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A Second Chance....................................Page 3B Latvian Laksa Learning to Lead.............Page 9B Land of Opportunity............................... Page 10B Running Out of Time...............................Page 13B

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A second chance

Fully healed ACL gives Holston renewed fire for upcoming season Sophomore guard Troy Holston Jr. averaged 15.8 points over his final nine games as a freshman before tearing his ACL during offseason conditioning. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/ GOUSFBULLS.COM

By Jacob Hoag E D I T O R

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He sat in his bed at his mom’s house, window cracked open, staring at the clouds rolling by.

Questions of “Why me?” circled Troy Holston Jr.’s head with his basketball career now up in the air.

Hours earlier, during a routine one-on-one defensive drill during a summer workout, the sophomore guard shuffled his feet as teammate Jake Bodway tried to spin past him for a layup.

Then, he heard a “pop” in his knee — arguably the worst sound he’s heard in his young life.

“I thought life was over,” Holston said.

At first, Holston was told there was nothing serious to worry about, but the fear of the unknown was to daunting for

him to put out of his mind.

“At first I didn’t know, I thought I maybe hyperextended it or dislocated it or something,” Holston said. “(The trainer) said don’t be worried, but I was crying.

“I was hurt, it was hurting me and I knew it was something big.”

A few days later it was confirmed that his ACL was torn and his season was over before it even began.

“He was having a great summer before the injury happened,” coach Orlando Antigua said. “We thought that he had grown, he had matured, he had developed layers to his game. He wasn’t just a one-dimensional kind of player. And so we were really excited about pairing him up with Jahmal (McMurray) and the group coming in.

“For us, not being able to rely on that experience and his skill-

sets and often times his leadership as someone who had been there and done that took us a couple steps back.”

Holston began to come on strong toward the end of the 2014 season, averaging 15.8 points over the final nine games, including 22 made 3-pointers.

He was expected to be the go-to player beside forward Chris Perry heading into 2015 with Anthony Collins transferring to Texas A&M over the offseason. Everything was trending upward.

But with one step, it all crashed to the hardwood with a resounding thud.

“That was probably the most down, black period of my life,” said Holston, who had never had surgery prior this one. “I just didn’t know what to do next.

The unknown of not knowing when I was gonna come back and how good I’d be. That was

the real scary part.”

After suffering the injury in June, Holston knew his entire 2015 season was done. The one positive of the timing of the injury was that he had an entire season to rehab and get back to full strength.

“He focused in on the rehab as his season,” Antigua said.

On an average day for the first few months, Holston was off the court and away from basketball. He would work with the team trainer twice a day, bending his knee every which way to get back his flexion and extension (basic mobility of the knee).

Despite being forced off the court, Holston still watched as many NBA and college basketball games as he could. When he needed a break from thinking about not being on the court, he found refuge in his interest in exotic cars.

He attended car shows in the area hoping to shake the desire to put his feet to the hardwood, but he couldn’t escape the nagging urge.

“It’s hard to run away from basketball, it’s what I love to do,” Holston said.

After four or five months, he was back on the court. Albeit in a limited capacity, once he set foot back on the court, it was time to prepare for 2016.

But as his strength and conditioning improved, the mental roadblocks of coming back from a serious knee injury kept Holston from regaining his 2014 form.

“He’s physically 100 percent back,” Antigua said. “But we’ve had to sort of reinforce to him that it’s gonna take some time now that he’s physically back, but mentally — the feel, the

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rhythm — when you’re off for that long, it takes time to get that going.

“Early on he was (hesitating).

We were intentionally doing drills to get him exhausted where he’s not thinking about it. But he’s just gotta reprogram himself to always be ready.

We’re just trying to get those basketball things back to being habits for him.”

These drills consisted of forcing Holston to run from the baseline to half court and back, then sprinting to the 3-point line and taking shots.

He couldn’t catch his breath and certainly couldn’t think about his knee.

