The South Florida Bulls got more publicity in five minutes Sunday than they
received in their previous four years.
The young, growing program based in Tampa produced the first three picks of
the fourth round of the NFL Draft -- offensive lineman Kenyatta Jones to New
England, defensive back Anthony Henry to Cleveland and kicker Bill Gramatica to
Arizona.
"I was sitting in my living room screaming, I was so excited," coach Jim
Leavitt said.
It was the boost Leavitt needed, as he shepherds the fifth-year program into
Division I-A next season. Jones, Henry and Gramatica, the brother of Buccaneers
kicker Martin Gramatica, became the first players to be drafted out of the
40,000-student school.
The five-minute flurry provided the most concrete proof yet that, given
time, South Florida can move into the ranks of national respectability.
"It's enormous," Leavitt said. "People all over the state of Florida saw
this. What I enjoyed hearing was the names Florida, Florida State and Miami -
and us being connected with them."
Florida's three football powers lead the nation in producing first-round
picks over the past 18 years.
Butch Davis, who left Miami to coach the Browns, said South Florida's sudden
surge came as little surprise.
"The last 15 years, the state of Florida has produced 90 to maybe 160
players into Division I," Davis said. "Florida, Florida State and Miami get
maybe 60 of them. The trend now is for some of those other players to go to
South Florida instead of maybe going to the Big Ten or elsewhere."
Leavitt conceded the jump from nothing to Division I-A in the span of five
years was huge. But good players are taking this program seriously, as the
draft showed.
When Leavitt came to South Florida after leaving as co-defensive coordinator
at Kansas State, he took a bold approach to recruiting. He wasn't simply
willing to settle for the players the Big Three passed over.
"We went after him if we liked him," Leavitt said. "If Florida, Florida
State or Miami liked him, that didn't slow us down. All they could say is no.
We tried to sell them on the option of maybe playing a little sooner."
South Florida went 7-4 last season, playing a combination of I-A and I-AA
teams. Leavitt expects next season to be rough. In 2002 or 2003, the Bulls will
join Conference USA.
"A foundation is being built," Leavitt said. "These things don't happen
overnight, although we're trying to make it happen that way."
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