TAMPA, FL (University of South Floirda Athletic Dept) - The University of South Florida Men’s Basketball staff has picked up a valuable addition as head coach Stan Heath has announced the hiring of Mike Wells as assistant coach. Wells joins the Bulls after spending the past two seasons at George Mason. 

“Mike is a little bit of an out-of-the-box hire but I see so much of our game heading towards an NBA style and his experiences with some of the best coaches in the game, like Gregg Popovich and Rudy Tomjanovich, will prove extremely valuable,” said Heath. “I believe his development through the NBA system will help our team become more innovative and creative both offensively and defensively. Additionally, his time spent on the floor working with NBA players will make our players very excited as they go about reaching their goals individually. He’s going to be a very valuable asset and will play an integral role on this staff.” 

Wells comes to Tampa after two seasons in Fairfax under George Mason head coach Paul Hewitt. Prior to getting back into the collegiate level, Wells had an extensive NBA coaching career for 17 seasons that featured two NBA Championships. In addition, he served as the head scout for the USA Basketball senior national team for four summers, including the gold-medal winning team at the 2000 Summer Olympics. 

Wells’ NBA career began in 1995 with the eventual NBA Champion Houston Rockets (1995-2004) where he worked his way up from assistant video coordinator to assistant coach. From there he went on to fill the same position with the Los Angeles Lakers (2004-05) under Rudy Tomjanovich before spending four seasons with the San Antonio Spurs (2005-09) that featured the 2007 NBA Championship title. He wrapped up his time in the NBA with the Washington Wizards (2009-11). 

Wells and Tomjanovich also worked together during his time as the head scout for Team USA (1998-2003) where he helped produce not only the gold-medal team for the 2000 Summer Olympics, but the bronze-medal team at the 1998 FIBA World Championships and the squads for the 1999 and 2003 Pre Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. 

A 1993 graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene, Wells played two seasons for the Cougars before earning his degree in Sports Management, then served as an assistant coach for two seasons while obtaining his Master’s Degree in Sports Science from the United States Sports Academy. He and his wife, Jacqueline, have two sons, Trenton and Troy. 

by Ryan Adams
 
The USF women's softball team are Big East division champs and on Friday the Bulls continue their quest for a national title as they begin the Gainsville Regional Tournament for the second straight season.  Georgia Southern will kick off the Bulls tournament schedule this weekend with the winner going on to face the winner of the Hampton vs. #2 Florida series beginning May 23-26.
 
Session passes for the Gainsville Regional are $25 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under, seniors (55+), and non-UF college students with proof of ID.

TAMPA, FL (University of South Florida Athletic Dept) – The University of South Florida will play a home-and-home football series with Florida State University, USF Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Doug Woolard has announced. USF will visit FSU on Sept. 26, 2015 with the Seminoles making a return trip to Tampa on Sept. 24, 2016. 

“We’ve been working collaboratively on extending the series between USF and FSU for some time,” Woolard said. “The two previous games provided such great atmospheres for both of our fan bases that it was important for us to extend the series. Combined with our recent non-conference scheduling announcements, we’re very pleased with how our future schedules have come together.” 

In the first-ever meeting between the two schools in 2009, USF visited Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee and defeated Florida State, 17-7, in front of 83,524 fans, 12,000-plus of which were USF Bulls fans who say the victory may be the greatest in the history of the football program. The Seminoles made the return trip to Tampa last season, handing the Bulls a 30-17 defeat in front of a USF-record 69,383 fans.

TAMPA, FL (University of South Florida Athletic Dept.)  - The University of South Florida Athletics Department announced the members of its 2013 Hall of Fame class during BullsFest on May 11 at the USF Sun Dome. 

The 2013 class of inductees includes USF’s all-time winningest men’s basketball coach Bobby Paschal, USF’s all-time passer Marquel Blackwell, All-American and major-leaguer Chris Heintz and USF record holder in three track and field events Dayana Octavien. 

The class of 2013 will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on the evening of Friday, Sept. 27, the night prior to USF’s home football game against Miami. This year's class marks the fifth class to be inducted into the USF Hall of Fame, joining 18 individuals and one team that have been enshrined in the annual celebration. 

The inaugural inductees, the class of 2009, were former men's basketball player Charlie Bradley, former women's basketball player Wanda Guyton, former Director of Athletics Dick Bowers, two-time National Champion in rifle Michelle Scarborough and the members of the 1984-85 National Champion swimming team. 

In 2010, the second class inducted included six-time women's tennis conference coach of the year Sherry Bedingfield, USF's most decorated women's track and field athlete Kerine Black, baseball All-American Ross Gload, USF's first men's soccer coach Dan Holcomb and national championship swimmer Joe Lewkowicz. 

The 2011 class of inductees included volleyball's two-time Conference USA player of the year Michelle Collier, men's basketball all-time great Radenko Dobras, ultra-successful men's swimming coach Robert Grindey, long-time NFL standout Anthony Henry, men's soccer All-American Fergus Hopper and softball's lone two-time All-American, Monica Triner. 

The 2012 class of inductees included former USF Athletics Director, Lee Roy Selmon, long-time NBA veteran and former USF men's basketball star, Chucky Atkins, and the all-time leading scorer in USF women's basketball history, Jessica Dickson. 