It took about three weeks of on-court drills to break the mental barrier. From there, it was about regaining the confidence he possessed as a freshman to play carefree and let the ball fly.

“It’s just the mental aspect of it, being more confident and knowing what you can do on the court,” Holston said. “You kind of hold stuff back that you know you can do on the court sometimes because of a lack of

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confidence. But now I have the ultimate confidence, like how I was going my freshman year.”

The source of this confidence came from escaping the confines of his knee brace, which he said kept him from being himself on the court.

“It felt like every time I had it on, it’s like I can’t move,” Holston said of the brace, sometimes even hiding it under towels in his locker to avoid wearing it. “I’m not as mobile as I could be.

“Sometimes I would rip it off and throw it on the sidelines, but (the trainer) would make me put it back on.”

Another boost of confidence came from NBA champion guard Iman Shumpert of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who has come to work with the team each of the past two offseasons.

“When I was hurt, he came and was like, ‘Yeah man, you’ll get through it, just keep pushing and working at it every day,’” Holston said of Shumpert’s visit in 2015 when Holston was still injured. “He said I’d be like normal.”

Now, Holston sits just days away from the start of the 2016 season with USF taking on Nova

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Southeastern on Monday. It will be the first time that Holston has played on the Sun Dome court since March 12, 2015.

Holston adds an outside presence to a team that has finished near the bottom of Division I in 3-point shooting in each of the past two seasons.

“It’s definitely gonna be an

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complete player.”

USF went 8-25 without Holston on the floor last season.

Freshman Jahmal McMurray shouldered much of the offense in his first season, much like Holston did down the stretch of his.

But with Holston back, now a redshirt sophomore after

As excited as I am about where he is right now, I’m more excited about where he’s going to be able to be three, four, five weeks from now.”

USF coach Orlando Antigua on Troy Holston Jr.

added weapon for us,” Antigua said. “Not just his shooting, but you add an experienced guy that can really extend the defense.

“For us, we want to make him a complete basketball player, not just an outside shooter and I think early on as a freshman that’s what he was and by the end of that season, he was a

”

receiving a medical hardship waiver, along with the addition of outside shooter Geno Thorpe among others, Holston expects to take that load off of McMurray’s shoulders.

“I think it’s big. I think it will take a lot of that weight off Jahmal,” Holston said. “He’s such a good scorer that guys are gonna come at him hard and

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double team him. But if he has me or Mike Bibby (Jr.) or Geno Thorpe on the wing, it’s gonna make it easier for him.

To his teammates that remember Holston as a freshman, nothing has changed. If anything, the injury somehow made him better.

“He recovered pretty quickly, but it took him a while to get his explosiveness back and his confidence,” said junior forward Bo Zeigler, who is one of two current Bulls to play on the 2014 squad with Holston. “Now, you can’t even tell that he had an ACL injury.

“Sometimes he looks unstoppable.”

For now, he is back to his old self and in the eyes of his coaches and teammates, he will only continue to progress as the season heats up.

“I hope you get a chance to see a better Troy, a more mature, well-rounded Troy,” Antigua said. “But that’s a process and it takes some time and as excited as I am about where he is right now, I’m more excited about where he’s going to be able to be three, four, five weeks from now.”

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Latvian Laksa learning to lead

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By Chuck Muller S T A F F

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Growing up in a home surrounded by the game, sophomore forward Kitija Laksa can’t remember a time without basketball.

Laksa’s father, Janis, played on the Latvian national team while her brother, Martins, currently plays professionally for the Valmiera club team in their home of Latvia.

“Basketball has always been in our family,” Laksa said.

“I believe that I just saw a ball back in the yard (one day) and just started shooting.”

That natural instinct has led to the beginning of a bright career for Laksa as a Bull.

With only ten practices under her belt at USF coming into last

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season, Laksa and the rest of the USF women’s basketball team traveled to Spain last August for a preseason exhibition series with professional teams from across the country.

