USF gets basketball commit

[smazza]

he looks 25

thanks howiep and sbien

sbien- are you happy with mac's first recruitng class.i am but mine is not an uniformed opinion

[Velcro]

I love that Mac has been bringing in shooters... rather than just athletes.  We've always been burned by other teams deadly shooters (charlotte, marquette, cincy, lville, etc).

I love it!

[Papa_Bull]

My biggest concern is everybody just staying HEALTHY for a change.  :-/

[Velcro]

that would be a nice thing, wouldn't it?  

That alone would probably account for 1 or 2 more wins.

I hope Marlyn can recover from his injuries... 2 torn acl's is tough... and not getting any redshirt help kinda sucks.

[Papa_Bull]

USF needs players who can start and contribute from day one. Marius is a mature player who has already been a star on his national team which made it to the finals. He won't be intimidated by playing in C-USA or the BE. Remember, Coach MAC was also a coach on the National USA team which barely beat Lithuania, and I'm sure is very familliar with what he can do. I'm very happy with his choice.

[Velcro]

good point... instant impact... i think every pickup thus far by mac has been a player that can and will contribute right away in some form.  

Especially Dennis and Jones (if jones can get his grades in order)

[Markeymark]

I don't know how you can say Dennis will be an immediate contributor - we are already deep at guard, and he's still in High School. So what if he made all-district or whatever, that's pretty much a given for any D-1 recruit. There is always an adjustment from HS to this level of play that takes the better part of a full season, and that's assuming he beats out upperclassmen for playing time.

I'm sure everybody here wants us to do well and is hoping for the best out of the new players, but try to keep things in perspective...

[Velcro]

I woudn't say we are deep at guard...  Swift may be a senior this coming year, but he's an aweful defender imho, and Dennis is lauded for his quickness and long arms...  Swift is a very good shooter, but Dennis will likely be the type of defender that Marlyn was for us... put him on the other teams best 1 or 2.

This is speculation, but defense is our focus and Swift is a liability in that area.

[Markeymark]

and Dennis is lauded for his quickness and long arms...

Lauded at the HS level, so any comparisons to quickness at the CUSA level are at worst premature and at best speculative.

I will be satisfied with nothing less than improvement over players we have now, but I don't expect HS kids to come in and beat out upper-classmen for playing time.

Anyway, Mccullum doesn't strike me as a coach who will throw Freshmen right into the fray, if Diarra is any indication...

[Papa_Bull]

Oh he can play.  The word that's come out of Bullseye website is he's a sharp shooter with an ability to rebound, and very good at handling the rock.  He had firm offers from New Mexico (usually good basketball), WSU, Hawaii, and many others.

He is a full 6-5, and gives us a combo guy that can handle the rock, and create mismatches.  He starred for the Lithuanian National Team, and will playing for them again this summer.  He averaged almost 17pts, 4.5 assists, and 4 rebounds a game- as a freshman!

Here are his stats from the 2003 Junior National Championship against stiff competition:

http://www.galanissportsdata.com/Galanis/Basketball/WJM/GroupG/a1teamrs.asp?t=14