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

[Bull Matrix]

12 minutes ago, Cubanbull said:

It will take winning consistently for a few years. But here is the thing, I was there when SunDome first opened and we were decent during Lee Rose years playing in SunBelt and we had good attendance. I think 7k per game is doable. 

Heck yeah!! 7k to 10k is where we should be at. Especially if we get the ACC invite with all those power basketball programs 

[Dave_Glaser]

There’s already a precedent for this. When we had our three glory years - 1989-1992 - average attendance was growing annually. In 1991-92 it topped 7,100 per game. If we had kept that going, tickets at the Sun Dome would have reached a premium. And we weren’t playing in the Big East or the ACC. That was Sun Belt/Metro Conference days. Just win.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Dave_Glaser

[MaltLiquorBull]

Make the NCAA tournament regularly.  Nobody (outside of the core base) cares about teams who don’t/can’t make it to the dance.

[SilverBull]

1 hour ago, Dave_Glaser said:

There’s already a precedent for this. When we had our three glory years - 1989-1992 - average attendance was growing annually. In 1991-92 it topped 7,100 per game. If we had kept that going, tickets at the Sun Dome would have reached a premium. And we weren’t playing in the Big East or the ACC. That was Sun Belt/Metro Conference days. Just win.

 

Good times.  I miss the Metro.

[WoolyBully]

22 minutes ago, MaltLiquorBull said:

Make the NCAA tournament regularly.  Nobody (outside of the core base) cares about teams who don’t/can’t make it to the dance.

Remind me to put you in for an award.

Part of the phrase sleeping giant, is the word giant. Not giant killer who occasionally (upsets) knocks off real giants, but a team that becomes a true giant. And when it comes to basketball, that means you go toe-to-toe with Duke, UNC, Ohio State, UCLA, Kansas and Kentucky. Put something like that together. Then you're in the land of the giants. Making it to the quarterfinals in the AAC is across town from having to worry about bumping your head against the door frame. 

[SilverBull]

2 hours ago, Triple B said:

5 hours ago, WoolyBully said:

So yeah, start winning and Tampa will rally around you. Not just sporadic wins...regular winning and always contending. Until then, no.

As much as I'd like to be, still not a buyer on this and hope to be proven wrong some day. I think the students and already USF sports fans would probably rally but as far as the Tampa Joe Donuts you referred to, don't see a total buy in. There would be spurts of interest but don't see anything on a game in, game out basis .......................... unless Matrix is a psychic, meaning we have this success in the ACC.

 

2 hours ago, CousinRicky said:

I know it was a long time ago, but I doubt those 56k people in Ray Jay watching WVU were all USF fans. The next game against UCF was a sellout but the place wasn't full. And then after the loss at Rutgers, poof, they were gone. Unless we're Top 20 playing a Top 10 or 15 team the non USF Tampa crowd probably won't show but it has happened.

College football and college basketball are two completely different animals in Tampa.  Attendance for Tampa's sports teams is a complicated mix of the sport, venue location and quality, success and the prestige and regional base of opposing teams.  Winning has been a magic bullet for the Rays.  That said, sustained success of the basketball and football teams would go a long way to filling the YC.  It seems not that long ago that we would have a good football season only to faceplant in basketball and when we would do relatively in basketball it would come on the heels of a dismal performance in football.  Get them both winning and things will begin to percolate.  We desperately need to build some overall program momentum.

[Dave_Glaser]

3 hours ago, SilverBull said:

Good times.  I miss the Metro.

 

[Gatorbull325]

On 7/7/2023 at 3:24 PM, 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)

I looked up last year's scoring averages from our transfers and returning players. I think the difference in CAAR's recruiting is he is finding starters from other schools. We have 6 transfers coming over that scored in double figures. Also, everybody on this list were 40% shooters. A few 40% 3pt shooters as well. I'm excited about this upcoming team. 

2023 Transfers				Previous Stop/Last year at USF		PPG	RPG
Kasen Jennings	Guard	Kennesaw State	6-3	202	Sr.	10.3	3
Selton Miguel	Guard	K-State	6-4	210	Jr.	5	5
Kobe Knox	Guard	Grand Canyon University	6-5	195	R-So.	5.3	2
Jose Placer	Guard	UNF	6-1	184	R-Sr.	14
Brandon Stroud	Guard	Kennesaw State	6-6	200	Sr.	9.2	6.5
Chris Youngblood	Guard	Kennesaw State	6-4	218	Sr.	13.9	5.3
Corey Walker Jr.	Forward	Tennessee	6-8	215	Jr.	5.5	4.7
Sam Hines Jr.	Forward	Denver University	6-6	215	Jr.	6.8	5.5
Malique Ewin	Forward/Center	Ole Miss	6-10	220	So.	1.4	1.1
David Ogunleye	Forward	Chabot College	6-9		Jr.	10.7	6.9
Kasean Pryor	Forward	Boise State/Northwest Florida State	6-10	200	Jr.	15	8

[Triple B]

18 hours ago, Gatorbull325 said:

I looked up last year's scoring averages from our transfers and returning players. I think the difference in CAAR's recruiting is he is finding starters from other schools. We have 6 transfers coming over that scored in double figures. Also, everybody on this list were 40% shooters. A few 40% 3pt shooters as well. I'm excited about this upcoming team. 

 

2023 Transfers				Previous Stop/Last year at USF		PPG	RPG
Kasen Jennings	Guard	Kennesaw State	6-3	202	Sr.	10.3	3
Selton Miguel	Guard	K-State	6-4	210	Jr.	5	5
Kobe Knox	Guard	Grand Canyon University	6-5	195	R-So.	5.3	2
Jose Placer	Guard	UNF	6-1	184	R-Sr.	14
Brandon Stroud	Guard	Kennesaw State	6-6	200	Sr.	9.2	6.5
Chris Youngblood	Guard	Kennesaw State	6-4	218	Sr.	13.9	5.3
Corey Walker Jr.	Forward	Tennessee	6-8	215	Jr.	5.5	4.7
Sam Hines Jr.	Forward	Denver University	6-6	215	Jr.	6.8	5.5
Malique Ewin	Forward/Center	Ole Miss	6-10	220	So.	1.4	1.1
David Ogunleye	Forward	Chabot College	6-9		Jr.	10.7	6.9
Kasean Pryor	Forward	Boise State/Northwest Florida State	6-10	200	Jr.	15	8

CBG brought in plenty who'd averaged double figures at previous schools but all didn't pan out here. Hopefully CAAR's able to tap in to his .... and the rest.

[Brad]

1 minute ago, Triple B said:

CBG brought in plenty who'd averaged double figures at previous schools but all didn't pan out here. Hopefully CAAR's able to tap in to his .... and the rest.

I'm hoping Coach runs an offense that creates opportunity on offense.  I bet he does.