Tuesday the Pro Holmes Sports (Tampa, Fla.) Academy post grad team was at the Muma Basketball Center to watch the South Florida Bulls practice. The next day Brian Gregory extended a scholarship offer to one of those players – 6-foot-8, 210 pound forward Keither Florence.
Not only was it the first time that Florence had ever observed a Division I basketball team practice, it was also his first visit to a college campus.
“It’s really nice,” Florence said of USF’s facilities. “The practice was really smooth everybody gets a chance to get better at the game and they actually take the time to help their bigs to get better. The guards as well. The speed, Coach doesn’t like all that walking and stuff, you know, discipline and everything. He teaches the game. The practice gym is really nice. I haven't seen an arena yet but I heard it’s really nice.”
A native of Wichita, Kansas, Florence graduated from Campus High School in the spring and is taking a post grad year at Pro Holmes Academy. The USF coaches recently made the short drive to evaluate Florence at practice.
“They came to one of our practices, I think it was Saturday night, and that's when they started recruiting me. Then they came to our practice again.”
Brian Gregory and Larry Dixon went to see Florence Saturday and Jason Slay came to another practice before Florence and his teammates came to USF on Tuesday to watch the team practice.
In addition to the Bulls, Florence also holds offers from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Florida Gulf Coast and SMU. Drake, Marquette, Mercer, Missouri, Morehead State, Murray State, Northern Illinois, South Carolina, Tulsa and several other programs have either come to Tampa to watch Florence workout or are showing interest in him.
What USF coaches like most about his game?
“They like that I’m very athletic and fast. I play three-through-five. They like that I really play hard block shots and go after the ball. Pretty much all the things that they say want kids to do, I pretty much do.”
With his recruitment just now blossoming Florence told us why he flew under the radar.
“Pretty much because of COVID,” he said. “It killed it for me when I had opportunities because before I was doing great and had opportunities. Schools were calling me and everything and then COVID came and, like, shut it all down. I've been playing for Aaron Holmes for like a month or two now and he has helped me get my recruitment up. Aaron Holmes helped me have an opportunity to get USF and all the schools to hit me up.”
Coach Holmes, a St. Petersburg, FL native, was a Rivals150 prospect and ranked the No. 27 shooting guard in the 2006 class. He signed with Florida State out of high school, but transferred to USF following his first semester. After sitting out one full year due to NCAA Transfer rules, Holmes played in 18 conference games with the Bulls, but left USF after the 2007-08 campaign due to a coaching change.
Florence, who has five siblings, said when he was in the eighth grade a trainer named Adrian Sims came into his life and changed everything.
“He’s a really good guy,” said Florence. “He actually took the time to actually help kids to get better. He helped me work on my game and taught me the game. I owe him a lot because I wouldn’t be here without him. When I make it I’m planning on paying him back for all the things he did for me. He’s a great trainer.”
RUSS’ REACTION
USF wants to add a versatile front court player in the 2022 class and Florence checks that box. It certainly helps that he is attending school near USF and they’ve already had him on campus to watch practice. I expect he’ll be invited again and will receive a full tour of the basketball facilities and the campus. The Bulls are in the early stages of building a relationship with Florence but BullsInsider.com will be monitoring this recruitment closely and keep you updated on our premium message board.
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