The USF men's basketball team looks to build on historic season from a year ago

As the USF men’s basketball team prepares for the upcoming season, head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim already noticed one big difference between this year and his first season with the Bulls.

Many non-conference teams he was trying to schedule wouldn’t return his calls.

“Man, it was really difficult. It was really difficult when I sat down at my desk last March. But if my phone was ringing off the hooks (last year) with people trying to play, I couldn't get those same people to call this year,” he said.

“I say that humbly, you know. But if you see Jayden Reed coming back at point guard and Kasen Jennings, I probably wouldn't call back either, to be honest with you.”

Yeah, the word got around last year that, as Abdur-Rahim popularized, it wasn’t the same old South Florida. The Bulls became a national story last year, finishing 25-8 and winning their first regular-season American Athletic Conference title.

They won 15 conference games in a row, the longest streak in the country, and achieved their first national ranking. They rallied from 20 points down at 10th-ranked Memphis to win 74-73.

Before 2023-24, the Bulls had just one winning season in the last 11 years. The 25 wins represented one more victory than USF's total from 2014-18. They sold out their last three home games at the Yuengling Center, and the lower bowl is already sold out for this season.

Despite the lack of enthusiasm from non-conference coaches to schedule a game with the Bulls, they did manage to snag some attractive opponents. It starts with a game against the Florida Gators – an SEC runner-up and NCAA Tournament team last year – in Jacksonville on Nov. 4.

There’s a trip to the College of Charleston, a 27-win team and NCAA Tournament participant a year ago.

They’re at the Myrtle Beach Invitational, which includes the likes of Bradley and three-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton. There are trips to Loyola-Chicago and Utah State.

Loyola won 23 games last year before losing in double overtime in the Atlantic 10 title game. Utah State was 28-7 and won a game in the NCAA Tournament.

If the Bulls can successfully navigate that gauntlet and do well in the AAC, it should eliminate the weak strength-of-schedule argument that kept them out of the Big Dance last season.

The road games will provide a good measuring stick of how good USF can be.

“In order to win a championship and win a league, you've got to learn to win on the road,” Abdur-Rahim said. “That's the thing we did last year. I believe we were eight-and-one on the road last year, if I'm not mistaken.

“We've got to figure out a way for this team to create their identity on the road and find out who they are. Can they be battle-tested, and can they be tough enough to go into hostile environments and remain a unit and remain together?”

Lack of size was a problem last year at times, but the Bulls will be beefier this season. They brought in 6-11 forward Jamille Reynolds from St. Petersburg.

Reynolds is at his fourth school after stops at UCF, Temple, and Cincinnati.

The point should be in good hands with Reed, who was on the AAC All-Freshman team last year. He gives the Bulls some shooting range, setting a program record with 47.5% on 3-pointers.

Jennings, who was with Abdur-Rahim at Kennesaw State, comes in as a graduate student. He sat out last year for a red-shirt.

“I’m excited about this group, I really am,” Abdur-Rahim said.

The key will be how quickly a relatively new group can come together after three mainstays from last year’s team -- Kasean Pryor, Chris Youngblood, and Selton Miguel -- took the transfer portal out of USF. The Bulls stumbled out of the gate last year, losing four of their first six while the team gelled.

But for now, there is great anticipation about the upcoming season for USF men’s basketball. When was the last time we could say that?