What it means: Luke Anderson to USF
Brian Gregory has used the transfer market again to add talent to his roster before and Wednesday night the USF head men's basketball coach dipped into the free agent pool to land Iowa State transfer Luke Anderson.
Anderson, a 6-foot-8 forward entered the transfer portal on November 4, one day before the Cyclones season opener and committed to Gregory one month later. He will fill the scholarship spot that will open when junior forward Mayan Kiir leaves USF at the end of the current semester.
USF assistant coach Scott Wagers was Anderson’s lead recruiter.
A native of Lakeland, Florida Anderson was a Rivals three-star recruit who earned second-team all-state accolades in Florida's 8A class. He was regional and county player of the year. Anderson is a skilled forward who can play in a ball screen offense, can drive guys, score around the basket and stretch the defense with his perimeter shooting.
Once Anderson is enrolled at USF he will begin practicing with his new teammates and likely will be used on the scout team to help the Bulls in their game preparation. Since Anderson did not play in any Iowa State games the expectation is that Anderson will be a redshirt freshman in the 2020-21 season.
The Bulls have brought in some key transfers during Gregory’s tenure. Graduate transfers Payton Banks, Stephan Jiggetts and Terrence Samuel were key members of the 2017-18 team. Laquincy Rideau has started in all but one of the games he has played in a USF uniform, was named the 2019 American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and was also selected to the 2019 AAC All-Conference Third Team. T.J. Lang was a key reserve last season and made big time shots in the College Basketball Invitational championship game. Kiir, who transferred from LSU, played in all 38 games last season averaging 4.7, and 2.7 rebounds and 12.5 minutes per game. Ezacuras Dawson has started five of the Bulls’ first eight games and is shooting 36.4 percent on the perimeter.
In every practical sense, Anderson could be considered an early enrollee in the USF 2020 recruiting class which includes four-star Grayson (GA) High School guard Caleb Murphy and Oak Hill (VA) Academy center Emmanuel Okpomo.