Tag: South Florida

Wisconsin transfer cornerback commits to South Florida

Wisconsin transfer cornerback commits to South Florida

Wisconsin transfer cornerback Jonas Duclona committed to South Florida on Tuesday.

He is one of 20 Wisconsin scholarship players to enter the portal — 19 without counting Trech Kekahuna, who quickly returned to the program. Duclona is one of several Badger transfers to find new homes, joining Leon Lowery (Illinois) and Amare Snowden (Toledo).

Related: Wisconsin football 2024 transfer portal departure tracker

The redshirt freshman cornerback joined the Badgers as a three-star recruit in the class of 2023. He was one of Luke Fickell’s first high school commitments after landing the job in November 2022.

Duclona played 15 total games over his two seasons with the program, totaling just five tackles. 12 of those 15 appearances came as a true freshman in 2023. He and others in the room saw their roles diminish in 2024 with the emergence of top freshman CB Xavier Lucas.

The cornerback’s departure reflects a larger trend — 11 of Wisconsin’s 15 class of 2023 signees have transferred, including a large collection of players in the secondary. That movement has erased much of the program’s depth at the position.

Duclona joins a South Florida program that went 6-6 during the 2024 regular season. It is set for a Hawaii bowl matchup with San Jose State. The program’s best recent stretch came 2016 (11-2) and 2017 (10-2) under coaches Willie Taggart and Charlie Strong, respectively. Now, it is far from the top contender in a struggling American Athletic Conference.

Expect Wisconsin to target the cornerback position as the transfer cycle continues. The program has done well in addressing major needs including quarterback and defensive line. Cornerback, linebacker and wide receiver will likely be the next positions to be addressed.

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South Florida coach Alex Golesh brushes off Florida Atlantic’s Tom Herman after romp

The Florida Atlantic and South Florida head coaches with a chilly postgame handshake

It wasn’t the biggest game of the weekend but it had a frosty exchange after it.

South Florida scored the game’s final 23 points on the way to a 44-21 victory over Florida Atlantic on Friday night. The Bulls went for a two-point conversion after the touchdown that put them up by the final score.

After the game had long been decided USF coach Alex Golesh reinserted quarterback Bryce Archie into the game in the final minute.

Up 23, the starting quarterback completed a 10-yard pass for a first down.

Golesh wanted no part of FAU’s Tom Herman when the Owls coach came across the field for the postgame handshake. Herman extended his hand. Golesh shook it and kept walking.

Herman decided he didn’t like the brushoff and went after Golesh.

The issue between the coaches has been simmering since last season when FAU pummeled South Florida 56-14.

The Owls outscored the Bulls 35-0 in the second half of that game, including two TDs and a successful onside kick in the fourth quarter.

Per Greenboldandbold.com:

After the Owls scored late in the fourth quarter, they rubbed the Bulls’ noses in their misery by executing a successful onside kick.

On that day, USF coach Alex Golesh was more concerned about his defense than that play.

“It is what it is. I’m cool. We’ll get ours at some point,” he said.

“When you lose to somebody like last year, you want to go back and beat them this year,” USF receiver Sean Atkins said this week. “So I feel like, in a sense, it is a rivalry just because of that.”

Report: Oregon guard Priscilla Williams enters transfer portal

Oregon guard Priscilla Williams will reportedly enter the transfer portal and leave the Ducks.

It’s the first of what could be many.

Oregon women’s basketball had a very down year and a roster turnover is expected as the first of many dominoes fell as 247Sports reporter Erik Skopil says Duck point guard Priscilla Williams will enter the transfer portal and leave Eugene.

Williams was a Duck for just one season after transferring to Oregon from South Florida. The redshirt sophomore averaged just 2.6 points a game and just over 13 minutes a game.

She started her career at Syracuse where she averaged almost 10 points a game as a freshman, but then moved on to South Florida where she battled injuries and only appeared in a handful of games.

Vols defeat South Florida in ITA Kickoff Weekend match

Tennessee defeats South Florida in ITA Kickoff Weekend match.

No. 6 Tennessee (6-0) defeated South Florida, 4-0, Saturday in its first match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend Saturday at Goodfriend Tennis Center.

