September 17, 2009

Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Basketball Staff Writer

Perhaps no player in his program's history has accomplished more in his first two seasons than USF guard Dominique Jones.

Jones set a school freshman scoring record during the 2007-08 season. As a sophomore, he led the Bulls in scoring and rebounding while placing second on the team in assists. Yet for all of his personal achievements, he has remained largely anonymous because his team that has gone a combined 21-41 in his two seasons.

The situation doesn't bother Jones because he feels it's about to change. He believes the Bulls are ready make a giant step forward.

"It used to be frustrating,'' Jones said. "But I feel like our team is at a whole different level [now]. Everything in the past, I don't think about."

This represents a season of transition in the Big East as the conference returns only one first-team (Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody) and one second-team (West Virginia forward Da'Sean Butler) all-league selection from last season. Plenty of the league's also-rans from last season have reason to believe they could make a major move.

The return of center Greg Monroe should allow Georgetown to return to the NCAA tournament after a year's absence. The return of Cincinnati forward Deonta Vaughn and Harangody give the Bearcats and Irish reason for hope. Seton Hall and St. John's also return the nucleus of their 2008-09 rosters.

USF generally hasn't been included in the list of Big East programs that could make the leap to NCAA tournament contention. Most preseason prognostications have the Bulls finishing 13th or lower in the 16-team standings.

Jones said he believes his team is ready to prove the skeptics wrong. USF returns four of its top five scorers from last year's squad and also has a few intriguing new faces. The 6-foot-4 guard from Lake Wales, Fla., insists all the elements are in place for the Bulls to make a major leap.

He apparently isn't alone in that opinion. Jones pointed out that USF coach Stan Heath has even discussed the NCAA tournament in his preseason conversations with the team.

"He's mentioned this year that, 'Hey, I think we can be an NCAA tournament team,' " Jones said. "In the past two years since I've been here, he's never showed that. It shows how the vibe is changing already."

The Bulls have added Ohio State transfer Anthony Crater to the backcourt and 6-11 Westchester Community College transfer Jarrid Famous to the frontcourt. They also have reinstated senior guard Mike Mercer, a former five-star prospect who was dismissed from the team after playing just four games last season.

"He can make a big difference," Jones said of Mercer. "I think he's a little bit rusty, but if you're a good player, all you have to do is get back into it a little bit and you're going to be all right."

In the end, though, the Bulls will go only as far as Jones can carry them. As he heads into his junior season, Jones ranks alongside Harangody and Seton Hall guard Jeremy Hazell as the most indispensable players in the conference.

Jones is the fastest player in school history to score 1,000 career points. He became the first Big East freshman since Allen Iverson to score 30 points in consecutive games. He has achieved many of the individual goals he set when he arrived at USF.

"I feel like I've made a name for myself," Jones said. "Now it's time for me to bring my team up."

Jones may have received even more motivation this summer. He tried out for the U.S. World University Games team but was left off the final roster. The U.S. team went on to earn the bronze medal with a team that featured Big East rivals Butler and Corey Fisher of Villanova.

"The first day [of tryouts], I didn't do too well," Jones said. "I learned I've got to go hard from day one. Don't take a day off. That's the life lesson that I learned from that experience."

It's a lesson he's passing on to his teammates as he tries to help them emerge as the Big East's biggest surprise.

"I'm happy that I'm on this team," Jones said. "I'm happy that I'm a part of it. It's time to lead them places I haven't been able to lead them the last two years."

TIP-INS

Duke has reconfigured the seating at Cameron Indoor Stadium to allow graduate students to sit in the north and south ends of the facility. Undergraduate seating is unaffected. The upgrades to Cameron during the offseason also included installing a new press table that should improve the crowd situation in the front row of the student section by including aisles that will make it easier for fans and media members to get in and out of their seats. Duke officials are hoping that putting graduate students behind each basket will create more of a home-court advantage because it will give opposing teams a tough shooting background throughout the game.

And then there were eight. Memphis officials announced last week that 6-11 sophomore forward Angel Garcia will miss the entire season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Garcia's injury leaves Memphis with only eight scholarship players on its roster. Garcia's absence leaves the Tigers without a player taller than 6-9.

The latest edition of the U.S. Open offered a college basketball connection through Kim Clijsters, the first mother to win a Grand Slam tennis tournament since Evonne Goolagong Cawley earned the 1980 Wimbledon title. Clijsters' husband is Brian Lynch, who played basketball at Villanova from 1996-2000.

Chris Long is making the transition from women's basketball head coach to men's basketball assistant coach. Long, who headed the Louisiana Tech women's program for the past four seasons, took a job as an assistant on UAB men's coach Mike Davis' staff last week. Long had posted a 71-44 overall record at Louisiana Tech before getting fired in February. He was replaced at Louisiana Tech by U.S. Olympic gold medal winner Teresa Weatherspoon.

Illinois State is unveiling a statue honoring Will Robinson and Doug Collins outside the north entrance of Redbird Arena before the school's football game Saturday with Austin Peay. Robinson became the first black head basketball coach in Division I history when he took over Illinois State's program in 1970. Collins averaged 29.1 points per game in his three years at Illinois State before going on to a lengthy career as an NBA player, coach and broadcaster.

Steve Megargee is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at smegargee@rivals.com.