South Florida baseball coach Eddie Cardieri announced Wednesday that eight players have signed national letters-of-intent to play for the Bulls. Six of the players are pitchers.

A trio of right-handers from Tampa-area high schools will be among those who will try to fill rotation spots in the future. Chris Delaney from Sickles, Chris Kemper from Bloomingdale and Jason Starr from King will make the short journey to USF. Another high school pitcher, Jon Kio, a left-hander, will come to USF from Corning Painter Post West High in Painted Post, N.Y. Two junior college transfers round out the six signees – Tim Mattison from Florida College and Travis Rios from Lake-Sumter Community College.

The two position players are outfielder Jeremy Bellotti from Dunedin and Nick Cardieri, Cardieri’s son, from Wharton.

“We filled our needs, which we anticipate are going to be mainly on the mound due to the graduation over the next two seasons,” Cardieri said. “A year ago our recruiting class featured a little bit of everything as we prepared to replace some position players. This class has a lot of great arms, every player has good stuff and all are capable of winning. These are the guys we need.”

• Jarrett Guthrie

  Four gridiron stars receive honors</h4<

  USF placed four football players on the Football News All-Independent Team announced Wednesday. Leading the way was junior quarterback Marquel Blackwell. During the 2001 season, Blackwell completed 258 passes in his 456 attempts. Blackwell threw for 20 touchdowns and ran for nine more.

  Joining Blackwell on the offensive side of the ball was senior guard Jimmy Fitts. Starting at both guard and center during the season, Fitts and the rest of the line allowed Blackwell to be sacked just 10 times.

  Defensive starters Chris Daley and J.R. Reed were also named. Daley broke the school sack record during the season and added 13 tackles for loss, while Reed led the team in takeaways and was third in tackles.

  News from the hardwood

  Bulls center Mike Bernard has finally learned the extent of his suspension. Bernard will rejoin the team for its Dec. 20 game at Syracuse. The senior is serving an NCAA-mandated eight-game suspension for playing in a professional league in his native England. Bernard, however, did not get paid for playing.

  The men’s basketball team’s first game of the New Year has a new time. The Bulls’ Jan. 2 matchup with Florida State will be held at 8 p.m.

  • Staff Report