Tennessee-USF tennis results

Doubles

1. #26 Johannus Monday/Angel Diaz (TENN) vs. #9 Alvin Tudorica/Erik Grevelius (USF) 5-3, unfinished
2. #34 Shunsuke Mitsui/Filip Pieczonka (TENN) def. Bruno Oliveira/T. Pavlekovich-Smith (USF) 6-3
3. Younes Lalami/Filip Apltauer (TENN) def. Ben Hudson/Sam Frizelle (USF) 6-4

Order of finish: 3,2

Singles

1. #20 Johannus Monday (TENN) def. #27 Alvin Tudorica (USF) 6-2, 6-0
2. #33 Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) vs. Erik Grevelius (USF) 6-4, 3-3, unfinished
3. Filip Pieczonka (TENN) def. Bruno Oliveira (USF) 6-2, 6-2
4. Filip Apltauer (TENN) vs. T. Pavlekovich-Smith (USF) 6-1, 4-4, unfinished
5. Chris Li (TENN) vs. Tom Pisane (USF) 6-1, 5-1, unfinished
6. Angel Diaz (TENN) def. Elijah Cham (USF) 6-2, 6-1

Order of finish: 6,1,3

Where to play golf around South Florida: Golfweek’s Best 2023 public-access courses

Thanks to Golfweek’s Best rankings, we break out the top courses around South Florida.

Call it South Florida or be more specific and call it southeastern Florida, one thing is for certain: The area stretching south along the coast from Port St. Lucie to Miami is packed with golf courses.

But which are the best? If you’re willing to drive a bit, there are several courses in this region that appear on the Golfweek’s Best rankings of top public-access layouts in Florida. All the courses listed below are within reasonable driving distance of cities such as Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Jupiter.

But it’s not as easy as pulling up our state-by-state rankings, which list Florida courses that might be a full day’s drive away from South Florida (which is not to be confused with southwest Florida, such as Naples, which is considered by most Floridians to be a distinct region).

None of this is to say there aren’t plenty of other worthy public-access courses to play around South Florida. There are. These are only the layouts ranked among the very best in the whole state that happen to be in South Florida.

There is one course worth mentioning that isn’t on the best-in-state list yet, but surely will be in years to come. Architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner recently renovated the former West Palm Beach Golf Course into the Park, complete with 18 holes and a short, lit  par-3 course. The main 18 didn’t open in time to appear on various Golfweek’s Best lists in 2023.

Included with this list is a general map of where to find all these courses. Each one on the list below is represented with a number on the map – keep scrolling to see the numbers.

Included with each course is its position in Florida on the Golfweek’s Best public-access list. For any course that appears on our other popular rankings lists, those positions are included as well.

A little background: The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all our Golfweek’s Best course rankings.

The courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time – no membership required.

South Florida map golf
(Google Earth/Golfweek)

See the photos: Panther National by Jack Nicklaus, Justin Thomas opens this week in Florida

Check out the photos of Panther National in South Florida.

Jack Nicklaus and Justin Thomas have teamed up to design Panther National, a new private club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, that officially opens Friday with a star-studded exhibition match.

Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Morgan Hoffmann, Erik van Rooyen and Lexi Thompson will tee it up alongside Thomas for the course opening.

The course will offer up double fairways, deep bunkers and expansive sandy waste areas amid what the club calls an unusual amount of elevation changes for a South Florida course. The club also will feature state-of-the-art training facilities, a 9-hole, par-3 practice course and a huge putting course named The Cub. It’s all attached to a residential offering of 218 high-end, custom estates on 400 acres surrounded by Panther National Wildlife Refuge.

“From the start, the vision was clear – to create a golf experience unlike any other found in South Florida,” Nicklaus said in a media release announcing the opening. “Every opportunity to design a golf course brings challenges, but in the case of Panther National, uniqueness triumphs. You won’t find any golf course remotely close to it in South Florida.”

Check out a selection of images of the course and amenities below.

Report: Free agent DE Jason Pierre-Paul to sign with Saints

CBS Sports insider Josina Anderson reports that free agent defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul plans to sign with the New Orleans Saints after a productive workout:

There’s that pass rush help the New Orleans Saints were looking for. Free agent defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is planning to sign with the Saints, as first reported by CBS Sports insider Josina Anderson. Pierre-Paul was flown into New Orleans on Monday for a workout which went well enough for the Saints to offer him a contract.

“I killed the workout,” Pierre-Paul told Anderson before putting pen to paper. “You can tell I’ve been active (and) not just sitting around. The head coach called me in his office to talk about it. I’m still figuring things out.”

Pierre-Paul, 34, was a first round draft pick by the New York Giants back in 2010; the South Florida product went on to earn three Pro Bowl nods and All-Pro recognition in 2011, totaling 94.5 sacks and 21 forced fumbles in 179 regular season games. He most recently played for the Baltimore Ravens after a four-year run with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

We’ll see whether Pierre-Paul is going to sign with the Saints’ practice squad or 53-man roster. Either way, he’ll be available for their next game with the Atlanta Falcons after coming out of the Week 11 bye. New Orleans has rostered Cameron Jordan, Carl Granderson, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Kyle Phillips, and Isaiah Foskey (who is dealing with an injury) while stashing Niko Lalos and Jordan Willis on the practice squad, so someone will get bumped out of the rtoation to make room for him. Stay tuned for official word that the deal has been completed.

