Final Thoughts on Anthony Crater

It could be a long season for Coach Heath in 2011.

News broke last night that senior point guard Anthony Crater has been dismissed from the program for violating team rules and failing to reach program standards, this according to Coach Heath.

The rumor is (from multiple sources) Crater failed a drug test, which would be his third failed test during his career at USF. If this is true, then Heath made the right move by dismissing him.

Crater has failed two prior drug tests and was suspended at the start of last season for 6 games for a "violation of team rules." So it appears the young man has had a history and it finally caught up to him and now the Bulls are without a senior point guard who started nearly every game for the Bulls.

I have been hard on Crater since day one and throughout the season. I forever questioned his ability to run the offense (the guy had tunnel vision) and his inability to shoot the ball (ever seen a player have open shots and simply look the other way? Reminds me of Capko). Yet, despite all the laughter and judgment (now I can't sell Crater Time t-shirts), the Bulls are going to be in big time trouble next season, even more than originally.

The Bulls are now left without a starting point guard, something that would kill an ordinary team, but for the Bulls playing in the Big East, this is even worst. As much as we questioned and yelled watching Crater play the point, he had experience. Now the Bulls have no one with starting experience. LaVonte Dority got a few minutes here and there last season, but never started a game and didn't look that great in his limited time on the floor. Anthony Collins seems like a talented player, but will be an incoming freshman, there is no way Heath throws him out there. That leaves Blake Nash, the JUCO freshman All-American. Nash is a gifted player, both running the offense and shooting the ball, but will he be able to adjust to the Big East and the pace change coming out of the JUCO level? That is a major change and it will be hard for him to hit the ground running and learn on the fly in the toughest basketball conference out there.

The 2011-2012 season was already looking rough for the Bulls. After a bad season, faith in Heath and the team is very low, add in an unfinished Sun Dome that could leave the Bulls almost homeless for most of the season, it was not looking like a great start, now they will have to deal with the loss of a starting senior point guard. Good luck to Coach Heath, this could be a very long season for him and it is only May.