The Executive Committee that leads the selection of Hall of Fame inductees is made up of Chair Richard Gonzmart (President, Columbia Restaurants), John Gerdes (Director of Stewardship and Development, Cathedral of St. Jude The Apostle and St. Jude School), Oscar Horton (Owner & President, Sun State International Trucks, LLC.), Jim Louk (Asst. AD/Broadcasting), Linda Simmons (President, R.R. Simmons Construction, Inc.), Mark Robinson (Business Manager, Safety Harbor Montessori Academy) and Steve Walz (Assistant AD/Director of Sports Medicine). 

MARQUEL BLACKWELL 

Marquel Blackwell was a four-year standout quarterback for USF from 1999-2002, served on the Bulls' coaching staff as a program assistant from 2009-11 and is now back as the Director of Player Development. He spent the 2012 season as a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky under Willie Taggart. 

Blackwell holds most of the Bulls career passing records, including touchdowns (67), completions (795), attempts (1,417) and passing yards (9,108), after gaining the starting job early in his freshman season. He also ranks ninth in career rushing yards (1,235) and fifth in rushing touchdowns (20). 

While leading the Bulls, Blackwell compiled a 30-12 record and remains USF’s all-time winningest quarterback. He led USF to its first ever nine-win season in 2002, while serving as one of the team’s four captains. 

After college, Blackwell signed with the New York Jets, appearing and starting in the last preseason game before the 2003 season. Following stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tampa Bay Storm, Blackwell began his coaching career as the offensive coordinator at Tampa’s Freedom High School in 2006 before serving as head coach at Freedom from 2007-08. 

A St. Petersburg, Fla., native, Blackwell played his prep football at Dixie Hollins High School. 

CHRIS HEINTZ 

A four-year contributor and three-year starter with the USF baseball team from 1993-96, Chris Heintz was a fixture for the Bulls at shortstop and third base, hitting .310 over 767 career at bats, and never finishing a season with a batting average below .300. In his senior season, Heintz dominated at the plate, hitting .400 with 16 home runs and 95 RBI, finishing fourth on USF’s single-season batting average list and fifth in career RBI with 195. 

After his stellar senior season in which Heintz helped USF to a Conference USA title as well as two NCAA Regional wins, he earned multiple honors, being named a third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball, as well as a third-team All-American by the Super Smith Team. He was named USF’s 1996 Student Athlete of the Year. 

Heintz was drafted by the Chicago White Sox organization in 1996, and made his Major League debut as a catcher with the Minnesota Twins on September 10, 2005. Heintz played in the majors with the Twins for three years from 2005-2007, seeing action in a career-high 24 games in 2007, before retiring in 2008 and returning to USF to join Lelo Prado’s staff as an assistant baseball coach. 

Heintz served on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, was a member of Bull WHIPS (We Help Influence Peers) and participated in the USF Children’s Festival sponsored by the USF College of Education. Heintz continues to be an active member in the USF community, passing along his All-American knowledge of the game through baseball as well as softball camps. 

DAYANA OCTAVIEN 

As the USF record holder in three events, track and field standout Dayana Octavien surely left her mark on the USF program. Competing for the Bulls from 2000-04 as a throws specialist, the Naples, Fla. native set the hammer throw record as just a freshman with her toss of 172-6. She improved upon that mark during her time in Tampa, closing out her career with a personal-best 209-10 throw which still stands as the best at USF and is 23 feet ahead of second place on the top 10 list. 

She was a two-time All-American after qualifying for the NCAA Championships twice in both the hammer and discus and entered the 2004 outdoor NCAA meet as the second-best discus thrower in the country. She won five Conference-USA titles during her USF tenure and was named the C-USA Athlete of the Year in three straight seasons (2003 outdoor, 2004 indoor and outdoor). Additionally she was one of three Bulls to be named to the C-USA All-Decade Team in 2004-05. 

Along with the hammer throw record, Octavien also holds USF’s top mark in the discus at 191-9, 18 feet ahead of second place and the indoor weight throw at 69-9.5. She is also second all-time in the indoor shot put (48-8) and third in the outdoor shot put (51-2.75).

After wrapping up her stellar career at USF, Octavian continued her career professionally as an assistant coach for the track and field team from 2004-06. She also competed internationally, representing Haiti in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

BOBBY PASCHAL

In the 18 years he spent at the University of South Florida, Bobby Paschal left a huge mark on the department, serving as the head men’s basketball coach from 1986-96 and playing a valuable role in the Bulls’ entrance into college football as an assistant to the athletic director from 1996-2004. 

Paschal’s 10 years at the helm of the basketball program featured some of the top showings in program history, including USF’s first two NCAA Tournament appearances. He led USF to four overall postseason tournaments having also advanced to the NIT twice, including a run to the NIT Elite Eight, and the squad’s first ever conference championship (Sun Belt, 1990). Paschal also mentored some of the best student-athletes to wear a green and gold jersey at the Sun Dome. 

Paschal finished his career with 127 wins, the most by any USF men’s basketball coach, and was named the 1990 Sun Belt Coach of the Year. He led his squad through three conference changes while keeping a winning record in league play. 

Paschal recruited and coached USF Hall of Famers Chucky Atkins and Radenko Dobras. Atkins was one of the premier point guards in the country during his time at USF (1992-96). He was just the second player to have his jersey retired at USF and is the third all-time leading scorer in program history. Dobras also had his number retired after becoming the only Bull to lead USF in scoring in four-straight seasons. He graduated with a 3.6 GPA in computer engineering and led the Bulls to their first conference championship as the Sun Belt’s Most Valuable Player in 1990.