Bulls among field of eight team for Christmas holiday event in Honolulu
New Bulls now at NINE with additions of South Carolina transfer forward Jalyn McCreary and Tennessee transfer forward Corey Walker Jr.
USF has added seven Division I transfers, one junior college transfer and a two-time Florida high school all-state player to the 2021 roster
TAMPA, FLA., MAY 20, 2021 –Brian Gregory’s USF basketball team, which will feature nine new players in 2021, will head to Hawaii during in the 2021-22 season presented by Tampa General Hospital as the Bulls were announced Thursday among the eight-team field for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.
Each team will play three games in the 12th edition of the event played Dec. 22, 23 and 25 at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. The Bulls will be joined by BYU (West Coast), tournament host school Hawai’i (Big West), Liberty (ASUN), Northern Iowa (MVC), Stanford (Pac-12), Vanderbilt (SEC) and Wyoming (Mountain West). Two teams in the 2021 field were a part of the NCAA postseason last season – BYU and Liberty.
“We are committed to building a strong and competitive non-conference schedule, and playing in the prestigious Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu fits that objective,” Gregory said. “Playing in an exempt multiple-team event of this caliber allows us to play three games against high level, nationally recognized programs and competing in beautiful Hawaii will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our student-athletes.”
Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through the bracket over three days for a total of 12 games. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in the championship game on the final day of the tournament. Matchups, tip times and television arrangements will be announced at a later date.
Previous tournament champions include USC (2009, 2017), Butler (2010), Kansas State (2011), Arizona (2012), Iowa State (2013), George Washington (2014), Oklahoma (2015), San Diego State (2016), TCU (2018) and Houston (2019).
Tickets are expected to go on sale in October. Additional information for the family-friendly tournament and resort destination of Honolulu, Hawaii, can be found on the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic web site at hawaiianairlinesdiamondheadclassic.com.
Gregory has welcomed nine new Bulls to the program – including seven Division I transfers, one junior college transfer and a two-time Florida Class 7A All-State selection – to join five returners.
USF returns All-AAC Freshman Team guard Caleb Murphy (G, 6-4, 185), Jamir Chaplin (G, 6-5, 196), Prince Oduro (F, 6-8, 255), Russel Tchewa (C, 7-0, 260) and Mark Calleja (G, 6-2, 185) from last year’s squad. Murphy is the Bulls’ top returning scorer posting 8.3 points and 2.8 assists per game last season.
They are joined by new additions Corey Walker Jr. (F, 6-8, 219), Jalyn McCreary (F, 6-8, 215), Trey Moss (G, 6-3, 175), Sam Hines Jr. (F, 6-6, 200), Javon Greene (G, 6-4, 190), Jake Boggs (F, 6-8, 190), Serrel Smith Jr. (G, 6-4, 175) and Bayron Matos (F, 6-9, 245) and DJ Patrick (F, 6-6, 200).
McCreary, a transfer from the University of South Carolina, and Walker Jr., a transfer from Tennessee, are the latest Bulls’ additions. McCreary, a 6-8 forward, played in 44 games for the Gamecocks in two seasons and averaged 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game while posting 30 career blocks. Walker Jr., a 6-8 forward from Jacksonville, did not see action in his true-freshman season at Tennessee. He was a top-75 rated prospect nationally after averaging 15.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 blocks per game at Hargrave Military Academy (Virginia). Walker Jr. was also a first team Class 4A Florida All-State selection as a junior at Bishop Snyder High School in Jacksonville.
One of the top recruits in the state of Florida, Moss posted 17.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game for Windermere High School last season and finished his career as the school’s all-time leader in points (1,443), rebounds (678), assists (542), steals (155) and three-point field goals (201). Hines averaged 10.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists and logged 11 double-digit scoring games in his freshman season at Denver University. Greene comes to Tampa from George Mason University where the left-hander played in 119 games with 75 starts for the Patriots and scored 1,139 points (9.6 ppg) while grabbing 535 rebounds (4.5 rpg) and making 156 threes on his career.
Boggs played in 49 games with 23 starts in two seasons at UNC-Wilmington, averaging 10.3 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the floor and 43.9 percent (25-57) from three last season. Smith, the 2018 Florida Class 8A Player of the Year at St. Petersburg High School, played two seasons at Maryland and one at East Tennessee State, averaging 7.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game last year for the Buccaneers.
Matos played in 20 games and made 15 starts in his freshman season for New Mexico, averaging 6.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 52.6 percent from the field. Patrick started 18 games in his freshman season for Triton College, scoring in double-digits in 14 games, while averaging 14.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and shooting 47.4 percent from the floor, 43.9 percent from three and 80.0 percent from the line.
2021 Diamond Head Classic Field Highlights
- BYU has gone 44-15 overall in the last two seasons under head coach Mark Pope. He led the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament last year after 20 wins and a near-upset of top-ranked Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament finals.
- Tournament host, Hawaiʻi finished with a winning record for the fifth time in six seasons under head coach Eran Ganot, who picked up his 100th career coaching victory this past season.
- Liberty has won three straight ASUN regular season and tournament titles and boast back-to-back conference player of the year awards, including last year’s winner Darius McGhee.
- Four-time MVC Coach of the Year Ben Jacobson leads a Northern Iowa squad that has made four NCAA Tournaments and one Sweet 16 appearance during his tenure.
- Stanford returns a strong team in 2021-22, led by Pac-12 Most Improved Player Jaiden Delaire, sharpshooter Spencer Jones, and point guard Michael O’Connell.
- Vanderbilt is the only school in the nation with NBA Draft lottery picks in each of the last two years, and this year will welcome a pair of incoming freshmen to the squad, Peyton Daniels and Gabe Dorsey.
- Wyoming returns every player from a 2020-21 team that finished 14-11. Among its wins was a road upset of eventual Pac-12 champion and NCAA Elite 8 squad Oregon State.
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About USF Men’s Basketball
The USF men’s basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory, who enters his fourth season in 2021-22. Gregory was introduced as the 10th head coach in program history in March of 2017 after previously leading programs at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11). Gregory spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State’s Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo and helped the Spartans win the 2000 NCAA National Championship. Gregory owns over 300 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship with Dayton. In his second season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to the best win turnaround in the NCAA, the most single-season wins in school history and the 2019 College Basketball Invitational championship.
USF has retired three numbers in its 48-year history: Chucky Atkins (12), Charlie Bradley (30) and Radenko Dobras (31). The Bulls have earned three NCAA tournament bids, appeared in the NIT eight times and won the 2019 College Basketball Invitational.
For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.
– #GoBulls –
