
Photo Credit: Greengoldandbold.com
As has been mentioned in the past, USF athletics is moving in the right direction. 2024 saw championships and growth, highs and lows. Success starts at the top and athletic director Michael Kelly has done an outstanding job with the coaches he has brought in and the ones already in place. One of those coaches Amir Abdur-Rahim, was hired as the new head coach of USF men’s basketball. His motto is “It ain’t the same old South Florida, my brother.” USF won seven of eight AAC games in January bringing their record to 14-5. The highlight during that time was the 74-73 win at Memphis on January 18th when the Bulls trailed by 20 points only to come from behind to win the game.
They won four games in a row to start the month of February. Waiting for them was the 24th-ranked Florida Atlantic Owls. The Owls were a Final Four team in 2023. With the Owls coming in, the Bulls entertained the largest home crowd at 10,659. It was a sellout and they treated them to a victory, 90-86. In the same month, the baseball and softball teams opened their seasons. The baseball team finished the month one game above 500 at 4-3. The softball team was red hot as they went 12-5 going into March. As March opened, men’s basketball clinched their first regular season title. The game they clinched was a win over the Charlotte 49ers, 76-61. They would also be ranked for the first time in program history.
It took the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes to break the USF Bulls’ 15-game winning streak. That loss would be the last before the AAC Championship tournament. The Bulls would win in round one over the East Carolina Pirates but fall in the next round to the UAB Blazers. The loss would eliminate any chance for the team to make the NCAA Tournament. Abdur-Rahim was named AAC Coach of the Year. They accepted an invitation to the NIT tournament and again opened with a win over the UCF Knights. Their next opponent was the VCU Rams where they fell finishing the season with a 25-8 record. The women’s basketball team finished the season 19-13 losing in the conference championship to the UTSA Roadrunners 58-56. The baseball team did not have a great season finishing 26-29 failing to make the AAC tournament.
The softball team finished with a 32-20 overall record with an 11-13 record in the conference. Two days after the baseball team failed to make the conference tournament, Michael Kelly announced he was making a change. Billy Mohl had been let go after being with the program for seven years. The softball team fell in the first round of the tournament to the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes 2-1 finishing the season with a 34-22 record. Kelly replaced Mohl with veteran baseball coach Mitch Hannahs. Hannahs led Indiana State to four of the five NCAA tournaments and the 2023 NCAA Super Regional. One of the coolest things to happen off the field was that USF sent five athletes to the Paris Olympics which led all AAC schools. As the year moved to August, the football team was picked to finish third in the AAC behind the Memphis Tigers and Tulane Green Wave.
The USF Bulls football team opened the season with a dominating 48-3 win over the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats. In September the Bulls traveled to Alabama to play the Crimson Tide. The crowd was 100,077 the biggest crowd to ever see a USF football game. The game was close until the final 5:50 when the Crimson Tide scored three touchdowns to win 42-16. They bounced back against the Southern Miss Eagles but they were trounced by the Miami Hurricanes 50-15. After the loss, they would have their first conference loss falling to the Tulane Green Wave 45-10. Then, the state of Florida had two horrible weeks in a row as hurricanes Helene and Milton hit the state and caused catastrophic damage. It forced the Bulls to move their game versus the Memphis Tigers to Orlando. The Tigers won 21-3 and then went on to beat the UAB Blazers 35-25.
One of the biggest things that happened was the growth of USF athletics. In November, the football team broke ground on an on-campus stadium. The stadium will cost the university $340 million and it is the crown jewel of the Bulls’ massive investment in the athletic department. The Bulls won over Tulsa making them bowl-eligible and they won the Hawaii Bowl over the San Jose State Spartans. The volleyball team won its first regular-season title since 2002 and went to the AAC tournament as the top seed. They won their first game and fell to the team that hosted the tournament in Wichita State which cost them a NCAA bid. The football team welcomed 25 new players on early signing day. Overall, it was a good year for USF athletics.
What are your thoughts on the 2024 season for USF athletics? Leave a comment below.
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