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Meteoric Rise In National Spotlight

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By BRETT McMURPHY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 5, 2007

TAMPA - Playing before the first home sellout in program history last week, University of South Florida senior center Nick Capogna could hardly believe what he was seeing at Raymond James Stadium.

In the locker room after USF's upset of West Virginia, he also couldn't believe his ears.

"I heard this one recruit say it's down to USC and USF," Capogna said. "I was like, 'Boy, you don't hear that too often around here.'"

The Bulls are hearing a lot of different things these days — especially from recruits. With their emergence in the national rankings, USF's coaches in all sports have become a lot more popular with recruits.

"Since we were ranked No. 18, I went from averaging 20 e-mails a day to 40," USF softball coach Ken Eriksen said. "Since we moved to No. 6, I'm getting 75 a day."

The No. 6 Bulls have not only been the toast of Tampa, but also are becoming more nationally known. USF is in the midst of six consecutive games that will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

"All this continues to change the perception of South Florida," USF recruiting coordinator Carl Franks said. "There are a lot of places you can go and be a part of the tradition. We want people that will work hard and make history.

"We're getting kids calling us that we want. They recognize an opportunity is here in Tampa, Florida. That's been conveyed to them through coaches, the media, national TV, TV commentators — the story is being told."

The latest chapter was the Sept. 28 victory against West Virginia before 67,018 fans and the second-largest audience to watch a college football game on ESPN2.

"The university cannot pay for the amount of positive press we've received, not only in the city of Tampa, but across the country," USF baseball coach Lelo Prado said. "There was an article in the [Louisville-Courier Journal on Tuesday] and half of it was about USF. That's the kind of stuff you can't put a price on."

At the West Virginia game were dozens of recruits for several USF sports.

"The kids we brought in were just shocked with what they saw, the fans, the enthusiasm of everything going on at USF," Prado said.

The biggest impact will be felt by the football team. Since defeating West Virginia, USF has received three verbal commitments.

Scout.com national recruiting analyst Jamie Newberg said that win, which was the only televised college football game that night, was "basically a 31/2-hour commercial for USF."

"Before [this year], USF would knock on the door and kids might listen, but now they'll really listen," Newberg said. "Their ranking is validation of the program.

"It's opened a lot of eyes. In Florida, most of the elite kids sign with Florida, Florida State or Miami, but this makes USF a viable factor for those upper-echelon kids."

Newberg said USF coach Jim Leavitt told him Sunday the Bulls' staff was going to make another run at some of the state's recruits.

"He said they were going back in at the top-end kids and see what happens," Newberg said.

With USF playing at Florida Atlantic on Saturday, the Bulls' coaches will recruit the Dade-Broward-Palm Beach area this weekend. Franks said USF's focus remains a 100-mile radius around Tampa, but recruiting the best players in the state is a "major priority."

"The phone calls and e-mails have increased in just the last few days from recruits from all over the country," Franks said. "When you're on national TV, it exposes the program to a lot of people.

"It's not that we haven't been called in the past, but your volume goes up in proportion to your national ranking. That's happened at other places I've been."

USF women's basketball coach Jose Fernandez was recruiting last weekend after the West Virginia upset and noticed an immediate difference.

"I was in three different airports wearing a USF shirt and all these people came up to me and said what a great game that was," Fernandez said. "They wanted to know if I worked there and then wanted to talk about USF.

"That's never happened before."

Get used to it. It seems like everybody's talking about USF these days.

Reporter Brett McMurphy can be reached at (813) 259-7928 or bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com.

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