USF vs UCF: Preview and game thread

[Vega]

After going to the basketball game last night, I can no longer make fun of UCF as being a worse place than ours.  As we drove on campus the first thing we saw was huge fraternity houses- LOSS there.  They have a great little downtown area close to the athletic district for people to go to before and after the game-LOSS there.  They have their own football stadium on campus- say what you want LOSS there.  They have a brand new 100 million dolllar arena for basketball, which is as nice as I have seen in college hoops- LOSS there.  Their student section was easily 2000 strong and stood and cheered all game- LOSS there.  The real seats cheered just as loud as the students and were full- LOSS there.  Crater shot an airball in the first five minutes of the game, and got heckled the rest of the game, all game.  I could not of been more impressed with the atmosphere on campus, and I hate UCF.  They have overpassed us by far as a cool place.  I see why we lose recruits there.  If I was a kid in high school right now, I would go there instead of USF.

It pains me to write this!!!!!!!!!!!!

They hired Donnie Jones who is a great recruiter and had been beating Stan for kids at Marshall and at UCF already. - LOSS

[Vega]

Well they certainly outplayed a Big East team.  About as close as they'll get to an NCAA tourney win this season.

I don't know if they will make the NCAAT this season or not but I tell you thus, under Donnie Jones UCF will be making the NCAAT in the near future. Of course that's if Jones doesn't leave for a better job first. The guy can coach and he can flat out recruit. As a USF fan I can only dream about having that here, especially the recruiting.

Yeah...not sure UCF will make the NCAA or even the NIT this year...but UCF should have a good shot at the CBI (or whatever that other tourn is called).

Next year though UCF will have a lot more talent and athletic ability...as Jones is bring in a solid UCF Recruiting Class...(see link below):

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/school/_/id/2116

Whats even more impressive...is that class doesn't include (on paper), former Top 100 player Travis Spurlock from UVA...or big man Crittle from Oregon...both of which are sitting out this year for transferring. (Also, Jeff Jordan from Illinois is sitting out...and while he is a good defender, who won't have the same impact as Spurlock or Crittle).

Donnie Jones is and always has been a "recruiting machine"...as the only question was his gameday coaching ability...which still might even be somewhat unknown/unproven so early in his HC career.

UCF just needs to survive/grow during this season...which should lay the groundwork for next year's team...and with increased fan support and fun atmospheres at games...that makes a huge impression during game visits by potential recruits.

He was a great hire by your athletic department. In fact there was concern within the USF coaches office about Donnie Jones coming back to Florida. That I know for as fact to be true. I think the fears are being realized by USF not only this past early signing period when UCF got two players that USF offered and wanted(especially Days) but on the court now as well. That was a very bad lost for USF last night in more ways then one.

[cmhatter]

Jason King: South Florida (1-1) – The Bulls may regret giving Stan Heath that contract extension.

Didn't know Heath's job performance was being questioned by the national media already or I would have posted this after the weak win over St Francis.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=All_HwSen3sA9TVZIiZ5UizevbYF?slug=jn-bigeast111710

Vega, seriously, give it a ******* break. He's NOT going anywhere for a minimum of two years ... and calling some dweeb on Rivals posting a one liner "being questioned by the national media" is ridiculous. I'll repeat what I said elsewhere: It does absolutely no good to entertain these thoughts right now. We're coming off our best year in a decade or longer ... Stan's contract just got extended through 2015 ... Basketball players tend to be content to just transfer rather than try to get their coach fired. Stan's the Man for a while and these Fantasy Island type scenarios do nothing but stir up the unwashed masses.

You predicted they'd lose to UCF by 20, they only lost by 6. I realize this must be the first you've been wrong, ever, but don't take it out on Stan just because he did better than you thought he would ... 

i think you mean heath doesn't lose his mind, bash his head against helmets, and slap his players...

i forgot it was just a big conspiracy by a group of disgruntled players LOL

but no, heath is staying and did a pretty good job last year. Lets get these new facilities going and see what heath can do.

[Triple B]

Jason King: South Florida (1-1) – The Bulls may regret giving Stan Heath that contract extension.

Didn't know Heath's job performance was being questioned by the national media already or I would have posted this after the weak win over St Francis.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=All_HwSen3sA9TVZIiZ5UizevbYF?slug=jn-bigeast111710

Vega, seriously, give it a ******* break. He's NOT going anywhere for a minimum of two years ... and calling some dweeb on Rivals posting a one liner "being questioned by the national media" is ridiculous. I'll repeat what I said elsewhere: It does absolutely no good to entertain these thoughts right now. We're coming off our best year in a decade or longer ... Stan's contract just got extended through 2015 ... Basketball players tend to be content to just transfer rather than try to get their coach fired. Stan's the Man for a while and these Fantasy Island type scenarios do nothing but stir up the unwashed masses.

You predicted they'd lose to UCF by 20, they only lost by 6. I realize this must be the first you've been wrong, ever, but don't take it out on Stan just because he did better than you thought he would ... 

i think you mean heath doesn't lose his mind, bash his head against helmets, and slap his players...

i forgot it was just a big conspiracy by a group of disgruntled players LOL

Since he also had recently signed a new contract, I was just heading off any comparisons before they started ... 

but no, heath is staying and did a pretty good job last year. Lets get these new facilities going and see what heath can do.

