Newest signee adds versatility

Standout forward Zach LeDay signed his National Letter of Intent and sent it to USF Wednesday and became the newest member of the Bulls 2012 recruiting class.

The 6-foot-7, 219-pounder verbally committed to the Bulls January 2 over Vanderbilt, Missouri, Fresno State and George Mason. LeDay said choosing USF was not that difficult.

"My mom and I came for a visit and it was great," LeDay said. "I thought Tampa was beautiful with all the palm trees. There's so much to do. And I love USF's facilities. I thought they were beautiful. It's one of the reasons I committed, just knowing you're practicing in top level gear. Everything is brand new. I can't wait to get down there and play in that brand new gym next year."

LeDay said the USF coaches were straightforward and put no pressure on him.

"Coach Roc (Steve Roccaforte) started recruiting me near the end of November. I was open to a lot of schools at that point," he said. "He came to the school and saw me practice. I talked to him and built up a great relationship. Coach (Stan) Heath is a good coach; I've built a good relationship with him. I would say our relationship got better over the visit".

"They were just real and up front with me and said that if I came in and put in hard work, I could earn minutes as a freshman and make an impact right away."

LeDay will bring versatility to the Terps next year at as many as three positions. He is an all-around talent who does a little bit of everything well.

"I'm versatile, can play the power forward spot, I can play the small forward spot," he said. "They're going to develop my ball handling enough that I could even play the two guard because I can step out and shoot threes and I can take a bigger man off the dribble to the basket. That's really my game -- a lot of versatility. I try not to focus on just one thing."

The Colony finished 30-6 this season and made it to the second round of the Texas state championship tournament behind 20.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game from LeDay. Coach Cleve Ryan only had LeDay on his roster for one season but was effusive in praising LeDay.

"He's a good young man and a big part of our success this season," Ryan said. "I hate to see him go. I really wish he had come three or four years ago so I would have had longer to coach him. He has a lot of upside. His ball handling will need some work at the next level but he has an incredible desire to win so he'll put in the work. In fact we used him at three different positions. Wherever we needed him to play we put him there and he did whatever it took to win. He's very competitive."

LeDay became the fourth member of Stan Heath's 2012 class joining four-star shooting guard Javontae Hawkins, JUCO First Team All-American Waverly Austin and JUCO transfer Musa Abdul-Aleem.

But the Bulls aren't done yet.

Sam Cassell, Jr, son of the former NBA player and current Washington Wizards assistant coach, took an official visit to USF this weekend. Cassell is expected to announce his school choice by the end of next week, per a source close to his recruitment. He's choosing between USF, Maryland and Pittsburgh.