Alex Fudge Recaps Unofficial Visit To USF
For the second consecutive year the South Florida men’s basketball team camp coincided with the first day college coaches could contact rising juniors. USF reached out to several recruits in the 2021 class on Saturday and one of those prospects took an unofficial visit to USF on Tuesday.
Lee High School forward Alex Fudge, who listed his height and weight at 6-foot-6, 175 pounds, traveled from Jacksonville with his mother and older brother to Tampa arriving shortly after 9 a.m.
“When I first got there I was greeted by all of the coaches. It was a nice feeling,” Fudge said about his first impression before taking us through his visit. “We first entered the Muma Center and we walked through the practice facility, saw the locker rooms, their film center, the weight room and stuff like that. Then we met with some of the trainers and some of the players.”
Eventually Fudge’s tour of the basketball facilities took him to Yuengling Center which left a strong impression.
“It’s a nice gym, it’s very nice. They told me it holds about 10,000 fans. They’re redoing the court so I look forward to [seeing] that. It’s real nice,” said Fudge.
During his sophomore campaign with the Lee Generals Fudge averaged 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per the Jacksonville Times-Union. His performance earned Fudge second team All-First Coast honors from the newspaper.
In addition to USF, Fudge also holds offers from Louisiana, North Florida and Stetson. He is also hearing from Florida, UCF, Yale, Winthrop, Wake Forest, Holy Cross, and others.
Once the tour of the facilities ended the Bulls staff told Fudge what USF had to offer academically.
“They (USF Coaches) knew I was interested in academics. That’s the main part for me so they took me to that side. We met with the lady (Ivana Rich) who oversees the studying, tutoring and all that. She really impressed us and talked a lot about what we wanted to hear academic-wise. She set the standard high and I felt like it was probably going to be a great fit.”
For some recruits mentioning academics during an interview may be lip service, but not for Fudge who is a high academic prospect and is enrolled in the Early College program.
“It started in seventh grade because I had a really high GPA,” Fudge said. “So they put me in Early College but I first had to take the PERT (Postsecondary Education Readiness Test). I passed it and they put me in Early College. In eighth grade I took my first college course, which was SLS (Student Life Skills). I made it through that. In my ninth grade year I didn’t have to take any college courses, but my tenth grade year it was pretty hard because so much was thrown at me but I got through it. I think it was five classes I had to take that were college courses I took that year.”
Fudge passed all five of those classes and is now eligible to take all of his remaining courses at Florida State College at Jacksonville. Students who successfully complete the Early College program receive a high school diploma and an associate degree, or up to two years of college credit.
As for his recruitment, like many members of the 2021 class, it is just blossoming now that college coaches can make direct contact with him.
“It’s really been great to know that I actually have interest because at first I would hear from my Coaches that people were starting to notice me but they didn’t tell me who,” said Fudge. “Now that I know I’ve had people watching me and I know who is watching me I’ve been really dedicating myself to what I feel like I need to work on the most.”