CSH, like the Coach Who Shall Go Nameless, doesn't have a lifetime contract. Get the new bells and whistles up and running and see what happens ... but, down the line, if he doesn't get the job done, plug in somebody else ...

[outrunner]

A couple of points. Rompza is  a polarizing player..hate 'em if he is against you and love him if he plays for your team. Yes, he plays for the school I support so i like him but what you can never take away from him is his hustle and effort on D. When I played ..many decades ago, i always admired the good d players, because D takes efffort...you can never take  a play off.... If you guys had Ropmza, you would have won by 25.

Allow me to amend my comments on Rompza.  As a player, I wish I could replace Crater with him.  Rompza is an athlete and plays hard all the time.  My problem with him is his attitude. I've seen him play a couple of times, and everytime there is a call that goes against UCF, he's looking at the ref with this look on his face. Like last night at the end of the game, there was a bit of a scramble and things got a little chippy, he got bumped and then flopped to the court acting as if he had been assaulted and broke something, and as soon as the foul was called got up, jumped around and made hi free-throws.  I just cannot respect anyone who does that, especially when he is a talented player.

[SattyBull]

I wish our student would come out to support the team the way UCF's student body does for basketball.

I really don't get it, the kids are pretty much the same at UCF as at USF. It's just a general culture of indifference towards USF basketball. Also, as a student going to the Student seating at the Sun Dome sucks. Two sections in the lower bowl together and half of one of those sections is for players families/friends. The rest are put into 3 2nd level sections which are broken up. Way too much confusion for students on where to sit, etc. The layout changes all the time. You have to have a 1st level ticket to get in the first level, which means even if there are empty seats down low in the student section, you still can't get in if you don't have that lower bowl ticket. There are a lot more students at most games than people think, however they're just mixed in with the regular fans in the 2nd level.

USF needs to start from scratch because obviously what they are doing is not working. My idea: Give the students ALL of C1,D1, E1 like UF does, as well as maybe C2. Put players families/friends in P1, and move visiting fans to E2. I don't think it'd hurt to try?

[footnfan1]

A couple of points. Rompza is  a polarizing player..hate 'em if he is against you and love him if he plays for your team. Yes, he plays for the school I support so i like him but what you can never take away from him is his hustle and effort on D. When I played ..many decades ago, i always admired the good d players, because D takes efffort...you can never take  a play off.... If you guys had Ropmza, you would have won by 25.

Allow me to amend my comments on Rompza.  As a player, I wish I could replace Crater with him.  Rompza is an athlete and plays hard all the time.  My problem with him is his attitude. I've seen him play a couple of times, and everytime there is a call that goes against UCF, he's looking at the ref with this look on his face. Like last night at the end of the game, there was a bit of a scramble and things got a little chippy, he got bumped and then flopped to the court acting as if he had been assaulted and broke something, and as soon as the foul was called got up, jumped around and made hi free-throws.  I just cannot respect anyone who does that, especially when he is a talented player.

Yeah,  I totally get it. Rompza will always be known as the guy that brought 1) emotion to our games, 2) and a guy named Marcus, since they knew each other prior to UCF. I saw the flop...I guess it works for him, but I understand. He probably played soccer as a kid.....

Go Knights

[SilverBull]

I wish our student would come out to support the team the way UCF's student body does for basketball.

I wish our team would come out and support the fans the way UCF's did last night. 

I was there, as I almost always am, and saw not only another loss but also yet another dismal effort out of this bunch.  Seriously, I've been a fan of USF basketball since 1972 and it is always two steps forward and four steps backward.  While I think Heath is an upgrade over the recent past coaches and I don't expect us to be in the elite of the Big East, there really is no reason we shouldn't be better than UCF and we are not.  The excuses are wearing a little thin.  Next year they will have the improved practice facilities.  Hopefully, soon, we will have the SunDome upgrades in place.  If that doesn't lend itself to better recruiting and better performance on the court then maybe it's time rethink.

[abababa]

I wish our student would come out to support the team the way UCF's student body does for basketball.

I really don't get it, the kids are pretty much the same at UCF as at USF. It's just a general culture of indifference towards USF basketball. Also, as a student going to the Student seating at the Sun Dome *****. Two sections in the lower bowl together and half of one of those sections is for players families/friends. The rest are put into 3 2nd level sections which are broken up. Way too much confusion for students on where to sit, etc. The layout changes all the time. You have to have a 1st level ticket to get in the first level, which means even if there are empty seats down low in the student section, you still can't get in if you don't have that lower bowl ticket. There are a lot more students at most games than people think, however they're just mixed in with the regular fans in the 2nd level.

USF needs to start from scratch because obviously what they are doing is not working. My idea: Give the students ALL of C1,D1, E1 like UF does, as well as maybe C2. Put players families/friends in P1, and move visiting fans to E2. I don't think it'd hurt to try?

I was trying to think of why there is such a difference in student interest between the two schools. Both have similar types of students. I think UCF has more south Florida kids while USF has more central Florida kids but that shouldn't make a difference.

I think the biggest difference is UCF has 2k kids within a 1 min walk of the arena and they made it sort of a pre-going out event on campus. My roommate is a UCF alum and he said everyone goes to the games to get their night started. That athletic area UCF built has paid massive dividends for UCF so quickly.

[Cow Pie]

Found this on the net...