John Egbunu Granted Release from USF

The mass exodus from USF's basketball team continues, as the school announced today that freshman center John Egbunu was granted his release from the program and plans to transfer.

This is obviously a huge blow for the Bulls, as Egbunu was Stan Heath's prize recruit of the 2013 class. The 7-footer was a consensus Top-100 prospect out of high school and showed promise as a freshman, starting 31 of 32 games and averaging 7.4 points and 6.2 rebounds a game. He did his best work on the defensive end, leading the Bulls with 1.3 blocks per game as well.

Egbunu joins Josh Heath, Zach LeDay, Musa Abdul-Aleem and Javontae Hawkins on the list of players to transfer from USF this offseason. Obviously there's some roster turnover to be expected after a firing, and the players who had announced already aren't huge losses, but this is getting worrisome-- Egbunu likely would've been one of the stars of next season's team. Add in the news that Shemiye McClendon isn't expected to return next season, and the Bulls are dreadfully low on basketball players.

You can almost count the players currently on USF's roster on one hand right now. Here they are:

- Anthony Collins
- Corey Allen
- Chris Perry
- Dre Clayton
- Bo Zeigler
- Jordan Omgobehin

That's three starters along with two freshmen who redshirted last season. And Jordan Omogbehin. Hi, Jordan Omogbehin!

Point is, this team can't afford any more transfers. Antigua already has two Heath commits locked down-- guards Troy Holston and Dinero Mercurius-- but he better hit the recruiting trail quickly.  Word is that he already has.

We obviously wish John all the best wherever he winds up. He's a special talent and was a pleasure to watch at USF.