USF PLAYS 2 MORE ON ROAD BEFORE HOSTING #8 GONZAGA

San Francisco, CA- After splitting the first two of four road conference contests, USF (12-11, 7-3 WCC) visits Santa Clara (10-13, 5-5) Thursday and San Diego (12-11, 4-6 WCC) Saturday to complete its WCC road slate for the season.

The Dons are coming off a close 79-72 loss at first-place Pepperdine last Friday and an easy 80-67 win at LMU last Saturday.

With a 7-3 league record and sole possession of third place in the WCC, can all but lock up at least a third place finish with a successful weekend. The Dons have a two-game advantage on Santa Clara and a three game lead on the Toreros. The Dons swept San Diego(87-71) and Santa Clara (77-59) at Memorial Gymnasium on February 1 and 2.

USF has won 10 of its last 14 contests, and has been in contention in all but two of the losses.

DONS SPLIT IN SOUTHLAND:
USF maintained its two game lead over Santa Clara and three game lead over San Diego by earning a split last weekend on its L.A. trip.

On Friday in Malibu, the Dons put a scare into the first place Waves before losing 79-72. The game was tied at the half and USF held a five point lead in the second period before the Waves made a run to take contro. Darrell Tucker scored 20 points and pulled 12 rebounds to pace USF, with Hondre Brewer adding 10 points and 12 rebounds.

On Saturday, the Dons easily had their way with LMU, busting out to 24-14, 35-19, 45-29 (halftime) and 59-31 leads before eventually winning 80-67. The Dons shared the wealth with John Cox (19), Shamell Stallworth (17), Hondre Brewer (season high 16), Darrell Tucker (14) and Tayo Akinsete all scoring in double figures. USF hit 9 of 16 treys in the first half on the way to a season best 10 threes in the contest, with Cox, Stallworth and Akinsete each hitting three. Point guard LyRyan Russell tore his ACL (left knee) with 3:40 remaining in the first half.

RUSSELL LOST:
LyRyan Russell, USF's fifth-year senior point guard, was lost for the season when he tore his left ACL in the win over Loyola Marymount. At the time of his injury he was leading the West Coast Conference in steals (1.95 per game) He was also third in assists (4.45) and sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.46). Coach Phil Mathews said after his injury, "LyRyan was out team MVP. He ran the offense and set the defense. He was also the heart of the team. He will still be with us, if not on the court, encouraging us from the sidelines." He was injured just moments after recording his 350th career assist, good for third place on the USF career list..

It is the second straight season that LyRyan has gone down. Last season he had a preseason hip injury and redshirted the season.

After his injury last year, backup point Jason Gaines went down in the second game of the year, followed by Chris Barideaux. USF played walk-on baseball player Nick Tarbat for a while at the point position until Barideaux returned..

On January 19th, he easily passed his career high with 22 points vs. St. Mary's, making 6 of 8 shots from the floor and 10-12 from the line. LyRyan was effective in both the summer tour and the recent preseason. He averaged 29.2 minutes per contest, fourth highest on the squad, scoring 7.0 ppg. and pulling 3.4 rpg. Last Friday he passed former teammate, Ali Thomas (334) for third place on the USF career list, when he recorded seven steals and had just one turnover. LyRyan was featured in last Thursday's USAToday along with his sister, Toni, the Lady Dons' point guard.

JASON'S GAIN:
Redshirt freshman Jason Gaines (Antioch, CA) will more than likely see the bulk of minutes at the point position. Last year he was supposed to be the Dons' starting point after Russell's hip injury, but was lost to a knee in the second game of the season. So far this season he has played an average of 10.3 minutes per game, but projecting his statistics and LyRyan's out to 40 minutes a game they are similar. Russell averages over 40 minutes - 9.6 pts., 4.6 rpg., 6.0 apg, 2.7 steals. Gaines over 40 minutes - 3.5 ppg., 6.3 rpg, 7.1 apg, 3.2 steals. What is lost in scoring and leadership, something that the team as a whole will have to try to fill.

JOHN COX NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK AFTER FIRST MATCHUPS:
USF forward John Cox was named West Coast Conference Player of the Week after the first matchups with the same schools. Cox, playing before his father and former USF star "Chubby" Cox for the first time in two seasons (he missed last season with a bone spur), scored a career high 22 points in a win over San Diego and followed that the next night with 20 in the Santa Clara win. Cox made 16-28 shots from the floor (57.1%), 8-9 from three-point range (88.9%) had 13 assists (just one turnover) and seven rebounds.

