Colleges

Fleck's reward as tasty as pie

By GREG AUMAN
Published April 19, 2006

TAMPA - Soupy Sales has nothing on Logan Fleck.

On Tuesday afternoon, the USF women's soccer coach held an audience outside the Bulls' athletic facility for an annual tradition. Each year, as the spring semester winds down and exams approach, Fleck rewards his players who held a 3.0 grade-point average the previous semester.

One by one, they can line up and throw a whipped-cream pie in his face.

"After about the fourth one, they sting in your eyes a little," said Fleck, still cleaning the remnants of his team's academic success from his ears, eyebrows and beard. "It's just a motivational tool, my way of congratulating them, but I think they thoroughly enjoy it."

For senior Michelle Buskey, this marked her third pie-throwing, a strange but effective tool to motivate the Wharton graduate majoring in public relations, or at least to make her smile.

"I think every student-athlete would love to have this opportunity once a year," Buskey said. "It's not that we want to throw a pie at our coach's head, but it motivates us to do well. It's a way for him to encourage us at the end of the semester."

In all, 22 of Fleck's 29 players earned their paper plates Tuesday. The team carried a 3.27 GPA last fall, but Fleck wants even more of a mess next year.

"We started talking. Is a 4.0 worth two pies? If the kids can get a 4.0, do they deserve a pie in their face?" he said. "They're just thinking, "Let's see if we can get some on top of his head.' "

STOP ON BY: USF hosts the Big East's men's and women's tennis championships, which start Thursday on campus, and the Bulls are also hosts for both conference golf tournaments this weekend at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club in eastern Pasco County.

Women's tennis might have the best shot at a league crown, seeded second of 12 teams behind only Notre Dame, the defending league champ and ranked No. 2 nationally. USF's men are seeded fifth, but the Bulls have dropped seven straight since losing top singles player Dirk Britzen to injury and ineligibility.

USF hosted the tennis tournaments last spring before the Bulls were in the Big East, and the league returns to Tampa for its championships in 2007.

The golf tournament brings 12 men's and seven women's teams to Lake Jovita. Aside from USF there's another local presence: Louisville freshman Cindy LaCrosse, a Plant graduate.

FIRMING UP: Continuing to invest more in marketing and promotions, USF athletics is expected to announce this week a partnership with FKQ Advertising and Marketing, a Clearwater firm that boasts the Lightning and Bucs among its clients.

The Bulls will have a new logo commemorating the program's 10 years in college football, and that logo will be integrated into merchandise this fall. A new campaign titled "Make Your Mark!" will be carried throughout promotions for USF athletics in the upcoming sports seasons.

RECRUITING: Hillsborough defensive lineman Leslie Stirrups, one of the most touted prospects in USF's recruiting class, continues to try to meet NCAA eligibility requirements, but if he can't, he already has discussed the possibility of going to a junior college such as Northeast Mississippi or Butler County (Kansas), according to Hillsborough coach Earl Garcia.

THIS AND THAT: Former Seminole High linebacker Frank Wintrich, a graduate assistant with the strength and conditioning program, has left to become head strength coach at The Citadel. ... Volleyball players Kristina Fabris and Johari Williams accepted invitations to play for a U.S. national team in the Netherlands June 5-14. Former USF coach Nancy Mueller, now at Illinois-Chicago, coaches the team. ... USF's Nov. 4 home football game against Pittsburgh has been selected as homecoming, and it's fitting as USF goes four weeks between home games before hosting the Panthers.

Greg Auman covers USF athletics. He can be reached at auman@sptimes.com Check out his "USF Bulletin" blog online at www.sptimes.com/blogs/usf

[Last modified April 19, 2006, 01:59:13]