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What will $1 million get you in South Florida? Check out these photos of the new golf course at Shell Bay Club

New Shell Bay Club has what might be highest initiation fee in the U.S.

What does a $1-million initiation fee buy you in South Florida these days? Keep scrolling to see the photos of the new Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, Florida, just north of Miami.

Greg Norman designed the very private course for Shell Bay Club, completely renovating the site that formerly held the Joe Lee-designed layout at the Diplomat Golf Resort & Spa. The $220-million project was led by developers Witkoff Group and PPG Development. The property includes the Residences at Shell Bay, which has 108 Auberge-managed condominium and penthouse units with views of the golf course and Intracoastal Waterway.

Among a long slate of amenities at the community are a high-end racquet center and a private yacht club. A 60-room boutique resort is also planned to open soon.

“Shell Bay has the best amenity package of any luxury project in South Florida – there’s nothing like it,” Ari Pearl, founder and president of PPG Development, said in a media release announcing the opening of the golf course. “We feel strongly that the vision for Shell Bay will resonate with today’s luxury buyer.”

Norman’s course design stretches to 7,254 yards with plenty of water in play. The club also features a high-tech, 12-acre practice facility and a nine-hole par-3 course. The main layout is rated as one of the most difficult in the Sunshine State, with a 148 slope rating and a 76.1 course rating. For comparison, the standard slope rating for a course is 113, and slope ratings top out at 155. Slope is an indication of the relative difficulty of a course for a player who does not have a scratch handicap versus one who does have a scratch handicap.

“The course at Shell Bay will be one of the most unique, pure golf experiences I have ever designed,” Norman – the World Golf Hall of Famer who besides designing courses around the world has taken a leadership role in LIV Golf – said in the media release. “Completely isolated from its surroundings, the walkable layout will capture the true essence of the game with immaculately conditioned fairways, sweeping Sandbelt-style bunkers and contoured greens that test every club in your bag. It will be a place where you can totally immerse yourself in the game.”

About that initiation fee: $1 million seems high, because it is. It’s impossible to confirm what might be the highest initiation fees in golf’s often-secretive, private-club markets, but no other club has published $1-million initiation fees in the U.S.

But in many ways, Shell Bay’s initiation fee isn’t really a shocker in a South Florida market that has boomed since the start of COVID-19 as the state has seen an influx of well-heeled residents. Condos at Shell Bay start at $3 million, and the penthouses start at $11 million.

Other high-end private golf clubs in the area also have seen fees soar – for a bit of context, the in-development, three-course Apogee Club just up Interstate 95 in Hobe Sound offers memberships starting north of half a million dollars.

“Golf is the most undersupplied asset in the Miami market, and consequently, Shell Bay is a generational opportunity to create the first new private course in the area in 25 years,” Alex Witkoff, co-CEO of Witkoff Group, said in the media release. “A project like this can’t be replicated.”

College basketball news: Mike Brey headed to South Florida

Mike Brey has found a new home…

Weeks ago, Mike Brey made it clear that he was done at Notre Dame but that he wasn’t done coaching.  Would that mean coaching back home in the Washington, D.C. area?  Would it be on at a high school?  Would he be a consultant for some of his friends in the coaching world?

We have an answer as reports surfaced Monday that Brey will be the next head coach at South Florida.  This makes a lot of sense not only because Brey previously mentioned he wasn’t interested in Midwest winters any longer.  Furthermore, Brey’s son is a football coach at IMG Academy that isn’t far at all from USF.

It didn’t end how anyone wanted, but there’s no ill-will from anyone in South Bend to Brey.  All the best to him in this next chapter.

Source: Mike Brey to be hired as USF head coach

The former Irish coach appears to have new work lined up.

Mike Brey apparently didn’t have to wait long to pick up his next coaching gig. BullsInsider.com is reporting that the winningest coach in Notre Dame history is about to take the head coaching job at USF. No official announcement has been made, but all signs seem to be pointing in that direction.

This would be a perfect destination for Brey, who previously indicated that he would sell his home near South Bend and move to Florida once his final season with the Irish was over. As it turns out, he’ll be able to have his cake and eat it, too. He will try to revive a program that has had only one winning season in the past decade and no NCAA Tournament appearances since 2012.

This news would appear to indicate that any involvement Brey had with finding his successor in South Bend is over. Instead, his complete focus will be on a program that once was very familiar to him. The Irish went 10-1 against the Bulls from 2006 to 2013, when the programs were Big East rivals.

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