USF men's basketball coach Bryan Hodgson continues the Bulls' rapid rebuild

Bryan Hodgson wasn’t kidding when he said he was about to finalize the roster for his USF men’s basketball team.

A couple of days after I spoke to him inside his office at the Muma Center, 6-foot-5 guard Josh Omojafo announced his commitment to the Bulls. He was a key player for an excellent Robert Morris team that finished 26-9 and won the Horizon League.

The Bulls also announced they will play George Washington in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tipoff on November 8. That’s a significant invitation.

Yes, things are moving quickly as Hodgson and his staff work to return the Bulls to championship form.

But they do so in a different world than the one Amir Abdur-Rahim faced when he led USF to its first regular-season conference title in 2023-24.

With direct payments from the university to its athletes now permitted, landing a top recruit requires more than just discussing the great weather in Tampa.

It requires cash and an organization that handles the financial aspects.

“It's obviously a part of the conversation (with the player),” Hodgson said.

“Obviously, a lot of things are up in the air with that (NCAA) settlement, but once we get a budget, we will defer all that to our representatives on campus. We've a great staff of people who have handled NIL here for the last year or two and will likely continue to do so in some capacity moving forward. We leave the contract negotiations and the financial talk to them for the most part.”

Even with that, it can be a balancing act for the coaching staff.

“My job is to coach these guys, teach them the game of basketball, and help them grow as young men. But anybody who says they just ignore the financial pieces is lying to you,” he said. “It’s a big deal, right?

“And so we set up meetings with those (financial) people while they're on campus so that the young man and his family can have further conversations about what that'll look like when they get here.”

There is a salary cap of $20.5 million for all athletic programs at a given school, which can be divided among all the athletes.

Football, obviously, will receive the largest share of that pie due to the number of players it has, and this could lead to hard feelings among athletes and coaches in other sports.

That’s why creating a culture where all participants feel comfortable and valued is more critical than ever.

That’s an area where Hodgson excels. After growing up in a loving foster care home, he learned to value and cherish relationships.

“I think the main message, the thing that kind of keeps coming through, is that he has the kind of highly uncanny ability to meet people wherever they are, really kind of find the connection to relate to them,” former Bulls athletic director Michael Kelly told the Tampa Bay Times.

“Obviously, his unique background allows that he’s experienced so much in his young life as well. I think he has a great way of finding a connection and then being able to find that way to relate. And I think it makes everyone feel comfortable and want to be a part of his vision.”