South Florida’s Bryan Hodgson’s celebrated homecoming comes with both deeply painful and joyously uplifting reminders of the full-circle journey in preparing to make his NCAA Tournament coaching debut not far from his Jamestown, New York, roots.
There are the mental and physical scars — two burn marks on the back of his legs — Hodgson carries as a result of the physical abuse he endured as a child.
USF in the NCAAs
- Who: No. 11 seed South Florida vs. No. 6 seed Louisville
- What: NCAA men’s basketball tournament East Region
- Time: 1:30 p.m. Thursday
- TV: TNT
- Where: At KeyBank Center, Buffalo, N.Y.
- At stake: Winner advances to Saturday's second round against winner of No. 3 Michigan State (25-7) vs. No. 14 North Dakota State (27-7) (Friday, 4:05 p.m., TNT)
- Tampa watch party: Yuengling Draft Haus is the host for USF's official local watch party; 11109 30th St.
- BETMGM Line: Cardinals by 4.5; over/under is 163.5
- Records: Louisville 23-10 (12-8 in ACC), USF 25-8 (17-3 in American Conference)
- Coaches: Cardinals – Pat Kelsey, second season (50-18, 0-1 in NCAAs), 14th season overall (311-140, 0-5 in NCAAs). Bulls – Bryan Hodgson, first season (25-8), third season overall (70-36)
- Quick facts: Louisville is ranked 23rd in the AP poll and the top team in the ACC with 17.1 assists per game led by Aly Khalifa averaging 2.6. USF is sixth in nation with 37.7 rebounds per game led by Izaiyah Nelson averaging 9.6. Louisville makes 47.1% of its shots from the field this season, which is 5.8 percentage points higher than USF has allowed to its opponents (41.3%). USF scores 15.5 more points per game (87.7) than Louisville allows (72.2). Louisville has a 1-1 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer. USF is in the NCAAs for the first time since 2012 after winning its first conference tournament since 1990.
- Top performers: Cardinals – USF transfer Ryan Conwell is scoring 18.7 points per game with 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists for the Cardinals. Khalifa is averaging 3.2 points. Bulls – Wes Enis averages 3.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Bulls, scoring 16.8 points while shooting 36.5% from beyond the arc. Nelson is averaging 15.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and two steals over the last 10 games.
- Last 10 games: Cardinals (6-4) – averaging 82.5 points, 31.9 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 6.4 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 48.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.7 points per game. Bulls (10-0) – averaging 81.6 points, 36.8 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 9.4 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 42.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.5 points.
- Series: Both teams are former members of the Metro Conference, Conference USA and Big East, so this will be the 34th all-time meeting. The Cardinals lead the series 29-4, with the last meeting in 2014.
- Night session in Buffalo: In the Midwest Region, No. 1 Michigan will play No. 16 at 7:10 p.m., followed by No. 8 Georgia vs. No. 9 St. Louis.
- Rick Mayer
More significant and uplifting for the 38-year-old is what followed. Placed in foster care at the age of 2, he was adopted by a loving family that allowed Hodgson to pursue what became a passion for basketball.
And there Hodgson was on Wednesday seated at the podium in Buffalo, a 60-mile drive from his hometown, sharing with unflinching detail his upbringing and the perspective he has gained, a day before USF opens the tournament facing the East Region’s No. 6 seed Louisville.
“If you use those negative experiences to grow and better yourself, use them as a ladder, you’re going to be successful,” Hodgson said.
“Did I have the worst childhood in the world? No, no,” he said.
The scars, now reduced to about 50-cent piece size he said, are what’s left from his teenage birth mother's boyfriend placing Hodgson on a burning wood stove as punishment for wetting his diaper.
“I had some traumatic experiences,” he said. “But I had people around me that were there to catch me. The Hodgson family is the center of that.”
This then becomes the payoff for a coach who in his first season at South Florida and has transformed the Bulls. The school is riding an 11-0 run, won its first American Conference tournament title and clinched the program’s fourth tournament berth, and first in 14 years.
Hodgson's success follows two seasons at Arkansas State, where he went 45-28, including setting a program record for wins with a 25-11 finish last year.
On hand in Buffalo to root him on will be a 38-person entourage of friends and family. It’s a group that will include his adopted parents Larry and Rebecca. Larry Hodgson is unable to travel due to dementia, and will see his adopted son work in person for the first time as a head coach.
“I’m not going to ...” Hodgson said, before pausing as to whether he’ll search his father out in the stands. “I can’t really look at him before the game. Too much emotion. I’ll be locked in on winning a basketball game. But very lucky that it’s happening.”
Hodgson got his break as a long-time assistant under current Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats, starting in Buffalo and following him to Alabama. Hodgson has brought Oats’ up-tempo offensive approach to South Florida. The Bulls rank eighth in the nation in averaging 87.7 points per outing, and have topped 90 points 15 times, including a school record in a 109-88 win over UTSA on Feb. 4.
Hodgson has also developed a reputation as a top recruiter.
Forward Izaiyah Nelson and guard Joseph Pinion, both seniors, played under Hodgson at Arkansas State and followed their coach to South Florida.
“When he got the new job at South Florida, and I knew it was a no-brainer to go with him,” Pinion said.
“He has a persistent effort. He’s always texting you, telling you how he can make you better, how you can come here and you can elevate your game,” added Pinion, one of the Bulls two top 3-point threats. “He just shows you how you can get better.”
Hodgson’s success has other schools now recruiting him. His name has been tied to vacancies at Providence and Syracuse. On Wednesday, it was reported by Syracuse-area media that he turned down the Syracuse job.
“It’s a blessing to be wanted,” Hodgson said of the chatter. “I can tell you right now that my sole focus is on winning basketball games and enjoying every single second with this group of young men I have right now.”
Hodgson has become an advocate for foster care. He founded Coaching Love, a nonprofit that provides assistance to foster care children and other at-risk youth.
“Foster care is brutal,” Hodgson said. “Oftentimes foster children are left going home to home with nothing but the clothes on their back and hopefully a pillow and a few outfits.”
He considers himself blessed.
“I often joke with my parents — people talk about my recruiting," Hodgson said. “I said my mom and dad are the best recruiters in the country because they signed me.”
NOTES: Louisville freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. has been ruled out for the game because of a nagging back injury. The NBA prospect missed the past four games, including the 78-73 loss to Miami in the ACC quarterfinals. He is averaging 18.2 points per game.... Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas spoke to the Bulls on Wednesday. "It's time for you guys to make your history," he told them. Hodgson was a big Bills fans growing up and pretended he was Thomas in neighborhood football games, according to USF broadcaster Joey Johnson.
