Heath was fired because Black coaches get very little respect. 10 black coaches fired out of 84 that started the year. 19 of 254 white coaches fired. This guy got a raw deal at Akansas, but what can you expect from a black man at an SEC school. South Florida did well in getting a top young coach. He will bust other teams bubble while at South Florida. Hard to imagine South Florida becoming an NCAA regular in BE, but Heath may turn USF into a thorn in bubble teams sides in the BE.

BULLS

USF Calls On Heath To Rebuild Men's Hoops Program
By BRETT McMURPHY The Tampa Tribune

Published: Apr 3, 2007


ATLANTA - Exactly one week after he was fired at Arkansas, Stan Heath was hired to be the next men's basketball coach at the University of South Florida.

Heath, 42, will receive a five-year contract that could be worth up to $4.275 million, including incentives, USF assistant athletic director John Gerdes said. Heath will be formally introduced at a 3:30 p.m. news conference today at USF's athletic facility.

"I think it's a great hire for South Florida," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "He knows the Southeast after working at Arkansas. He did a great job in the Midwest. He has a good feel for East Coast basketball. Good for our league, good for South Florida.

"They've got a good foundation of players. He's got to get his players in there and implement his system. It's going to take some time. People have to understand that. It always takes time to build the program the right way."

Heath was 82-71 in five seasons at Arkansas, leading the Razorbacks to the NCAA Tournament the past two years. He started his head coaching career at Kent State in 2001-02, leading the Golden Flashes to a 30-6 record and reaching the NCAA's Elite Eight.

Heath was fired at Arkansas on March 26 after losing in the NCAA Tournament's first round for a second consecutive season. Hours after his firing at Arkansas, Heath initially told The Tampa Tribune of his interest in USF.

"People say that's a tough job, it's hard to win there and how much of a challenge it is," Heath told the Tribune last week. "I'm not scared of a challenge. I can get the job done."

Heath, known as one of the nation's top recruiters, was well liked by his players.

"Everybody thinks Coach Heath is just a quiet, calm guy. That's not true at all," Arkansas senior guard Gary Ervin said. "You know, he's fiery. And it starts with him, you know. He could have [given] up on us losing a couple of games at home and on the road.

"But instead he stayed confident and just told us to go out there and have fun. Just play to win and we did a good job of that. We followed his lead."

Heath's recruiting classes at Arkansas were continually ranked by recruiting services among the nation's best. His first two classes in 2003 and 2004 ranked No. 7 and No. 13, respectively. His 2006 class ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 14 in the nation.

Among his Arkansas recruits were NBA first-round draft choices Al Jefferson (15th pick, 2004) and Ronnie Brewer (14th pick, 2006) along with this year's SEC Freshman of the Year, Patrick Beverley.

Beverley was considering transferring to USF but announced Monday night he is staying at Arkansas.

VCU coach Anthony Grant, who was one of several candidates targeted by USF athletic director Doug Woolard before Woolard tabbed Heath, said USF is getting a quality person.

"He's a great guy and a great coach," Grant said. "Obviously, it was a difficult situation with the timing of him losing his job at Arkansas. But he was able to land on his feet.

"When you look at what he did in the SEC, he brought a level of consistency at Arkansas in terms of where the program was when he took over. He's a great recruiter, a great communicator and an excellent teacher of the game. I think South Florida did a very good job."

A Detroit native, Heath was a reserve guard at Eastern Michigan. His first coaching job was as an assistant at Ypsilanti (Mich.) Lincoln High School in 1988. After that he remained in Michigan as an assistant at Division III Hillsdale and Albion and Division II Wayne State.

He also was an assistant at Bowling Green before becoming an assistant under Tom Izzo at Michigan State in 1998.

"I look at him as being like myself," Izzo, a former 17-year assistant, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "Stan is someone who worked his way up, driving for miles to see recruits, not flying here and there, appreciating the hard work it takes to get here.

"I've watched him grow and become more assertive and more driven."

Eric Bozeman, the father of USF freshman guard Solomon Bozeman, lives in Magnolia, Ark., and is a former assistant at Ole Miss. He knows first-hand what kind of coach USF is getting.

"He's a class guy," Bozman said. "I'm waiting for great things to happen. People are going to love him."

