College Hoops Top 50

Last Year: 23-11; 11-5, Third in the West Coast Conference, lost in the first round of the NIT

Head Coach: Chris Gerlufsen (Third Year; 43-25 at San Francisco, with no NCAA Tournament appearances)

Projected Starting Lineup

PG Marcus Williams – 6’2″, 200 Senior

G Ryan Beasley – 5’11”, 172 Sophomore

G Malik Thomas – 6’5″, 205 Senior

F Ndewedo ‘Chips’ Newbury – 6’7″, 235 Senior

F/C Carlton Linguard, Jr – 7’0″, 225 5th-year Senior

Experienced Reserves

G Robby Beasley III – 6’2″, 188 Senior

G Isael ‘Isa’ Silva – 6’4″, 190 Senior

G Drew Ardouin – 6’4″, 181 Junior

W Jason Rivera-Torres – 6’6″, 180 Sophomore

F Junjie ‘Barry’ Wang – 6’9″, 240 Sophomore

C Saba Gigiberia – 7’2″, 250 Senior

Freshmen

W Tyrone Riley, Jr – 6’6″, 180

F Veniamin Abosi – 6’6″, 225 / Greece

F Karl Marcus Poom – 6’8″, 210 / Estonia

F James O’Donnell – 6’9″, 230 / Australia

There are some programs outside of the power conferences who just really have things figured out. San Francisco is one of them. 

The Dons have won 20 or more games in seven out of the past eight seasons, and they’ve done so under three different coaches. The school’s continuity has even begun attracting players like Jonathan Mogbo. He wasn’t really on the radar of NBA scouts at this time last year, but after one year playing for USF, Mogbo became the 31st overall pick in the NBA Draft. That’s just the latest check on the résumé of Chris Gerlufsen, the Dons’ current head coach; and more may be coming. 

Though San Francisco has been consistently successful, they have regularly struggled against Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, the West Coast Conference’s elites. With Washington State and Oregon State coming aboard and some renovations going on throughout the WCC, their league is getting tougher, too. How will the Dons reach a new level of success?

The strong, proven core Gerlufsen is welcoming back to the Hilltop is a great place to start. The guard trio of Marcus Williams, Malik Thomas, and Ryan Beasley are back to drive a huge portion of USF’s offense, while Ndewedo Newbury returns at forward to help at both ends of the court. Can they combine with Gerlufsen’s globe-trekking cast of newcomers to form the Dons’ next NCAA Tournament team?

After what may have been the most complete year of his career, Williams is back to run the point. Five seasons ago, he was the Mountain West’s Rookie of the Year at Wyoming. He stalled a bit following a transfer to Texas A&M, but after two years at San Francisco, Williams has recaptured his former glory. The first-team All-WCC pick is still improving, but this year he won’t have Mogbo as a 6’8″ do-everything guy to be his co-captain. 

After finishing fourth in the WCC in assists and steals, and barely off of Mogbo’s pace for the team’s scoring lead, Williams is one of the clear returning stars in the league. His skill in creating out of ball screens last year made Mogbo all the more dangerous, and Williams will be darting lots more passes to anyone who cuts to the rim this year. Highly effective off the bounce, Williams made a return to his usual reputation as a very effective mid-range scorer last year. After making just 18.9% of his tries as a junior, last winter Williams shot 44.7% from the in-between spots on the floor, per Bart Torvik. He’s also become a quality deep shooter the last couple of years, and if he can return to the 40.8% rate he posted from the land of trey two years back, Williams will solidify his place among the best point guards in a league that’s got some good ones. 

Upon arriving from Southern Cal last year, Malik Thomas proved to be the third option Gerlufsen needed. He wasn’t a particularly efficient scorer in limited minutes with the Trojans, but given consistent run with the Dons, Thomas stepped out. Once a 4-star prospect, Thomas showed his skills as an isolation scorer who could also knock down open jumpers. He’s great at getting to the rim, and Thomas earned just as many free throw attempts per game as the physical Mogbo. His average of more than a dozen points was achieved in just over 23 minutes per contest, and Thomas proved to be a great play finisher inside or out. If he can become more dangerous shooting off the bounce, his arsenal will feature some of everything. With Mogbo, Williams, and Mike Sharavjamts – who’s now at Utah – as big-time playmakers last year, Thomas was able to focus pretty purely on scoring the ball. Gerlufsen would love to see him become a more well-rounded part of the action in his fourth year, and Thomas should get to show more of his game as a pick-and-roll guy this winter. 