DONS PICKED SECOND:
USF was selected to finish second in the WCC by league coaches, behind Gonzaga.

USF MAKING A RUN:
USF is on a roll, and the statistics show why USF is better over the last 14 games than over the first nine: Especially important are the field goal percentages, opponent points and rebound margin.

THE EAST BAY SKYLINE STANDING TALL:
Two players from Oakland, senior center Hondre Brewer and junior forward Darrell Tucker were the reason that USF was projected to finish second by West Coast Conference coaches and media. They have really been a key to USF's surge that has seen them win 10 of the last 14. Between the two of them they are averaging 30.3 pts., 16.3 rebounds, 4.9 blocks and shooting 51.1% from the floor over the past 14 games.

TUCKER PLAYING WELL:
USF forward Darrell Tucker, from Oakland's McClymonds High School (who also gave USF a young center named Bill Russell), is playing well offensively, scoring 19.0 points and averaging 10.1 rebounds per game. In league play, he is averaging 19.9 points and 10.7 rebounds. Over the past 14 games, he is averaging 20.2 ppg., 10.9 rpg. and is shooting 48.3% from the floor. He has led USF in rebounding in all 14 of those games and in scoring 11 times. Entering the week he ranked second in the WCC in scoring and second in rebounding, 6th in FG%, and leads the WCC in defensive rebounds (7.09 avg.). In league play, he leads the WCC in rebounding (10.7) and is second in scoring. His 20 blocks this year are more than he totaled his first two seasons. Phil Mathews stated in the West Coast Conference media call that although Darrell has really improved his rebounding, he wants Tucker to score in the 22-24 point range. He feels that Tucker needs to have a breakout game in the thirty point range and that "we have to get him the ball more". Coach Mathews also said that Tucker needs to hit the offensive glass more and get more putbacks. He pulled his 500th career rebound against Michigan Dec. 29 when he recorded 11. He scored his 1000th career point at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and is now 14th on the USF career scoring list with 1289 points (16.1 avg), after passing Dennis Black (1269) Friday. He needs just 20 points to pass to move into 13th place and pass Marlon Redmond (1308). He pulled his 600th rebound and is 18th on the USF career rebounding list with 627. He has led USF in scoring 14 times this year and led the team in rebounding in 18 contests. He has 14 double-doubles this season (fourth best in Div. I), 11 in the last 14 games. Scored 18 points and pulled 15 rebounds vs. Seton Hall...was named WCC player of the week after USF's late December wins (including Michigan) and after the the St. Mary's contests on Jan. 16-19...double-double 15 points, 13 rebounds vs. CS Fullerton...season-low 7 points, 6 rebounds vs. UCSB...22 points, 8 rebounds at Nevada, 21 points, 8 rebounds vs. Xavier...22 points, 7 rebounds vs. Fresno State...23 points, 12 rebounds vs. Hayward...9 points, 6 rebounds vs. UOP...17 points, 9 rebounds at Corpus Christi, 28 points, 14 rebounds at Southern...14 points, 11 rebounds vs. Michigan...16 points, 7 rebounds at BYU...26 points, 13 rebounds vs. TAMCC, 20 points, 14 rebounds vs. LMU, 15 points, 10 rebounds vs. Pepperdine, 25 points, 12 rebounds at St. Mary's, 22 points, 11 rebounds vs. St. Mary's...26 points, 13 rebounds at Portland, 23 points, 10 rebounds vs. San Diego, 26 points, 10 reb. vs. Santa Clara (12-17 floor), 20 pts., 12 rebounds at Pepperdine.

HEAD COACH PHILIP MATHEWS
a 1972 graduate of the University of California at Irvine is in his seventh season at USF (106-91) and 17th year of collegiate coaching after recording a 298-56 record in 10 seasons at Ventura JC. He led the Dons to the NCAA tournament in 1998.

HEAD COACH DICK DAVEY
a 1964 graduate of Pacific is in his 10th season at SCU (170-115) and collegiate career

HEAD COACH BRAD HOLLAND
a 1979 graduate of UCLA is in his 8th season at San Diego (122-97) and is 145-128 career (10th year.)

70 POINTS - WIN OR LOSE:
During the seven years of the Philip Mathews era at USF, a key to a Dons' victory has been the opponents' score. When USF opponents score 70 or less in regulation, USF is 87-28, and when the opponents score more than 70, USF is 18-62. This year, USF is 9-2 when holding teams below 70, 3-9 when allowing more than 70.