OUBOBCATJOHN Wrote:Heath was fired because Black coaches get very little respect. 10 black coaches fired out of 84 that started the year. 19 of 254 white coaches fired. This guy got a raw deal at Akansas, but what can you expect from a black man at an SEC school.

Are you serious?

You don't think having a 5 year road record of just 9-37 had something to do with him losing his job?

You don't think that having 4 losing SEC Conference seasons out of 5 had nothing to do with him losing his job?

You don't think that the DROP in season tix/overall tix sales/revenue during his tenure had something to do with it?

Everyone knows what you just spewed on here was total

KnightLight Wrote:

OUBOBCATJOHN Wrote:Heath was fired because Black coaches get very little respect. 10 black coaches fired out of 84 that started the year. 19 of 254 white coaches fired. This guy got a raw deal at Akansas, but what can you expect from a black man at an SEC school.

Are you serious?

You don't think having a 5 year road record of just 9-37 had something to do with him losing his job?

You don't think that having 4 losing SEC Conference seasons out of 5 had nothing to do with him losing his job?

You don't think that the DROP in season tix/overall tix sales/revenue during his tenure had something to do with it?

Everyone knows what you just spewed on here was total

Don't mind KL he is just jealous......again.

bit unfair, he had to clean up the mess nolan richardson left, the last 2 seasons he brought them to the tournament and next year will be their best team. he's energetic and can sell this program a good hire for us, better than marshall or any other coach we were targeting.

CollegeCard Wrote:

CatsClaw Wrote:People keep talking about Arkansas being a basketball rich school, but really, is it other then Nolan Richardson run?

Only UCLA, UNC, Duke, UK, Kansas, Ohio St, UofL, & IU have more Final 4's. The Hogs are tied with UC, Michigan, and Sparty for 9th with 6 Final 4's. Their final 4's also have come in 4 different decades.

So they should be a Top 25 team within a few years of Heath going there and Richardson's waning years drove the program into the ground?

KnightLight Wrote:

OUBOBCATJOHN Wrote:Heath was fired because Black coaches get very little respect. 10 black coaches fired out of 84 that started the year. 19 of 254 white coaches fired. This guy got a raw deal at Akansas, but what can you expect from a black man at an SEC school.

Are you serious?

You don't think having a 5 year road record of just 9-37 had something to do with him losing his job?

You don't think that having 4 losing SEC Conference seasons out of 5 had nothing to do with him losing his job?

You don't think that the DROP in season tix/overall tix sales/revenue during his tenure had something to do with it?

Everyone knows what you just spewed on here was total

hey knight troll, i'm not saying i agree with him, but it's interesting to note, the canidates who were considered to replace him were gillespie, self, calipari, floyd, crean, and of course altman all of them about as white as can be. coupled with the nolan richardson fiasco, it does make one wonder.

USFMike Wrote:

KnightLight Wrote:

OUBOBCATJOHN Wrote:Heath was fired because Black coaches get very little respect. 10 black coaches fired out of 84 that started the year. 19 of 254 white coaches fired. This guy got a raw deal at Akansas, but what can you expect from a black man at an SEC school.

Are you serious?

You don't think having a 5 year road record of just 9-37 had something to do with him losing his job?

You don't think that having 4 losing SEC Conference seasons out of 5 had nothing to do with him losing his job?

You don't think that the DROP in season tix/overall tix sales/revenue during his tenure had something to do with it?

Everyone knows what you just spewed on here was total

hey knight troll, i'm not saying i agree with him, but it's interesting to note, the canidates who were considered to replace him were gillespie, self, calipari, floyd, crean, and of course altman all of them about as white as can be. coupled with the nolan richardson fiasco, it does make one wonder.

Former coach Nolan Richardson did sue the school for being racist, so there might be some truth to that. I am glad Stan went to USF. USF would be a good program for him to build from the scratch and I am sure USF is not as racist as Arkansas.

maybe KL would rather discuss the baseball game from last night between USF and UCF. lmfao lmfao lmfao

Cubanbull Wrote:maybe KL would rather discuss the baseball game from last night between USF and UCF. lmfao lmfao lmfao

I hope Marshall doesn't win many CUSA baseball games (I doubt they do)! UofL was beating the Herd 17-1 yesterday when the game was called after 5.5 innings. I truly hope that is the worst team in the league.