South Florida Basketball: Previewing the 2018-19 season for the Bulls

By Bryan Mauro | Sep 25, 2018

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: The head coach Brian Gregory of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets reacts against Villanova Wildcats during the NIT Season Tip-Off Championship game at Barclays Center on November 27, 2015 in Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

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WICHITA, KS – JANUARY 07: Malik Martin #5 of the South Florida Bulls hits a three-point shot over Malik Martin #0 of the Wichita State Shockers during the second half on January 7, 2018 at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /

Key Losses

This is a team that won 10 games a season ago and is in the middle of a full rebuild. Any player leftover from the old coaching staff, who probably does not fit into the style of the current coaching staff would normally be a loss that is easy to overcome. This was not the case for South Florida, as the graduating seniors accounted for about 40% of the scoring for the Bulls a year ago.

Senior Stephan Jiggetts was the leading scorer and the go-to man on offense for Coach Gregory a year ago. The senior guard was a graduate transfer from Farleigh Dickinson. The grad transfer experienced his best college season a year ago. He led the Bulls in scoring and assists. He also led the Bulls in free throw shooting at 81 percent. Jiggetts was the best offensive player on the floor every game for the Bulls. He is going to be very hard for coach Gregory to replace. The experience and overall ability are not present on the current roster.

The Bulls experienced another loss that is going to be an irreplaceable piece. Payton Banks is another graduate transfer who chose the Bulls, after transferring from Penn State. Banks was the starting wing for the Bulls a year ago. Banks led the team in steals and was second on the team in scoring.

Losing your starting point guard and starting wing, which also happens to be the two best offensive weapons on a team that averaged a mere 63 points per game a season ago, are not replaceable. Much like Jiggetts the senior wings replacement is not presently on the current roster.