USF is 7-3 WCC (4-1 home, 3-2 road), 5-8 nonconference, 6-5 home (Streak W3), 5-6 road (Streak W1), 1-0 neutral (W1), 0-0 in overtime, 7-5 in white jerseys, 4-4 in green, 1-2 in black, 10-1 when leading at the half, 1-9 when trailing, 1-1 when tied, 3-1 when shooting 50% from the floor, 9-8 when shooting less than 50%, 11-1 when outshooting their opponent, 1-10 when outshot, 0-0 when equal, 12-9 when holding their opponents under 50% floor, 0-2 when opponent shoots 50%, 8-3 when USF shoots more FT's, 4-6 when USF shoots less FT's, 1-1 when free-throws are the same, 11-0 when USF leads with 5 minutes left, 12-0 when USF leads with 1 minute left, 0-1 when tied with 1 minute left, 5-4 when USF bench outscores opponent, 6-7 when opposing bench outscores USF, 1-0 when bench is equal, 9-4 when outrebounding opponent, 2-7 when outrebounded, 1-0 when rebounds are the same, 5-3 when more 3's, 7-7 when less 3's, 0-1 when 3's are equal, 7-11 when USF scores less than 80 pts., 4-0 when USF scores 80 points, 2-0 when USF scores 90 points, 0-0 when USF scores 100+ pts., 9-2 when holding opponents to 70 points or under, 3-5 when opponents scores 71-79, 0-5 when opponent scores 80 or more.

NEW RADIO HOME:
The Dons have moved up the dial to KYCY 1550 AM, where all games will be covered live. Play by play man Pat Olson is in his eleventh season. The Phil Mathews' radio show will air each Monday on KYCY, as well, at 8:00 p.m. The games and Mathews show can also be heard over Yahoo! Broadcast via www.USFDons.com.

SUMMER TOUR:
The USF men's basketball team has a successful summer tour of the Canary Islands and Spain. "I am very happy about the way that this team performed night in and night out," said Dons head coach Philip Mathews. "We played against some really good competition and more than held our own. The team stuck together and we come out of this almost two-week experience as a more cohesive unit.

"The three redshirts (LyRyan Russell, John Cox and Jason Gaines) had a chance to blend back into the team and feel good about themselves after their injuries last year.

"The players had a chance to experience a different culture and also to learn more about their teammates and the coaching staff. I couldn´t be more pleased. We won six out of seven games, but that wasn´t the key. It was the fact that we played and fought together as a team.

"It was a great time and a great experience," said point guard Russell. "We saw new things, ate new foods, met new people. We have a lot of confidence, but we will continue to work on our execution.¨

Barcelona, Spain, the locale for the final three contests was a return to the roots of the USF Dons. Both St. Ignatius (of the Jesuits) and the original Spanish Dons were from this European nation.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES:
Tucker 14 -Seton Hall (18p/15r), CS Fullerton (15p/11r), CS Hayward 23p/11r, at Southern 28p/14r, Michigan 14p/11r, Texas A&M CC (26p/13r), LMU (20p/14r), Pepperdine (15p/10r), at St. Mary's (25p/12r), vs. St. Mary's (22p/11r), at Portland 26p/13r, San Diego (23p/10r), 26p/10r vs. Santa Clara, 20p/12 reb at Pepperdine, Cox 3 - at Fresno State (12p/12r), Pacific (16p/10a), at Southern 15p/11r, Stallworth -Texas A&M-CC 14p/10r, Brewer 10p/12r at Pepperdine

GAMES 20 PTS OR OVER:
Cox (22 vs. San Diego), Russell (22 vs. SMC), Stallworth 3 (23 v. Seton Hall, 20 at Fresno St., 23 vs. LMU), Tucker 13 (22 at Nevada, 21 vs. Xavier, 22 at Fresno St., 23 vs. CS Hayward, 28 at Southern, 26 vs. TAMCC, 20 vs. LMU, 25 at St. Mary's, 22 vs. St. Mary's, 26 at Portland, 23 vs. San Diego, 26 vs. Santa Clara, 20 at Pepperdine

PAST GAMES:

TUCKER, COX LEAD WIN OVER BRONCOS:
Darrell Tucker and John Cox combined for 42 points as USF led 11-3 after four minutes of play (Tucker scored USF's first nine points) on the way to a 40-26 halftime lead. Santa Clara got within 10 points just once before another 10-0 USF spurt put the Dons up 53-36 with 14:57 remaining. The Broncos never got any closer than 14 points after that point. Tucker had a monster night with 26 points (12-17 floor) and 10 rebounds (for 13th double-double) with Cox adding 20 points, 7 assists (no turnovers).

