Scouting the Bulls

Charleston – Here are some thoughts on South Carolina’s next opponent in the Charleston Classic.

You hear South Florida, and don’t expect to hear many famous names. In fact the Bulls have them – literally. Junior forward Jarrid Famous, No. 31 in your scorebooks but No. 1 in your list of unusual last names.

There’s ex-Georgia star Mike Mercer. There’s ex-Arkansas coach Stan Heath. There’s the son of a former NBA great, and a transfer from Maryland who’s becoming famous for the wrong reasons.

What does it all make? A team that could give the Gamecocks some problems.

The temptation is to say, Geez, South Florida has major-college level talent out there. Then you remember, Hey, they’re a Big East team. They were in name only the past few years, but Heath has talent in there now.

Guard Dominique Jones is the guy that makes them go. The 6-foot-4 junior was an honorable mention Big East pick last season, averaging 18.1 points a game. He averaged 17.1 points per game as a freshman.

Jones is going to be a threat to score anywhere on the court. Expect Lakeem Jackson to have his hands full, unless Darrin Horn decides to have the lankier Dominique Archie rotate over to guard him.

Gus Gilchrist will also post some problems. The 6-foot-10 forward-center is a burly but athletic presence in the post. He hit a few short jumpers against Davidson, while also hauling in some rebounds. He’s supported in the post by Famous, who’s 6-11 and 240 pounds, and Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who’s 6-8 and 230.

Gilchrist is the focus of a just-breaking NCAA story, which I blogged about earlier today. But you can see why Maryland and Virginia Tech both wanted him.

Mercer has a history with the Gamecocks; His last game as a Georgia Bulldog was at the Colonial Life Arena, and he tore his knee up. It proved to be his last game as a Bulldog, as he was thrown off the team the next year.

Mercer, a 6-foot-5 swingman, is a pretty good talent. Don’t forget, he was Georgia’s leading scorer in 2006-07 before suffering his ACL injury, and ranked in the SEC’s top 15 in assists and steals.

Heath has a better Gamecock memory than Mercer, as he coached Arkansas to a first-round win over USC in the first round of the 2007 SEC tournament. The Razorbacks went on to the final and a surprising NCAA tournament bid, but it wasn’t enough to save Heath’s job, and now here is.

Joe Dumars is also here, watching his son Jordan (a freshman guard for South Florida) and doing some scouting for his day job as the Detroit Pistons’ general manager.

Starpower aside, the Bulls look a lot like La Salle, the team that gave USC so much trouble for one half on Thursday. They’ve got size and skill to go with it. But South Florida has a little more firepower in Jones and a potential force inside in Gilchrist.

The key may be whether USC’s press once again creates a long scoring lull for the opponent, causing a decisive run.

It should make for a decent second-round matchup. And maybe this one will stay close longer than one half.