It was on this trip that Laksa said she first garnered the confidence of USF coach Jose Fernandez.

“It was awesome to play for the first time (for USF), and that’s when coach started trusting me,” Laksa said.

“That’s how I slowly earned his trust…because every day I came here, I had something to prove. I wanted to play, but I didn’t know what to expect… if I would be on the bench or I would play, I just had to earn my playing time.”

She averaged 21 points in 25 minutes in the two games she

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appeared in overseas, shooting 7-of-10 from 3-point range.

Laksa used that momentum to earn a start on opening night back in her new American home.

Playing in all but five minutes and scoring 15 points in a 22-point win over Jacksonville in her state-side Bulls’ debut, the young Latvian’s role and confidence grew rapidly on a team already laden in talent with guard Courtney Williams and forward Alicia Jenkins, USF’s all team leaders in points and rebounds, respectively.

“We had a couple of great leaders,” Laksa said.

“The team was awesome last year. The expectations coach had for me was…some stuff was overwhelming, some stuff

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Sophomore forward Kitija Laksa won the AAC Freshman of the Year award last season despite missing time with an ankle injury. SPECIAL TO

THE ORACLE

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Land of opportunity A DV E RT I S I N G S U P P L E M E N T

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USF coach Jose Fernandez turns to international recruiting to help bolster the 2016 Bulls’ roster

Even after starting 26 games last season, junior guard Laia Flores will likely be called upon to step up in a bigger role after the graduation of former guard Shalethia Stringfield. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

By Vinnie Portell for our style of play and our With the chance to earn S P O R T S E D I T O R system.” a college education while Since 2012, USF’s last year gaining otherwise unavailable When USF joined the AAC in the Big East, the Bulls’ basketball exposure, it’s hard after the collapse of the Big collection of international for many prospects to turn East, women’s basketball talent has grown from three to Fernandez down. coach Jose Fernandez had to nine players on the roster.

Senior center Nancy get creative.

While Fernandez has Warioba, originally from Fighting for local recruits certainly taken advantage Kenya, first saw Fernandez amongst other in-state schools of every opportunity that coaching the Bulls against such as Florida State, the international recruiting UConn on television, but never University of Florida and provides, what he’s offering thought she would one day the University of Miami was these players is something play for him. difficult enough in a reputable they can’t find at home.

“The first time I met conference such as the Big “In Spain, we don’t have (Fernandez), I was like, ‘Oh East, but luring the top talent teams at universities, so when wow, that’s the man I’ve seen in a brand new conference you’re done with high school, from TV.’ To me, it’s a great presented its own unique you can play pro,” junior guard opportunity.” challenges.

Laia Flores said. The league is “He’s nice, he’s friendly, “When we changed from pretty good, you can play at he’s welcoming and he’s an the Big East to the American, a high level, but studying and open-minded person. He will (international recruiting) playing at the same time is chat with you, laugh with you, became a strength,” Fernandez very difficult. talk with you like you’re family. said. “Different things happen “So, I felt like when I got It’s like you’ve known him in recruiting that you have to this opportunity to come to before even though you’re just play to your strengths. the U.S.A. to get a scholarship, meeting for the first time.”

“Without a doubt, would play on a really good team, Much of Fernandez’s success I love to have more Florida and also earn my degree, I in growing the international kids, more Georgia kids, right thought that was better than talent has not only been nearby? Yeah, but they have just playing or just studying to the opportunities USF has to be great fits in what we do get a degree.”

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provided, but how well those players have progressed.

In limited time with the team, Fernandez has turned Flores and Portugal-native Laura Ferreira into regular starters for the Bulls, along with helping Kitija Laksa win the AAC Freshman of the Year award last season when she 12.6 points per game over 29 games.

“I kind of wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay in Europe to try to make it to the pros or something like that. I knew I didn’t want to stay in Latvia, I wanted to go somewhere else in Europe or come to the U.S. I kind of didn’t know what to expect here, but then I came on the visit and realized how great of an opportunity it is.