DONS JUMP ON TOREROS:
The Dons came out fast and led 15-3 after five minutes of play. USF never let San Diego ever get closer that six points for the remainder of the contest before eventually taking a 87-71 decision. The Dons were up 42-27 at the half and the lead remained in double figures for the entire second half. USF was paced by Darrell Tucker's 12th double-double (23 pts/10 rebounds), a career best 22 points by John Cox (17 in second half, 5-5 from three-point range) and solid games by Hondre Brewer (16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks) and LyRyan Russell (7 assists/1 to). Tayo Akinsete added 13 off the bench.

The Dons battled hard against the Pilots and held the hosts without a field goal over the last 5:24 to win 77-69. Darrell Tucker scored 26 points and pulled 13 rebounds, 18 points and seven rebounds coming in the second half. Tucker recorded his 11th double-double of the year, five in his six WCC contests.

In the Gonzaga loss, USF trailed just 52-50 with 17 minutes left in the game before the Zags went on a 17-2 run to take control of the contest. The Bulldogs controlled the boards with a 49-28 margin, which determined the outcome of the game. USF has three players lead the team in scoring, Tayo Akinsete, Shamell Stallworth and Hondre Brewer, who each scored 14 points. Darrell Tucker, who had five straight double-doubles entering the game, scored just 8 points and pulled 6 rebounds before fouling out in 29 minutes. Gonzaga became just the second team to shoot 50% vs. USF this year, mostly due to second chance points.

USF SWEEPS ST. MARY'S:
USF paced by WCC Co-Player of the Week Darrell Tucker swept St. Mary's last week (63-46 in Moraga and 84-67 at USF. In Moraga, after a sluggish first half, after USF led 21-19, the Dons blew away St. Mary's (63-46) paced by Tucker and Hondre Brewer (12 points, 7 reb., 7 blocks). USF held the Gaels to just 25% shooting for the contest, with the Dons blocking 10 of SMC's 49 attempted shots. USF rode a strong first half by Darrell Tucker (18 pts., 9 reb. 7-7 floor) to take a 44-32 lead at intermission and coast to a 84-67 win. LyRyan Russell scored a career-best 22 points on 6-8 floor, 10-12 ft. shooting.

DONS COMEBACK AGAINST WAVES FALL SHORT:
USF, down 65-51 to Pepperdine with under eight minutes to play, failed to convert on two close chances in the last 25 eventually lost 74-68. USF's failure to hit some open shots doomed the team to defeat, despite a valiant comeback from a 14 point deficit.

USF has two chances to take the lead or tie the score in the final 20 seconds but short shots by Darrell Tucker and LyRyan Russell fell off the rim.

The Dons were again failed by their three-point shooting, hitting just 2-17 in the defeat. In a head to head matchup, Hondre Brewer blocked five shots and WCC block leader Cedric Suitt had just one for the Waves. Tucker led USF and recorded another double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

DONS TOP LMU:
Shamell Stallworth scored 23 points and Darrell Tucker recorded his seventh double-double of the year with 20 points and 14 rebounds as USF defeated LMU 75-66. Trailing 43-42, the Dons ran off a 15-5 run to lead 57-48 and were never challenged again, building a 12-point lead. The 23-point effort (on 8-11 floor shooting) equaled his career best in the season's opener vs. Seton Hall. For Tucker it was his fourth double-double in the last fine games and his seventh game with at least 20 points this year.

DONS HOLD ON TO BEAT ISLANDERS:
Darrell Tucker made a three-point play with 2:50 remaining to tie the score and the Dons made four free-throws in the final 2:18 as USF outlasted Texas A&M Corpus Christi 65-63 at Memorial Gym on January 5th. Tucker recorded his sixth double-double of the year with 26 points and 13 rebounds. USF struggled to stay in control because they were outrebounded 41-33 by the guests and made just 10-20 free-throws in the second half.

