How Leather ended up at USF.....

[wagers]

Brad had asked few weeks back on the story of how Leather ended up at USF.

Here it goes.....

- His senior year, he grew 3 inches to 6'9".....at that time Ted Owens (former KU coach living in the area....AD at St. Leo) told a bunch of his coaching friends about  his talent.  Calipari even flew a private jet down here to see him in person

-TL was short on his SAT/ACT but had the grades.  On his last try he made it.....the story is well documented on how he gave up his lunch hours at Robinson to be tutuored for this test (for about 2 months or so).  

-Once he qualified many schools tried to get in late again and recruit him.  Memphis, USF, E. Carolina, UCF.....ect.

-USF was recruiting Johnnie Selvie.....but he ended up picking UCONN.  

-Seth closed fast but it was not without a battle.  TL didn't care about going bigtime and nearly ended up at UCF with the Graham twins, since they played AAU ball together.  This was at the same time USF offered Joey Graham, but not Steven Graham (which to this day is crazy).  Clemson offered Stevie, Alabama offered Joey....but no school had room for both.  Steven Graham even told USF that he would 'walk on' for one year if needed.  Seth thought they played the same position and I guess he didn't want to deal with that one year later.  TL and the twins nearly went to UCF all together......could you imagine that??

Also in the picture was E. Carolina....they recruited him hard and Erroyll Bing.  Bing had already signed after turning down Clemson.....Clemson was littered with drugs on the hoops team and it turned Bing off to them.  Thus E. Carolina was a good chance to escape the Central Park projects where TL lived.  

USF came on strong and TL's close ties to his mom won out and ended up at USF in the end.

TL had a couple of rough first years here.  He was a small forward and Seth forced him under the basket to let Tron and BB do their things.  Really, TL was a 3 who could shoot the 3.  Seth never really let him do that here.  Seth did stick with him and Coach Yank should be credited for teaching him the low post game.  

It's a shame that Coach Yank is still not coaching here....he was very good.

Now TL is duplicating what he did in high school and now everyone likes his game....when at first it was severely questioned.

That's the story of TL's recruitment.......

[bulls96go]

thank you!

[Brad]

Thanks wagers...I appreciate you taking the time to provide that info.

I recalled the situation being sort of a late effort for TL and also remember you touting TL's skills long before he surfaced as a USF signee - when everyone else was talking about some of the other recruits you mention.

[JeffreyBEllis]

Brad had asked few weeks back on the story of how Leather ended up at USF.

Here it goes.....

- His senior year, he grew 3 inches to 6'9".....at that time Ted Owens (former KU coach living in the area....AD at St. Leo) told a bunch of his coaching friends about  his talent.  Calipari even flew a private jet down here to see him in person

-TL was short on his SAT/ACT but had the grades.  On his last try he made it.....the story is well documented on how he gave up his lunch hours at Robinson to be tutuored for this test (for about 2 months or so).  

-Once he qualified many schools tried to get in late again and recruit him.  Memphis, USF, E. Carolina, UCF.....ect.

-USF was recruiting Johnnie Selvie.....but he ended up picking UCONN.  

-Seth closed fast but it was not without a battle.  TL didn't care about going bigtime and nearly ended up at UCF with the Graham twins, since they played AAU ball together.  This was at the same time USF offered Joey Graham, but not Steven Graham (which to this day is crazy).  Clemson offered Stevie, Alabama offered Joey....but no school had room for both.  Steven Graham even told USF that he would 'walk on' for one year if needed.  Seth thought they played the same position and I guess he didn't want to deal with that one year later.  TL and the twins nearly went to UCF all together......could you imagine that??

Also in the picture was E. Carolina....they recruited him hard and Erroyll Bing.  Bing had already signed after turning down Clemson.....Clemson was littered with drugs on the hoops team and it turned Bing off to them.  Thus E. Carolina was a good chance to escape the Central Park projects where TL lived.  

USF came on strong and TL's close ties to his mom won out and ended up at USF in the end.

TL had a couple of rough first years here.  He was a small forward and Seth forced him under the basket to let Tron and BB do their things.  Really, TL was a 3 who could shoot the 3.  Seth never really let him do that here.  Seth did stick with him and Coach Yank should be credited for teaching him the low post game.  

It's a shame that Coach Yank is still not coaching here....he was very good.

Now TL is duplicating what he did in high school and now everyone likes his game....when at first it was severely questioned.

That's the story of TL's recruitment.......

Thank you, wagers.

Terrence Leather is perfectly suited for South Florida where he could earn a distinguished undergraduate degree and become a star performer in Conference USA.

While I was quite saddened to learn that Leather had not committed to my other collegiate alma mater, I was pleased that South Florida had earned the young man's commitment.

Best of luck to Mr. Leather, personally and professionally, beyond his undergraduate tenure in the Tampa Bay region.

[RagingBull]

I was one of those who said he had hands of stone and couldn't shoot. I also said he appeared to be best in the low post. All that was based on how he played early on. Clearly his game has developed very well and he has grown into his body.

He is a tremendous player and I am the first to admit I couldn't see his potential. Good eye, Wagers.

All the power to him and his mother.

Go Bulls.

[ChiTownBull]

thanks for the info wagers

[Guest S.  Bien]

wagers is the man.  I give the guy mad props who told a bunch of us, including myself, we were crazy in not seeing the potential in the Graham Twins and Leather.  He was also high on Bing, and a few other locals that Seth conveniently passed on.

Wagers would have done Seth a lot of good as a recruiting advisor.  Listen to wagers Seth instead of chasing these national pipedreams and we could have had a team consisting of Leather, the Twins, and Bing.  A pretty darn good nucleus.

Love ya wagers, and you the basketball MAN!

[sdgukhsdgl]

the same graham twins who are being touted as big time NBA prospects...    :