The vacancy left by Seth Greenberg as the head coach of the USF men’s basketball team has left Athletic Director Lee Roy Selmon searching for a candidate and coaches from across the nation looking for a head-coaching job in Division I.

USF received 10 applications since Greenberg was hired as head coach at Virginia Tech Thursday.

Selmon will continue to collect applications until Friday, when he will start to narrow the field and interview the candidates.

The two front runners to take the helm of the Bulls are USF assistant David Zimroth and Florida associate head coach Anthony Grant.

“I had an off-campus meeting (Tuesday) with Anthony Grant, and it was a preliminary discussion intended to allow us to meet for a first time and spend some time getting to know each other,” Selmon said. “As is the case with David Zimroth, who I had a meeting with on Monday, these discussions are preliminary, and we will continue to discuss our search further with both gentlemen.”

Grant has been an assistant with the Gators since 1996 and was named associate head coach in April 2002.

Zimroth has coached at USF since 1996 and the former Florida State assistant brings 22 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level. He has coached a combined 16 seasons in the state of Florida.

“At this point I have not made any other requests for permission to speak with anyone else, but I did spend quality time today in continuing to research potential candidates,” Selmon said. “In the coming days we will make some decisions on further meetings with candidates.”

One more workout

The USF football team has only one more day of practice to work out some final details before the spring game on Saturday.

The Bulls have four more days to fill holes in the roster before fall practice begins in August.

“Really, since we’ve been here, this is the most holes we’ve had to fill,” USF coach Jim Leavitt said. “But the guys are really giving great effort. And they’ve been pretty physical.”

Along with having to fill spots such as the quarterback vacancy left by graduating senior Marquel Blackwell and the middle linebacker void left by Kawika Mitchell, 20 players sat out Tuesday with minor injuries from the early contact.

Ronnie Banks, USF’s No. 1 quarterback for the 2003 season, is among the players sidelined by minor injuries.

“Ronnie’s banged up, and we’ve had him take live action this spring, so he’s taking some big hits,” Leavitt said. “But he’s a solid No. 1, and he’s put some distance between (himself and) the other quarterbacks.

“Ronnie Banks isn’t my concern at all,” Leavitt said. “Right now, Jean Julmiste is our No. 2, but he has to get better. We need a strong No. 2 quarterback.”

Contact Bryan Fazioat oraclebryan@yahoo.com