Thomas showed his skills as an isolation scorer who could also knock down open jumpers. He’s great at getting to the rim, and Thomas earned just as many free throw attempts per game as the physical Mogbo

The Beasley brothers arrived on the Hilltop last year, and the Dons were better for it. Gerlufsen and his staff will be even happier to have them this fall, as they round out a returning backcourt which can drive a contending team. 

Ryan Beasley’s debut with San Francisco and in college basketball was a resounding success. The WCC’s reigning Rookie of the Year showed immediately that he’s going to be an impact two-way guard, and Ryan Beasley has only just begun to show what he can be as a scorer. Quick and physical with an intense approach defensively, Ryan Beasley came off the bench in every one of his 30 appearances last season. He became a real irritant coming into the game to disrupt things mid-stream, and Beasley ended up ranking seventh in the WCC in thefts per game despite averaging just over 22 minutes in each contest. He improved as his freshman year wore on, too. Over USF’s final 14 games, Beasley averaged 9.0 points and 1.6 steals. He does a great job of attacking downhill to set up his looks, and Beasley did a very good job of earning trips to the charity stripe in his debut. Like Williams, Beasley will be looking to become a more consistent shooter from long range, as the Dons have the passers, ballhandlers, and jump shooters to really space the floor and play a wide-open style this winter. 

After three productive years at Montana and UC Davis, Robby Beasley III joined his brother last year, but it took until later on in December after the court ruling which allowed multiple-time non-graduate transfers to play. As a result, he was relegated to a reserve role in his first season in San Francisco. Across the two years before that, Robby Beasley sank 108 combined triples, and owns a quality 38.7% career mark from downtown. Despite playing in a variety of systems over the years, Robby Beasley has managed to contribute in a bunch of different ways. He’s a solid defender and intuitive passer, and needs to keep scoring efficiently on cuts to the rim. With a full ramp-up leading into this fall and more familiarity with his teammates than he’s had in a couple of years, Robby Beasley may be a nice fit stepping into his brother’s job as USF’s 6th man. 

After the new year, Newbury really started coming into his own. In his junior campaign, the man they call ‘Chips’ went from intriguing reserve to impact starter, and he was great in conference play. Over his final 18 games last year, Newbury averaged 11.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.2 blocks on 63.7% true shooting. Now that Newbury has emerged as a legit rim protector, post scorer, and floor-stretching shooter, he’s going to be counted on as a huge part of San Francisco’s frontcourt. 

Powerful off the bounce, Newbury can get from the perimeter to deep in the post effectively, and do so against wings or larger defenders. He can handle the ball, and Newbury developed a particularly strong rapport passing it around the post with Mogbo last year. Despite his 6’7″ stature, Newbury was the team’s best shot blocker last season. He has some explosiveness getting off the floor for a rejection or to finish a good feed below or above the rim.

By being quick, smart, and assertive with his opportunities, Newbury made an outstanding 75.8% of his shot attempts near the rim a year ago, per Bart Torvik. The London, England-born Newbury’s evolution as a genuine deep threat added a lot to San Francisco’s offense last year in spacing things out. The Dons will be starting five guys who all shoot the ball rather well this fall, and if Newbury can replicate the 40.0% rate he posted from downtown last year, Gerlufsen’s offense should sizzle. The biggest thing that the Dons will need Newbury to improve is his rebounding. Even with Mogbo last year, teams like Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga ate the Dons’ lunch on the glass. Newbury can be a physical presence, and he’ll need to be that consistently for San Francisco to compete at the top of their league. 

To fill Mogbo’s spot in the lineup, Gerlufsen landed Carlton Linguard, Jr, from UTSA. After two years playing off the bench at Kansas State, Linguard stepped in as a key piece for the Roadrunners last winter. He’s a rather different sort of big man from the burly 6’8″ double-double machine Mogbo was; Linguard stands a lithe 7’0″, and is just about as likely to be seen launching from distance as charging through contact towards the rim. Last season, he attempted 261 total shots, and 124 of them came from behind the arc. 

Five Stats Which Tell The Tale (with national ranks)

+ 9.5 – Average Score Margin (21st)

0.234 – Free Throw Attempts Per FG Attempt (356th)

55.1% – Team Effective FG Percentage (20th)

18.3 – Personal Fouls Per Game (286th)

8.1 – Steals Per Game (38th)

Though he’s very much a jump shooter, Linguard can also throw down a lob or spike a shot attempt back where it came from. He ranked fifth in the American Athletic Conference with 1.53 blocks per game, and Linguard developed a great deal as a rebounder with UTSA, as well. His 89 offensive boards were good enough for fifth in the AAC, and Linguard translated those extra opportunities into 36 putback tries, per Hoop-Math. He will need to convert more than the 53.3% of those extra attempts he made near the rim as a Roadrunner, and Gerlufsen will need Linguard to be the most physical player he’s ever been in general. However much he bangs under the basket, though, as a seven-footer who can drag defenders well out to the perimeter, Linguard adds a whole new dimension to USF.