“I knew that I could play pros (in Latvia) after I graduated high school and I could try to go to university, but the level of play wouldn’t be as high as here even though it’s a pro level because we have two or three teams that are really good and the rest aren’t that good.

Aside from all of the offcourt benefits playing for the Bulls provides, players like Flores said coming to USF has enabled her to elevate her game in a way that wasn’t possible in Spain.

“I was really impressed when coach told us we were going to have an I.D. card and we could go 24/7 and swipe the card to go shoot in the gym,” Flores said. “For me, going to do extra in Spain is impossible. In a club, we have 90 teams and you have two hours and at 7 (p.m.) everyone goes home and you cannot shoot.

“So, I feel like this is a good opportunity, not only to practice with high intensity, you can also just come and improve your shot. I was really impressed with that and our facilities. I wouldn’t have had any of these things over there.”

For many foreign players, adjusting to life away from family was one of the biggest sacrifices of coming to play basketball in America.

Knowing virtually no one outside of their basketball team, Flores and Laksa said

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it helps that many of her teammates are experiencing these trials together.

“It’s just the fact that you’re alone,” Laksa said. “You don’t have your family, you don’t have anything, but it’s pretty easy for us because we have so many internationals, we kind of share some culture. We get the opportunity to know other cultures and have a great experience.”

“I came here when I was 18, so my whole life I was with my family and my friends back home,” Flores said. “At the end of the day, when you have that tough day in the beginning and you’re homesick, you can call your parents or you can Skype them, but it’s not the same. I guess that’s what I miss the most, but my teammates and coaches help me feel at home.”

After graduating the program leaders in scoring and rebounding in Courtney Williams and Alisia Jenkins, Fernandez will look to lean on these international players as never before.

Of returners, forward Katelyn Weber is the only American-born player to have started more than five games in 2015-16.

Even with the indefinite absence of Laura Ferreira to plantar fasciitis to start the season, USF’s four other mostused players from 2015-16 came to Tampa from overseas.

Beginning with a nonconference schedule which features top-50 RPI teams such as Georgia, Minnesota and Arkansas St., and ending with the perennial No. 1 team in the nation in UConn standing in their way, the Bulls will need these key returning players to make up for the loss of three of their top four scorers.

As these foreign players have grown into the core of this year’s Bulls, Fernandez and his staff will continue to scour the world for talent, not out of necessity, but to recruit the best players the world has to offer.

“Last year, you look at the NBA Draft, there were a record number of first-round draft choices and a record number of European players in the draft,” Fernandez said. “The game has changed globally and I think for us, we got ahead of it and we’ve changed with it.”

Running out of time

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USF coach Orlando Antigua must prove he’s the man for the job despite obstacles USF coach Orlando Antigua is no stranger to facing adversity.

Beginning with his journey to America from the Dominican Republic with his Vinnie Portell family when he was 10, COM M ENTA R Y Antigua has encountered one trial after another.

From becoming the first of his family to attend and graduate college, to surviving an errant bullet wound to the head in a Halloween prank gone wrong when he was 15, the 6-foot-7 Antigua has stood tall time and time again in the face of hardships.

However, his tenure as coach of the Bulls has seen more misfortune than maybe

even the embattled third-year coach can overcome.

After two years of finishing at the bottom of the AAC, coupled with an inability to build a competitive roster, Antigua will likely be coaching for his job this season. “(Fans) should be excited about the chemistry we have, about the chip on the shoulder that this team has,” Antigua said. “You know, it’s something similar to my upbringing and my background, when maybe not a lot of people think that you can do something and you roll up your sleeves and you go to work. You put the time in and your prepare and you see where the chips lie after that.”

There were no expectations for Year 1 in 2014, when Antigua was left with a stripped-down roster after all but five scholarship players left the program due to the firing of former coach Stan Heath.

