Bulls will represent country with pride

The large three-ring binder that has served as Barry Clements' sidekick for much of the summer contains more than just flight itineraries, hotel accommodations and game schedules.

The notebook holds pieces of a story that the University of South Florida men's basketball team will share over and over in coming years - the summer when USF transformed into USA.

"It was just a phenomenal opportunity that you want to make it work however you can," said Clements, a senior associate athletic director at the school.

That opportunity becomes reality when the Bulls take a short flight to Miami on Saturday, then board a jet for an eight-hour flight bound to Salvador, Brazil. Once they land, the Bulls will officially be known as Team USA, playing five games over the next week in the Pan American University Basketball Championships.

Brazil is a lot more than a 3-pointer away from King High, where Bulls sophomore Toarlyn Fitzpatrick played.

As he prepared for practice Friday night in the gymnasium at All People's Life Center, next door to his old high school, Fitzpatrick said he hasn't had a lot of time to study about Brazil and he needs more practice to adjust to the wider lanes and the 24-second shot clock used in international play.

But as he tugged at the USA jersey draped across his 6-foot-9 frame, you could tell the unique experience was starting to occupy more of Fitzpatrick's mind.

"We're going to get to wear USA jerseys," he said. "I mean, how many basketball players get to do that in their lifetime. This will probably be the first and last time that I'll have USA across my chest."

Not long after the Bulls concluded a 20-13 season that featured their first trip to the postseason in eight years, USF's trip to Brazil started to take shape when talks between Basketball Travelers Inc., executive director Nels Hawkinson and South Florida athletic director Doug Woolard heated up.

Basketball Travelers Inc., which is based out of Washington state, sets up numerous international trips each year for schools across the country and pointed USF toward the inaugural Pan American University championships in conjunction with the International University Sports Federation.

Bulls coach Stan Heath was thrilled by the opportunity to have 15 summer practices for a team that turned over half its roster from last season.

"Four years ago, would you have thought USF would be invited as the USA representative for any game?" Heath said.

Heath has taken only one other out-of-country trip as a head coach, taking Arkansas to a tournament in Cancun, Mexico, but he said this one is different. Since the foreign teams will consist of collections of those country's top players - up to 24 years old, according to the IUSF - Heath hasn't been able to watch film or collect scouting reports.

But that hasn't changed the trip's mission.

"You wear those USA jerseys, you feel like you are representing your country," Heath said. "The expectation of a USA basketball team is to win gold."

In eight days, USF - oops, Team USA - will play its first game of the tournament, which also features teams from host Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Canada, and likely either Holland or Argentina.

As part of the trip, South Florida players will receive either a one- or two-hour academic credit. While basketball will consume most of their stay, the Bulls have trips scheduled to explore Salvador, a city on the northeast coast of Brazil with an estimated 2.9 million residents.

"I really want them to understand the bigger picture of what we're doing," Heath said. "I do want them to learn about other cultures and enjoy the experience."

Senior center Jarrid Famous plans to explore while they are there, but like Heath and other players, he sees this as a great opportunity to build chemistry.

"It's a business trip for me," Famous said. "I'm going into my senior year, so every game counts."

Clements has worked in USF's athletic department since 1983 and sees the trip as the most unique experience for the men's program since former player Jim Grandholm and Coach Lee Rose were part of the USA team in the World University Games in the mid-1980s.

"We haven't really had anything like this here since then," Clements said.

The proof is in the thick notebook attached to his hip.