DONS ARE COUGARS 28TH STRAIGHT VICTIM:
USF lost a roller-coaster type game at BYU Jan. 2, a game in which both teams made numerous runs. It was the Cougars eighth straight win and their 28th consecutive home victory. BYU took a 34-24 lead in the first half, but the Dons closed it to 34-31. The Cougars took a 44-31 lead before the Dons closed it to 44-41. But finally BYU pulled ahead to stay with a 8-0 run (six free-throws) and took command at 54-43.

Free-throws, or rather the lack of them were USF's bugaboo that night, as BYU shot 15 in the second half to just two for the Dons. The Dons poor three-point shooting (3-21) also doomed them.

BIG (10) WIN:
The Dons defense was the story as USF defeated Michigan 55-47 Dec. 29th at the Oakland Coliseum. The Dons held the Wolverines to just 24.6% shooting in the contest and just 47 points. USF was paced by Darrell Tucker who scored a team-high 14 points and added 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year. He scored five straight USF points in the last 2:30 to enable the Dons to hold onto the victory. Hondre Brewer also had a big game with 8 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.

DONS WHIP JAGUARS:
USF got its third win of the season, 93-78 over Southern University on December 20 in Baton Rouge.

USF blew out to a 26-13 lead and built in to 27 points (88-52) before taking out most of the starters. The Dons got double-double performances from Darrell Tucker (28 pts/14 rebounds) and John Cox (15 pts/11 reb.) and 14 points by center Hondre Brewer.

DONS LOSE SECOND STRAIGHT HEARTBREAKER:
USF lost 80-75 loss at Texas A&M Corpus Christi Dec. 18. In that game, USF played poorly in the first half and trailed 46-30 at the break. The Dons, who average 13.9 turnovers per contest coughed the ball up 16 times in the first half. USF fought back and took the lead twice late in the game, nut could not hold on and wound up losing the lead in the final minute.

The defeat followed a painful 72-69 defeat last Saturday night, when Pacific guard Jono Metzger-Jones nailed a 27 foot bomb with 0.00.4 remaining to win the game for the Tigers.

USF played very hard in that game and lost the game by not making crucial free-throws, and making just 25 of 36 for the contest. USF led at halftime 31-26, but trailed 58-48 with 8,23 remaining. The Dons then made a 12-3 run before eventually tying the game at 67 with 1:04 left on a trey by guard LyRyan Russell.

UOP went ahead with 0:24 left, by Russell again tied the game on a driving layup with :07 left. After USF tied it, they attempted to call timeout, but it was not acknowledged by the referees and UOP made their game winner. USF was paced by John Cox, who recorded his second double-double in three games with a career high 16 points and 12 rebounds.

DONS ROUT HAYWARD:
The Dons outscored Cal State Hayward 50-26 in the second half December 8 to take a 94-59 win. USF got another double-double performance by Darrell Tucker (23 pts/11 reb.), his fourth straight game leading the Dons in scoring and scoring at least 20 points. Hondre Brewer also added a season high 14 points and 6 rebounds and freshman Jerome Gumbs added a career high 11 points.

FRESNO STATE (WITH ELY) TOPPLES DONS:
The Dons lost to 16th ranked Fresno State Dec. 4th in Fresno. USF, who had won two straight over the Bulldogs, played well early in both halves. The score was tied at 21-all when Fresno State closed out the half on a 20-5 run over the last seven minutes.

The Dons fought back to within 53-46, and had possession, but couldn't close it any tighter in a 65-75 loss. USF played with all-american candidate Melvin Ely (activated just hours before the game) who led Fresno State with 22 points.

DONS LOSE MAYOR'S GAME:
USF lost its third straight game Dec. 1, falling to Xavier 87-72. USF's offense was back in synch on Saturday, however, after a slow start. The Dons scored 72 points, the first time in three games they have scored 70. USF was down 14-2 at the 15:37 mark, but fought to close to within five points at 33-28. USF trailed 51-36 at the half, but shot 53.3% from the floor in the first session. The problem for USF was the outside shooting of Xavier (who earlier in the week gave Miami of Ohio its worst home loss ever by 29 points), who made 54.3% in the first half and outrebounded USF by a 22-9 count. In the second half, both teams cooled a little, but Xavier still managed to become the first team this season to shoot 50% from the floor against the Dons, while USF shot 46.8% for the game. USF shooting percentages over the previous two games (vs. UCSB, at Nevada): 29.9% floor (32-107), 16.7% 3-pt. (8-48), 67.9% FT (67.9). That is a marked change over the first two games when the Dons made 43% of their shots, 42% from outside the arc and 80.6% of their free-throws.

