MIAMI, NOV. 26, 2015 – On Thanksgiving morning, the USF men's basketball team helped serve those in need at the Miami Rescue Mission.
The Bulls made and served cotton candy, snow cones and popcorn to homeless men, women and children. For over 20 years, the Miami Rescue Mission has served Thanksgiving dinner to those in need. The event occurred about a mile away from the American Airlines Arena, site of USF's game with No. 1 Kentucky on Friday at 5 p.m.
Practice at American Airlines Arena
USF's Thanksgiving Day continued with a two-hour practice at American Airlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat. USF's practice time immediately followed Kentucky's, which allowed time for a reunion for many of the Bulls' coaches who were members of John Calipari's staff at UK.
Here is a list of the USF-Kentucky connections.
> USF head coach Orlando Antigua spent five seasons (2009-14) as an assistant coach at Kentucky under current UK head coach, 2015 Naismith Hall of Fame inductee John Calipari. Antigua also spent one season under Calipari at Memphis (2008-09).
> USF assistant coach Rod Strickland spent five seasons at Kentucky as its special assistant to the head coach. He was also on Calipari's staff at Memphis from 2006-09. He was the director of student-athlete development/manager for two seasons and in 2008 was named director of basketball operations.
> USF's video coordinator Dominic Lombardi spent two seasons (2012-14) as the assistant video coordinator at Kentucky.
> USF's strength and conditioning coach Mike Malone spent two seasons (2012-14) as the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Kentucky.
> USF senior center Jaleel Cousins is the younger brother of former Kentucky center DeMarcus Cousins, the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft and current member of the Sacramento Kings.
The USF men's basketball team returns seven from last season's team including regular starters Ruben Guerrero, Chris Perry, Nehemias Morillo and Bo Zeigler. Orlando Antigua is in his second season as the head coach after spending the previous five season as an assistant to Naismith Hall of Fame coach John Calipari. USF's schedule is comprised of nine teams which had an RPI of 54 or better last season. The Bulls host 19 games, five of those teams made the NCAA Tournament last season.
