Larkin headlines a group of hoops visitors

This upcoming weekend figures to be of major importance for South Florida's basketball recruiting efforts.

Besides Texan visitor Andre Jackson, the Bulls will welcome in Orlando (Fla.) Dr. Phillips guard Shane Larkin - one of the top point guards in the entire country.

Larkin, who has previously been to the campus of South Florida on an unofficial visit, is looking forward to a more hands-on experience this time around.

"I have visited down there before unofficially and met all the coaches, now I am just really going to walk through the campus and see how the campus is," began Larkin. "I want to meet the players on this year's team, the players that would come back next year if I came here, and just try to get a better feel for how my life would be if I came to South Florida."

Head coach Stan Heath introduced Larkin to a few aspects of the university while speaking with him for an in-home visit. Now the Sunshine State product wants gain a more detailed understanding of all the programs and opportunities that would be available to him if he chose the Bulls.

"Coach Heath came to my house for an in-home visit and he told me about all of the majors that they have here and he mentioned that they have a really good business school," said Larkin. "I pretty much know a lot about the academic side of it all, I just want to get a feel for it - waking up every day and going to school here.

"I also want to see some of the diversity in the school," he added. "I want to learn about all of the backgrounds. I don't want to go to a school where it is primarily white or black. I want it to be like any place in America where you can see all different kinds of races. I will definitely be looking out for that while I am on campus."

Larkin is unsure of whether or not they will take some time to study some film or break down some strategies, but X's and O's have been discussed on a prior occasion.

"I know one thing Coach Heath preached to me at my house is that the team is based on defense and toughness," Larkin explained. "A lot of the points are generated off of good defense."

The 5-foot-11, 150-pounder still is planning on taking all of his official visits, but if the feeling is right, it is not out of the realm of possibility that Larkin could commit on his visit to Tampa.

"If one of these weekends blow me away - like if this weekend blows me away, then I might commit while I am here," he said. "Or if it was a good weekend and I compare how it was to last weekend, I will sit down and take everything in consideration and think about it."