COLD IN NEVADA:
The Dons shooting touch was as cold in Nevada as the weather. USF made just 18 of 54 field goals (33.3%) and 13.0% from three-point in a 84-59 loss at Nevada Wednesday. Darrell Tucker kept USF in the game early, scoring the Dons first ten points, and the Dons rallied from a 24-16 deficit to come to within one at 24-23. But Nevada rallied to make it 34-25 at the half. Nevada put together a 14-5 run to start the second half to put the game out of reach behind a career high 21 points by center Sean Paul. USF was paced by 22 points and eight rebounds by Darrell Tucker.

DONS FALL AT HOME TO UCSB:
USF came into the game on a high after defeating Cal State Fullerton on Monday, but the Dons fell 69-49 to the Gauchos. It was a case in which nothing seemed to fall for USF, which shot 26.4% from the floor and made just 5 of 25 three-point shots. UCSB also had a large rebound margin of 43-28.

DONS "D" DOES IT IN WIN AT FULLERTON:
After an opening game 87-79 loss to Seton Hall (who lost a 1-point game to #1 Duke in their next encounter) in which the guests shot 47.5% from the floor and 70.6% (12-17) from three point range, coach Mathews challenged his defense to step up.

They did in a 70-43 win at Cal State Fullerton on Monday night. USF held Fullerton to just five first half field goals (three in the first 15 minutes) and 13 for the game while forcing them to shoot a measly 30.2% for the game.

The offense stepped up with Tayo Akinsete scoring a career best 17 off the bench (4-8 from three-point range) , Shamell Stallworth adding 16 and Darrell Tucker scoring his second straight double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

USF FALLS BEHIND, CAN'T CATCH UP VS. THE HALL:
The Dons were beaten by Seton Hall in the opener due to some torrid three point shooting by the visiting Pirates. Seton Hall took a 13-point halftime lead, mostly behind three point shooting, as they nailed 10 of 14 treys in the first half. The Dons tried to comeback behind 23 points by Shamell Stallworth and 18 by Darrell Tucker, but were unable to. USF shot poorly, as well, making just 23-66 shots (34.8%).

UP NEXT:
USF hosts its final regular season games vs. Gonzaga (Feb. 22) and Portland (Feb. 23)

Transfers Practicing With Dons: University of San Francisco head basketball coach Philip Mathews announced that former New Mexico forward Alvin Broussard and former Nevada forward James Bayless have enrolled at USF and will play men's basketball next season. They have already begun practicing with the team and will be eligible after the completion of the 2002 fall semester finals.

Broussard, a 6-6 forward from Albuquerque, N.M. was highly recruited out of Valley High (21.9 ppg., 10.9 reb), where he took recruiting trips to Duke Wichita State and Xavier. He played in 34 games as a freshman for the Lobos, with three starts. He was forced to play post as a freshman and averaged just 1.6 ppg, and 1.9 reb. averaging just under ten minutes per game and shooting 40% from the floor. Alvin also fought off two injuries during the season, a concussion and stitches in his face. He received New Mexico's "Mr. Hustle" award after the season.

Bayless, a 6-7 forward from Las Vegas averaged 6.2 points and 3.6 rpg. last season at Nevada, including a 9 point performance at USF. He shot a solid 49.1% from the floor and had a double-double 17 points and 12 rebounds at Washington State. He also scored his b,career high of 24 vs. UNLV.

Bayless played at Eldorado High School in Las Vegas averaged 23 points and 11 rebounds his senior season.

"We are very happy to add Alvin and James to our team for next year," said Mathews. "They are both solid players who will add both the experience they gained at the former schools and the USF practices that they will have this semester before joining the team next December. With the loss of Hondre (Brewer) and Tayo (Akinsete) up front, this gives us added power up front."

USF Inks Two Early: USF head basketball coach Philip Mathews announced that the Dons have signed De La Salle High forward Rekalin Sims and John Wood College forward Mamdou Cisse to NCAA letters of intent during the fall signing period.

Sims (6-8, 210), who will enter USF as a freshman was an all-BVAL selection last year at Concord's De La Salle High School. He averaged 10.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest.

Cisse (6-8, 225), a native of Senegal, averaged 12 points, 10 rebounds and 1.8 blocks last year while at Wood Comm College in Carterville, IL.

"These two players give us size and athleticism," said Dons' coach Phil Mathews. "We lose Hondre (Brewer) and Tayo (Akinsete) to graduation, so getting some size up front is important."