The Dons have an intriguing youngster coming back at forward in Junjie ‘Barry’ Wang. Originally from China, Wang played around the globe before signing with San Francisco, most recently at the NBA Global Academy in Australia. He’s got the size and stature to succeed, and Wang has three-point range and some rather guard-like skills for a big. He didn’t see a great deal of action as a freshman, but Wang didn’t look out of place when he was in, either. He will get a chance to grow his role significantly this fall, and could become the team’s third big – especially if he hits the boards. 

The Dons are also hoping to get some help from Saba Gigiberia, who redshirted last year. The 7’2″ post is a veteran of 23 games in the ACC at Georgia Tech, and he started 12 games during a solid debut for San Francisco two years ago. He was put on scholarship this summer, and now that he’s back, Gerlufsen is hoping to get a few productive minutes per game out of Gigiberia. He is mobile enough to be helpful at both ends of the floor, but Gigiberia also tends to pick up fouls in clusters, and must avoid becoming as visibly frustrated as he’s been at times on the floor. If both Wang and Gigiberia can grow into solid supports in the paint, the Dons will have much more of a chance at being decent on the glass. 

Entering his second season of college, Jason Rivera-Torres has already done a bunch of things. He’s been a star on a couple of the country’s better prep programs, starred in a television series called ‘Swagger’, been the top-rated freshman recruit of an SEC program, scored 20 points against a Final Four team, and watched his team tumble so far in the standings that the coach got fired. This spring, he added a transfer to the Hilltop to his list. A big, rangy wing player who can shoot and defend well, Rivera-Torres will figure prominently into Gerlufsen’s plans this season. He can be a matchup advantage for the guard-heavy Dons, and Rivera-Torres should add yet another deep threat to USF’s rotation. Isael Silva has also transferred in, and will walk on for Gerlufsen. A former 4-star prospect, this will be Silva’s third school. He hasn’t become a star, but Silva can run a clean point and may help out as a savvy, experienced backup. Former Division II sharpshooter Drew Ardouin has also come aboard, and will get a chance to show his range. 

Five Out-of-Conference Games to Keep an Eye on

vs Boise State – November 9

N Memphis – November 21

vs Saint Louis – December 5

N Clemson – November 25

@ Bradley – December 18

The headliner among this year’s freshmen is Tyrone Riley, Jr. His father, Tyrone Riley, Sr, starred for the Dons back in the 1990’s, and now Riley is looking to add his own passages to San Francisco history. A big, rangy wing who can play above the rim and defends at a high level, Tyrone Riley, Jr, should see the floor right away as a rookie. He has a good sense for crashing in for putbacks or lobs, and Riley has the makings of a solid jumper. His frame hints at real defensive versatility in the near future, and he’ll earn the run on that end to develop the rest of his game. 

Gerlufsen and his staff went around the world for the rest of this year’s freshman class. While it’s probable that this will be largely a developmental year for the other new kids, anyone can play for USF this year if they can rebound. James O’Donnell is from Down Under, and honed his craft at the prestigious Australian Centre of Excellence, where plenty of other guys have trained before making an impact in the American college game. He’ll play with a bit of an edge, and O’Donnell’s range extends out to the three-point arc. Karl Marcus Poom and Veniamin Abosi are young forwards from Estonia and Greece, respectively, and will be brought along intriguing prospects who can also help up front. 

There has been a pretty clearly-defined hierarchy in WCC basketball over the past few years. The Dons can challenge that status quo, but to do so, they’re going to need to make strides in areas of just as clearly-defined weakness. Namely, around the basket and at the free throw line. San Francisco had a strong offense last year even though they only picked up about 10 points per game at the charity stripe. Likewise, the Dons weren’t bad on the glass or at finishing good looks near the cup, but they were pushed around in that area by teams like the Gaels and Zags. 

To prove their mettle and see how the changes this offseason can help, San Francisco has set up an ambitious non-league schedule. Neutral-site clashes with Memphis and Clemson plus a visit to MVC frontrunner Bradley highlight a quality slate. This group will be battle-tested by the time WCC play begins. With the experience gained last year and upgrades which should matter, these Dons are looking good. The WCC may have gotten stronger and deeper than usual around them, but San Francisco is stronger and deeper than usual, too. The challenges ahead of them are no joke, but if this team can do what it does best while expanding its horizons, there may be some celebrations on the Hilltop this winter.