He used his recruiting expertise from his days as an assistant coach at Kentucky to lure in several transfer players to add some sorely-needed veteran talent to one of the youngest teams in the NCAA. Some, such as Angel Nunez and Jaleel Cousins turned into consistent starters in their brief stints with USF. A few faltered in their decisions and never came to Tampa.

One of the more heralded transfers, five-star guard Roddy Peters, sat out an entire season after transferring to USF only to play an injurylimited season in 2015-16 before transferring out of the program.

Antigua even lost out on players he inherited, with former starters Anthony Collins and Chris Perry leaving the program.

And when it comes to getting

n See ANTIGUA on PAGE 15B

USF coach Orlando Antigua has yet to win more than nine games in a season in his two years as head coach of the Bulls. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

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LAKSA

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was new, some stuff was just unexplored. But, I got here… and I just knew that I fit in.

Everyone around me told me I fit in and I really believed that I have to be here and that I could do well.”

Sharing the floor with two of the most impactful players in the history of the program, Laksa flew under the radar at times early on last season.

However, she quietly established herself as a viable scoring threat for Fernandez and the Bulls, averaging just over nine points per game at the end of 2015.

That’s when Fernandez let Laksa loose.

In the 15 games she played after the turn of the calendar, Laksa averaged 16.7 points, shooting over 44 percent on shots beyond the arc before injuring her ankle in the waning minutes of a Feb. 21 home win over Memphis.

Laksa missed the remainder of the regular season, along with the first two games of the AAC Tournament.

She managed to return to

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limited action following the injury for the AAC Championship game, a loss to eventual national champion UConn, and two NCAA tournament games for the Bulls.

However, the sharp-shooting wing failed to return to her early season form, scoring a total of only 16 points over those final three games.

Despite the injury, Laksa’s stellar shooting through the heart of USF’s schedule was enough for the Latvian to finish 16th in the country in 3-point percentage for the season (42 percent) and be named the 2016 AAC Freshman of the Year.

While she may be vocal away from the court in communicating with her new foreign teammates, Fernandez said that Laksa’s leadership needs no words.

“I think she’s more of a silent leader,” Fernandez said.

“So, when she does say something, it’s impactful and it’s meaningful. I think she lets her play talk for itself. I think there are different types of leaders; she’s just not the ‘ra-ra’ type of person. When she has to say something, she says it, and I think everybody listens.”

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freshmen on campus, Antigua has excelled in garnering commitments, but not getting those players into uniform.

But no matter the road blocks, the Bulls’ 17-48 record in Antigua’s two years as coach is an unacceptable mark.

“I learned that the second year is a lot harder than the first year,” Antigua USF coach said.

“And it’s part of the process and growing.

Sometimes there are things in your control and there are things that are out of your control and what I try to teach our kids is that you do the best that you can with the things you can control and you come every day to work, you come every day to try to do the right things and put

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yourself in the best position to have success on and off the court.”

The pinnacle of USF’s struggles under Antigua came this summer when the school announced it was under investigation for academic

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the findings of the NCAA’s investigation, he’ll be hardpressed to field a roster any better than last season.

One of the few bright spots of the upcoming season, talented scorer Jahmal McMurray (15.2 points per game), is suspended for the first month of the season due to undisclosed violations of team policy.

U S F , w h i c h finished 10th out of 11 AAC teams, was picked to season finish in the same position for the 201617 season in the conference’s annual preseason coaches’ poll, even before the news of McMurray’s suspension.

While it remains clear that Antigua and the Bulls are fighting an uphill battle once again coming into the season, the time for excuses is over.

It’s something similar to my upbringing and my background, when maybe not a lot of people think that you can do something and you roll up your sleeves and you go to work.

Orlando Antigua on the 2016

fraud.

Orlando’s brother, Oliver, resigned nearly immediately and the top half of the recruiting class — four-star and ESPN top-100 player Troy Baxter and Andres Feliz — pulled their commitments from the school.

Even if Antigua survives

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