The South Florida Bulls men's basketball team represents the University of South Florida in NCAA Division I basketball competition, where they are currently a member of the American Conference. Chris Mack is the current head coach in his first season leading the program. The Bulls play their home games at the 10,500 seat Yuengling Center on USF's campus in Tampa, Florida. The Bulls have appeared four times in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, most recently in 2026, and won four combined regular season and tournament conference championships.
History
Testing (1970–71) Before men's basketball became an official sport at USF, Athletic Director Dick Bowers and President John S. Allen approved of a freshman only squad to test the feasibility of bringing men's basketball to the University of South Florida. They played against freshman teams from other universities in the state as well as junior colleges. The team was a roaring success and won in their first game on December 4, 1970, against the University of Florida. The 1970–71 team finished with a 19–4 record and their popularity led to the approval of the varsity team. The 1970 USF basketball team is not listed the team media guide and 1971 is listed as the official founding of USF basketball, but this team was an integral part in helping the team that exists today come to be.
Early years (1971–1980) The University of South Florida's official basketball team first tipped off as the Golden Brahmans on December 1, 1971, with a 74–73 win at Stetson University. The Brahmans played their first season as a member of the NCAA College Division (now NCAA Division II). Their first home game was marked by a 98–77 loss to Florida at Curtis Hixon Hall in downtown Tampa, which would serve as USF's primary arena of the seven courts the team would call home before the opening of the on campus Sun Dome for the 1980–81 season, and was the only arena USF used every season through 1980. South Florida's first home win would come on December 18 against Baldwin Wallace. The Brahmans topped 100 points for the first time in just their tenth game, beating Florida A&M 103–102. USF only played one game at their other home for the 1971–72 season, beating Missouri-St. Louis 85–82 at Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory in West Tampa. The Golden Brahmans would finish their inaugural season with a record of 8–17, but recorded their first winning season the next year going 14–11.
For the 1973–74 season USF made the jump to NCAA Division I, where they remain today. That year would see the Brahmans split time in 3 arenas, the aforementioned Curtis Hixon Hall and Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory, as well as the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Bayfront Center was nearly 40 miles from USF's main campus in Tampa, but sat across the street from the USF St. Petersburg campus. Games were played there in the coming years to give the students at the St. Petersburg campus the rare opportunity to watch their school play a few times per year. They posted a 10–3 combined record at their 3 home courts, but were only 1–13 in road and neutral site games, and for that reason USF fired their first coach Don Williams. The Golden Brahmans recorded their first 15 win season in 1974–75 under first year coach Bill Gibson. Gibson died of a heart attack in the summer of 1975 at the age of 47.
Under new coach Chip Conner, USF finally recorded their first win at the Bayfront Center on senior night of their 1975–76 campaign. That season also brought the Brahmans their fourth home in the Lakeland Civic Center (now known as the RP Funding Center) in Lakeland, Florida, and gave South Florida its best win percentage for a men's basketball season until 2023–24 at .704 with a 19–8 record.
The next year, the Golden Brahmans joined the Sun Belt Conference, but took a big step backwards compared to the previous year going just 9–18 overall and 2–4 in conference games. The Brahmans found yet another building to call home in 1977–78, playing 2 games at Hillsborough Community College. They played their first game on their own campus on opening night of the 1978–79 season, beating Eckerd College 90–70 at the USF Gymnasium, which still stands today adjacent to the Yuengling Center as the Campus Recreation Center. USF went undefeated in their 3 on campus games that season, much to the delight of the students who could now attend games more easily. However, USF decided not to play any games on campus for the 1979–80 season, instead opting to play home games at their seventh and final arena before moving on campus full time with Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. South Florida fittingly closed out this era with an 81–72 victory at Curtis Hixon Hall against Stetson, the team the Brahmans defeated in their first game.
Lee Rose era (1980–1986) USF opened the 1980–81 season with three new things: a new nickname, changing from the Golden Brahmans to the Bulls; a new on-campus arena called the Sun Dome; and a new head coach in Lee Rose. Rose was a close personal friend of USF Athletic Director Dick Bowers and was coming fresh off a Final Four appearance with Purdue the year prior, as well as having another Final Four appearance with USF's fellow Sun Belt member Charlotte in 1977. Rose's Bulls recorded their first win in the Sun Dome on December 6, 1980, against UNC Greensboro after dropping their first two games to Florida A&M and Duke. Led by All-American candidate and all-time leading scorer to that point Tony Grier, the Bulls would not lose another regular season home game for over a year, with the next loss coming after a school record 21 game home winning streak that stands to this day. South Florida ended the regular season 17–9, including their first win against a ranked opponent when they beat No. 18 South Alabama on February 12. The Bulls also made their first postseason tournament, going to the 1981 National Invitation Tournament. Home attendance jumped 256% in the 80–81 season with the new on campus arena, which was soon nicknamed the "Rose Garden" after coach Rose. The Sun Dome also brought another thing: better recruiting. The university's former gym situation was described as "disastrous for recruiting", but the 1981–82 season saw the arrival of highly touted freshman and Tampa native Charlie Bradley. Bradley is widely regarded as the greatest player in USF history and is the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,319 points, despite playing only 1 season with the adoption of the 3 point line. USF finished the 81–82 season with a solid 17–11 showing and a 14–2 record at home. South Florida also won the inaugural Florida Four tournament in December 1981 over Florida, Florida State, and conference foe Jacksonville.
