University of South Florida men’s basketball coach Bryan Hodgson received a stroke of good fortune on Selection Sunday when his Bulls were sent to Buffalo, New York for their first and second-round games.
Weather-wise, it’s a far cry from USF’s campus in Tampa, Florida, but it’s also right down the road from his adoptive father, Larry Hodgson.
Larry has never seen his son coach in person, as his dementia prevents him from traveling, and Bryan, 38, doesn’t know how many opportunities his dad will have. But Larry will be there when the Bulls take to the floor at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center on Thursday, March 19.
“That means the world to me,” Bryan said in a news conference on Sunday, March 15, “because without him, I wouldn’t be here.”
Champions of the American Athletic Conference, the Bulls are the 11 seed in the East region, matched up with the 6-seeded Louisville Cardinals.
“God is so good,” Bryan continued. “I’m so blessed. We’re gonna have a great crowd behind us there. I’m gonna have my dad and mom in attendance. I just couldn’t be more thankful.”
Bryan was one of about 100 kids that Larry and Rebecca Hodgson fostered over the years, bringing him in at two years old.
USF is a 5.5-point underdog against Louisville in their first-round game but is a trendy upset pick as winners of their last 11 games.
Bryan is in his first season as the Bulls head coach, coming to Tampa from Arkansas State University, where he had back-to-back 20-win seasons. His success at USF has made him a leading candidate for bigger college basketball jobs moving forward, and with a vacancy at Syracuse University, there’s a possibility he will be coaching more games in the Buffalo area soon.
But that’s not his focus as he tries to lead the Bulls to their first NCAA Tournament win since 2012. South Florida needed to win the AAC Tournament over the weekend to even make March Madness, and he’s just trying to ride that momentum into Thursday.
“Did it look like a distraction yesterday? No,’’ he said. “Did it look like a distraction on Saturday? No. We played great basketball Saturday and Sunday. So, there is no distraction.’’
As for his players, they seem to be going into the game with plenty of confidence. Wes Enis, the team’s leading scorer, told the media on Monday, March 16 that he thinks USF has the better group.
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s an upset,” he said. “I think we’re the better team. I don’t really care what 11-6 says. I think we’re the better team, so I wouldn’t really call it an upset.”
The Bulls and Cardinals will tip off at 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 19. The game will air on TNT.
