College basketball

Bulls tackle Big East on little but faith

Snakebitten USF starts its first conference season with barely enough bodies to field a team.

By GREG AUMAN
Published January 5, 2006

TAMPA - Their numbers have dwindled, one by one, yet their expectations somehow haven't diminished.

Unforeseen departures and unrelenting injuries have taken away starters and erased their bench, yet their hope stubbornly hobbles along.

USF opens its first season of Big East basketball tonight at home against No. 24 West Virginia, looking up at a 16-team league that might be college hoops' toughest ever.

The Bulls (6-7) were picked to finish last, and that was before they lost their starting point guard, then his replacement, then his replacement. Before they buried a friend, lost to cancer at 22, who had lined up as their teammate before last season.

The Bulls suit up tonight with five healthy starters and four reserves who combine for zero career points. Two were recruited from a five-man squad that scrimmaged in November against the USF women's team.

Coach Robert McCullum said his players have handled such adversity as well as he could hope, but he realizes even his team's best efforts might not be enough to win some nights.

"It's difficult for me to accept that," he said. "How do you walk out and say, "Okay, guys, we know we can't beat this team, we know we can't beat that team. It's okay if we turn it over 25, 30 times a game because I know you're trying. We know we're going to finish last?' I can't do that. It might not be realistic, but I feel like I'd be cheating them if I demanded less."

When you've lost to Bethune-Cookman, Florida International and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, taking on the Big East requires a little fearlessness.

"Coach always tells us we have to find a way," senior center Solomon Jones said. "It's what we have to do, instead of thinking what we could do if we had this player or this player. Nobody expects us to win any games from here on out, so we just have to plan on a lot of upsets."

And plan on playing 40 minutes. Senior guard James Holmes, the Bulls' leading scorer at 19.6 points per game, has averaged 39.5 minutes, and his teammates share the challenge of playing their best without any break, knowing foul trouble isn't an option, either.

"You come in knowing you're going to play 40 minutes against the best competition in the nation," junior forward Melvin Buckley said. "You can't think about it. It's too stressful. It's tough, but it's what you have to do."

Injuries also have forced players into new positions. Buckley, ideally, is a small forward with the range to play some guard, but he has been forced to line up at power forward and even center, all while nursing a strained groin. Holmes, a natural shooting guard, will man the point tonight. Still, they think they're in a position to surprise.

"We have enough talent within this five- or six-player rotation to pull off a lot of upsets," Buckley said. "We can come in with a sense of confidence, knowing if we play defense as well as we can, we can do that."

The Bulls haven't had depth to boast of in any of McCullum's three seasons, but when Holmes is tired during a game, he remembers his sophomore season, when guard Bradley Mosley played all 40 minutes in 12 of the last 14 games. Mosley died in October after a yearlong battle with kidney cancer, and his desire to return to the game continues to motivate his teammates to persist beyond normal limits.

It's one thing to have a walk-on, junior Chris Capko, playing 35 minutes of point guard each night, but the Bulls likely won't even have him tonight. He has been fitted with a protective mask, having broken his nose and sustained a concussion in Friday's loss to UAB. The team is still hopeful guard Collin Dennis (Achilles) and forward Zaronn Cann (left knee) can return from injuries that could lead to medical redshirts for both.

For now, McCullum's bench starts with another walk-on, fan favorite Roodly Prophete, who has 45 minutes of court time, an eternity compared to three reserves who have logged a combined six minutes. Two of them, Jonathan Willis and Eddie Lovett, helped keep the women's team sharp in November scrimmages.

Tonight, they might suit up against a team that was a shot away from last year's Final Four. At least they're healthy.

"Every single player, we've asked them to do something they've never done before," McCullum said. "It might be being a go-to guy, or playing 35 minutes a game, or averaging in double figures. They're all doing things for the first time, and they've done all that I could ask of them."

[Last modified January 5, 2006, 01:18:19]