

[bulloni]

Tampa is the #13 TV market and has no NBA team and only 1 D1 men's basketball team within an hour of the city. 

The next biggest TV market with no NBA team and only 1 D1 basketball team within an hour of the city is Columbus Ohio at #32. But USF men's basketball is even more isolated than that, the next closest D1 university to Tampa is UCF, which is 104 miles away. To find a TV market that has no NBA team and only 1 D1 basketball team within 100 miles of the city you'd make it down to Albuquerque at #49. There is simply no comparable market that only has 1 show in town when it comes it men's hoops.

In football this isn't the biggest deal, since people have no problem driving 2-3 hours to their alma mater on a Saturday. But with much of basketball season happening on weeknights, if you want to go to a game you're staying close. 

USF basketball hasn't had back to back winning seasons since Seth Greenburg was coach 20 years ago. USF has never made back to back tourney's and has only appeared 3 times. Do you think if USF basketball strung together some success (3 straight NCAA tourney appearances with 1 of those being a sweet 16 run) the city would rally around them as Tampa's basketball team? Or is Tampa just not a basketball town and nothing sustainable would last (floor of program elevated, attendance never dips below 7/8k)

Edited July 7, 2023 by bulloni

[bulloni]

I realize the first part of this equation (serious sustained success for a few years) sounds impossible for this team, asking to suspend belief for the hypothetical...

[Brad]

And what a nice facility, the YC.  As a former USF coach said, we're pregnant with possibilities.

Re: the geography piece, I'm not sure how interested Tampa is in basketball.  When I lived there, I always sensed it was a football/baseball town.  

But, like anything else...win some games and good things happen.

[belgianbull]

12 minutes ago, bulloni said:

Tampa is the #13 TV market and has no NBA team and only 1 D1 men's basketball team within an hour of the city. 

The next biggest TV market with no NBA team and only 1 D1 basketball team within an hour of the city is Columbus Ohio at #32. But USF men's basketball is even more isolated than that, the next closest D1 university to Tampa is UCF, which is 104 miles away. To find a TV market that has no NBA team and only 1 D1 basketball team within 100 miles of the city you'd make it down to Albuquerque at #49. There is simply no comparable market that only has 1 show in town when it comes it men's hoops.

In football this isn't the biggest deal, since people have no problem driving 2-3 hours to their alma mater on a Saturday. But with much of basketball season happening on weeknights, if you want to go to a game you're staying close. 

USF basketball hasn't had back to back winning seasons since Seth Greenburg was coach 20 years ago. USF has never made back to back tourney's and has only appeared 3 times. Do you think if USF basketball strung together some success (3 straight NCAA tourney appearances with 1 of those being a sweet 16 run) the city would rally around them as Tampa's basketball team? Or is Tampa just not a basketball town and nothing sustainable would last (floor of program elevated, attendance never dips below 7/8k)

There is no reason why we shouldn't be in the NCAA tournament on a regular basis. Teams like FAU and Florida Gulf Coast have been to the Final 4 and Sweet 16. Its really inexplicable that we really have only had one verry good year in our history where we made a decent run in the tournament.

Will  people in the Tampa area rally around the team if we start winning ?  I think there will be some increased excitement like we saw in in 2007 for football.

Anything but being back in the NCAAT within 3 years would constitute failure in my opinion

Edited July 7, 2023 by belgianbull

[Gatorbull325]

Kasean Pryor is my favorite player so far. This should be a fun team to watch. 

[Mike Stuben]

If we win consistently, 1000 students a game is reasonable. 

Lets say there are 1000 people like me who are going every game, no matter what, because it is USF. 

I would argue 6500 in the YC = great atmosphere

That means we need 4500 on the bandwagon. Seems reasonable to me. 

[bulloni]

Its felt like the past few years a lot more guys from Florida made it to the league. My first thought was Dwight's Magic and the Big 3 Heat were so popular 10-15 years ago basketball grew in the state. Or that timeline might better line up with when parents started pushing their kids to basketball because of concussion worries with football. However after looking at the numbers...

In the last 6 years (18-23) 34 guys have made it to the NBA that went to high school in Florida. In the 6 years before (12-17) 12 guys made it to the NBA that went to high school in Florida.

That doesn't include any of the IMG/Montverde academy type kids either...That's an additional 33 guys in the last 6 years and 7 in the 6 years before that.

So it may be more closely related to all these elite basketball players moving to Florida to play at an academy, and local players playing against that level of talent more often whether it be in local games, practices, open gyms, camps, etc. it has been a "rising tide lifts all boats" scenario. Regardless, great to hear Amir will be focusing on local recruiting.

Edited July 7, 2023 by bulloni

[surfer]

On those rare occasions when USF men’s basketball has been relevant, the community has shown interest. I looked up some attendance stats from back in the day to see if I was hallucinating.

But no, there have been actual good crowds  from time to time.

They drew 9,737 for a game at Amalie against West Virginia in 2012.

Nearly 7,000 for a game against Cincinnati in the same year.

More than 6,300 at the Dome in 2013 against Notre Dame. About 6,500 in 2014 vs. Louisville and 7,231 in 2018 against UCF. Long-time USF watchers remember strong crowds for many games during the Lee Rose era. They had full houses (or nearly so) for compelling games during Bobby Paschal and Seth Greenberg’s time.

But here’s the rub: They gotta win. I don’t know why success has been so hard to sustain in MBB, but facts are facts. I am hopeful the new guy will turn things around because USF can win. And if that happens, the YingDome will be rocking. 

 

 

[Triple B]

50 minutes ago, Brad said:

And what a nice facility, the YC.  As a former USF coach said, we're pregnant with possibilities.

Re: the geography piece, I'm not sure how interested Tampa is in basketball.  When I lived there, I always sensed it was a football/baseball town.  

But, like anything else...win some games and good things happen.

The problem now is you've added hockey in there, further hindering by the seasons running concurrently, for all practical purposes. Sustained years of winning certainly couldn't hurt but, although they try the "Tampa's basketball team" thing, I'm with you about being not sure how interested Tampa is in basketball .... just for the sake of basketball.

My gut says even with the success the OP indicated, which I honestly can't wrap my mind around right now, I think we'd only average around 5K consistently ..... assuming  still in same conference. So I guess my answer to if the city would rally around them is no. I'm not sure the city would rally around the football team if they went on a tear and it would be less likely with hoops.

[Brad]

ASU has Bobby ******* Hurley and recruits top notch players in Pac12 and can only populate the stands when it's a top opponent (similar to the examples @surfer provides above).  One of the big differences there is a great student section.

5000 a game?  I'd take that, but every game.  A following.