Colleges

McCullum should not be in peril,players say

USF's AD won't discuss the coach's job status as Big East losses mount.

By GREG AUMAN
Published February 17, 2007

TAMPA - USF senior Melvin Buckley has heard the questions about Robert McCullum, has had fans ask him if this season's team has shown enough improvement to keep the Bulls coach around for another season.

"My response to that would be 'Why?' " Buckley said. "If you look at all the programs in the Big East, all of them have more years of basketball tradition than we have as an institution.

"For a guy to come in here and do what he's been able to do - look at everything, at guys getting their degrees, cleaning up the program's image - I really don't think job security is a problem."

McCullum hasn't talked about his future with athletic director Doug Woolard - "not a single conversation," the coach said - and Woolard isn't commenting, citing a policy of not publicly evaluating coaches during a season.

One year after a 7-22 season that saw USF open Big East play 0-15 and finish last, McCullum's Bulls are 12-14 and 3-9 in league play, still hoping to make the Big East tournament as they head into tonight's home game against DePaul.

"That would be a great accomplishment," said McCullum, who is 40-71 in the fourth of his six-year contract.

"If we did that, we'd be doubling the number of wins we had from last season with several more conference wins. With the nucleus we have coming back ... I think it certainly points in the right direction. But that's just my perspective."

Woolard's perspective is un-clear.

"Woolard said there needs to be a marked ... a significant improvement," McCullum said. "But I don't know how that adds up in terms of numbers."

The Bulls were picked by league coaches to finish last again but are about 70 spots higher in the national RPI ratings than they ended last season. Only one of their losses is to a team now with a losing record as opposed to five such losses last season.

At the same time, the Bulls boast only one win against a team with a winning record - a 69-63 upset of then-No. 21 Notre Dame two weeks ago.

Those kind of upsets are, perhaps, McCullum's best trait. He has four wins against ranked opponents, as many as USF had in its history before he took over.

"Last year, we had, what, six wins at this point? So to be 12-14, we're doing something nobody thought we could do," Buckley said.

"To have double-digit wins, to be close to .500, to have a winning record at home, I think this is a program that has taken steps toward being what it has the potential to be."

The team's progress hasn't shown up in the Sun Dome attendance, which remains easily the lowest in the Big East. The average announced crowd has dropped from 4,163 last season to 3,783. But that's hardly unique to USF as attendance is down from last season for 12 of the league's 16 schools.

McCullum is starting two freshmen at guard, and junior center Kentrell Gransberry is the Big East's leading rebounder. The team has leaned heavily on Buckley and fellow senior McHugh Mattis, but the underclassmen said they hope McCullum is a part of their future.

"That's the coach I came in here with, and that's the coach I want to leave this program with," freshman point guard Chris Howard said. "He teaches us a lot more than just basketball, and I hope people can realize that side of that and not just wins to losses. I'm behind him 100 percent."

Greg Auman can be reached at (813) 226-3346 or auman@sptimes.com View his blog at blogs.tampabay. com/usf/.

[Last modified February 17, 2007, 00:06:04]