Coach Bryan Hodgson produces an up-tempo offense that has the USF Bulls favored to challenge Memphis for the American title. The return of CJ Brown gives the Bulls a leader on both ends of the floor. Photo courtesy of USF Athletics.
Transitioning is a Primary Factor: Bulls coach Bryan Hodgson’s running game is a proven weapon as he improved the offensive attack at Arkansas State when the team was 51st in college basketball in adjusted tempo last season. This coincided with an average of 16.7 seconds per possession.
ASU won 20 games two seasons ago and 25 games in 2024-25, which marked the first 20-win season since Grant McCasland led the Red Wolves in 2017. That came 19 years after Dickey Nutt orchestrated 20 wins in 1998.
McCasland was Nate Oats’ assistant at Alabama for seven years, so featuring the running game and working inside of Oats’ system has created a powerful style of play.
“Teaching them how to play fast, how to stay structured, and getting highly valued shots is a big thing to us,” said Hodgson.
South Florida will look for various ways to fast break and take the basketball to the rim. The Bulls will be one of the top three-point shooting teams in the American and in college basketball. The mid-range game will normally not be as much of a part of the South Florida attack as the three.
“We are very analytics-driven,” explained Hodgson. “We look at points per shot, points per possession. Our guys know where we want the shots to come from. A guy like Joe (Pinion), if we can take one second off the shot clock, we will take that all day.”
Postmen: Hodgson brings in Izaiyah Nelson, who starred for him at Arkansas State. The 6-10, 218, forward scored 10.6 points and grabbed 8.9 rebounds per game last season.
Versatile LSU transfer Damion Collins’ 6-9 frame will be a factor inside this offense.
“He can make the right play, he can make the right read, whether it’s on offense or defense,” Hodgson explained. “Blocking shots, getting rebounds, even his talk with encouraging others really helps.”
The Metric System: Basketball analytics are now of major use to coaching staffs, who look to go inside the numbers.
“Time on the shot clock in certain situations where guys are in certain places and in certain situations,” Hodgson commented. “We want all five guys to be in scoring position at a certain time on the shot clock.”
The use of metrics and basketball terminology is integral to how Hodgson runs his basketball team. The addition of former Arkansas shooting guard Joseph Pinion is an example. In his freshman season, Pinion scored a triple in 13 of his 21 made shots. A year ago, as a Red Wolf, Pinion was the second-leading scorer (12 ppg) and averaged 2.4-for-6.6 from the floor, where he shot 36 percent from three.
Once Hodgson told Pinion that he was taking over the South Florida program, the 6-5 guard was immediately on board.
Returning Star: Guard CJ Brown is the lone returnee to the Bulls roster, as Hodgson added 13 new people to the program. Hodgson’s offense complements Brown’s quality of play and his abilities.
He attacks the basket with lots of impact, and Hodgson looks for Brown to improve his shooting inside of this offense.
“When I talked with him about South Florida and my vision for the program, I think it aligned with him on who he wants to be as a player and how he wanted to play that way,” Hodgson said.
Hodgson made Brown his first priority when he came into Tampa.
“Loved the way he played defensively, but I thought he could play the way we want to play offensively,” said Hodgson. “We really think we hit a home run by keeping CJ with us.”
Brown acknowledged the importance of transitioning between offense and defense.
“Defense leads to offense,” he said. “If you can stop a team from scoring, offense comes easier. My Dad always preached defense. He had me doing sliding drills when I was maybe seven years old.”
Pinion discussed the opportunities that Brown gives him as a shooter.
“Having CJ definitely helps me out a lot because no one can stay in front of him, so if someone helps off me, I am wide open. “He can get downhill, and Xavier Brown can get downhill. It’s really a thing of, do you want to give up two? Do you want to give up 3s?”
Xavier Brown comes in from James Madison as the Dukes ironically defeated the Red Wolves in the Sun Belt Tournament championship in March.