1982–83 was by far the young program's most successful season at the time. The Bulls won the second Florida Four, which was discontinued after the season. The 82–83 squad recorded the first 20 win season in team history, going 22–10. Rose's 82–83 team also finished as runners up in the Sun Belt Conference tournament and won the program's first postseason game, defeating Fordham in the first round of the 1983 National Invitation Tournament. Finally, Charlie Bradley was named Sun Belt Player of the Year for the 1982–83 season. USF followed up their historic season with another 17–11 record in 1983–84, then went 18–12 in 1984–85 with another second round exit in the NIT after upsetting Wake Forest in the first round.
1985–86 was the final year with Lee Rose at the helm for the Bulls, who posted a 14–14 record. Rose would leave the Bulls to become an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs. South Florida would finish the 6 season Rose era with an overall record of 106–69.
Bobby Paschal era (1986–96) The Bulls first three years under new head coach Bobby Paschal were not good, going an overall 21–63 and all 3 seasons coming with at least 20 losses. Many Bulls fans were calling for Paschal to be fired prior to the 1989–90 season. But the Bulls turned it around, becoming one of the only teams in NCAA men's basketball history to go from 20 losses to 20 wins in a single season. USF made its first NCAA tournament, claiming the Sun Belt's autobid to the Big Dance after winning the conference tournament behind future USF Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Radenko Dobraš's Sun Belt Tournament MVP showing. USF's dream season ended with a hard-fought 79–67 loss to 2nd seed Arizona. South Florida nearly eclipsed the 20 win mark again the next season, winning 19 games and securing their fourth NIT berth in 11 years.
In 1991–92, the Bulls left the Sun Belt for the Metro Conference and won 19 games for the second straight year, securing an at-large berth in the 1992 NCAA tournament. This stretch is the only time in program history where the Bulls have made a postseason tournament in three consecutive years. The departure of Radenko Dobraš after 1992 brought the arrival of another USF Hall of Fame member in freshman Chucky Atkins, but the Bulls struggled in 1992–93 and 93–94, going 8–19 and 10–17 respectively. USF turned it around in 1994–95, going 18–12 and making the quarterfinals of the 1995 NIT.
USF had another new conference for the 1995–96 season after the Metro Conference merged with the Great Midwest Conference to form Conference USA. The Bulls finished just 2–12 in their new conference and 12–16 overall in what would be Bobby Paschal's last year as head coach. Paschal retired from his position, but stayed with the team in an advisory role for another 8 years, and would later be inducted into the USF Athletic Hall of Fame. In Paschal's 10 years as head coach, South Florida went 127–159, the most wins all time by any USF men's basketball coach.
Seth Greenberg era (1996–2003) After Paschal stepped down, the Bulls poached Long Beach State head coach Seth Greenberg. Greenberg had made two NCAA tournaments in the previous four years with LBSU and was coming off a Big West Conference regular season title. It was believed Greenberg would keep both his and the program's momentum going with USF. In Greenberg's first year as coach however, the Bulls finished just 8–19. 1997–98 was a turnaround though, and South Florida picked up a 17–13 record. After an even 14–14 campaign in 1998–99, USF won another 17 games and a regular season Conference USA Red Division title at the turn of the millennium, and qualified for the NIT for the first time in five years. The Bulls were ousted in the first round at New Mexico. USF improved even further the next two years, going 18–13 and 19–13 respectively. Greenberg's squad would only see one postseason game out of these seasons though, a loss to Ball State in the first round of the 2002 NIT.
After a 15–14 season in 2002–03 with two starters out due to injuries, Greenberg left Tampa to become the head coach at Virginia Tech, citing his desire to coach in the Big East. His teams had a total record of 108–100, making him one of three USF head coaches to eclipse 100 wins (Rose and Paschall) and one of three to post an overall winning record at the school (Gibson and Rose).
Big East years USF's second to last year in Conference USA and first under new coach Robert McCullum would give them 20 losses for the first time since 1988–89, a streak that lasted 15 years. Their last year before joining the Big East was somewhat better at 14–16.