Good News from Greg's Blog

[TyBull]

October 02, 2006

Lake Wales' Jones commits to USF hoops

USF coach Robert McCullum has his first oral commitment of the 2006-07 recruiting season, getting a pledge over the weekend from Dominique Jones, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound combo guard from Lake Wales. Lots more to follow on this one ...

Jones can help the Bulls at both guard positions -- he has played primarily the point in summer play with the Florida Elite AAU team, but also has the scoring ability to play shooting guard in the Big East. He's being reported as light as 175 pounds, but if anything his thickness and strength are a major asset for USF's backcourt. Even with all of USF's guards except former walk-on Chris Capko expected to return for the 2007-08 season, Jones can be an impact player in improving the Bulls' backcourt.

The Bulls also got an official visit this weekend from Dustin Scott, a 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward from Tallahassee Community College, but Scott has not made a decision yet. He has offers from Georgia, Maryland, Arizona State, Oklahoma and UNLV, among others, according to TCC coach Eddie Barnes, but his two schools he's considering most are Virginia Commonwealth and USF. VCU has former Gators assistant Anthony Grant as coach, but the Bulls are in strong position for a player whose versatility -- as both a strong rebounder and a perimeter shooting threat -- creates all kinds of mismatches defensively. Signing him would be a major step to offsetting the upcoming losses of senior forwards Melvin Buckley and McHugh Mattis.

[TyBull]

Does this mean that he is playing this upcoming year?

[Greg Auman]

No -- he's signing this year. He's a current high school senior, won't play for USF until the 2007-08 season. I'll go back in and make that more clear ...

[TyBull]

No -- he's signing this year. He's a current high school senior, won't play for USF until the 2007-08 season. I'll go back in and make that more clear ...

Dang! We need help this year

[Greg Auman]

The only way to bring in somebody live for basketball in January is a high school signee who can graduate early, or a recruit who graduated and was eligible but didn't sign and maybe went to a prep school instead. McCullum has made no indications of adding any more scholarship players to play this season -- you don't want to make a four-year investment in somebody who isn't spoken for six months after graduation ...