One of the best pitchers in USF softball history is joining the best softball team in the world.

Leigh Ann Ellis, who played for the Bulls in 2003 and 2004, has been selected to the 2005 Women’s Softball Elite Team, the Amateur Softball Association announced Monday. Ellis is now the only player from USF to be selected to play for USA Softball.

The 16-member team will play in the Canada Cup, which begins July 2 in Surrey, B.C. Later that month, the team will compete in the Inter-Continental Cup in Madrid, Spain.

Despite being at USF for only two seasons, Ellis ranks second in career wins (77) and strikeouts (633). She also had an ERA of 1.13, good enough for fourth-best all-time.

Ellis holds most of USF’s single-season pitching records, including victories (43), innings pitched (315.2), strikeouts (320), shutouts (15) and saves (4).

This isn’t the first time Ellis has been acquainted with USA Softball. In 2004, she held the USA Olympic Team scoreless for 5.1 innings, which is the longest the team had ever been held scoreless by an American pitcher.

USF loses assistant

The USF women’s basketball team lost one of its best recruiters on Wednesday.

Citing a pay increase, assistant Sadiaa Jones accepted a women’s basketball assistant coach position at Georgia Tech.

Jones, 28, told The Tampa Tribune, “It’s always tough to leave when you’ve been someplace for a while. I had a lot of recruits here I had to call and tell, but I’d be crazy not to take it. It’s a considerable pay raise.”

Jones is the third member from the USF Athletic Department to go to Georgia Tech in the past three months. The Yellow Jackets finished third from last in the ACC last season with a 4-11 record. USF is coming off its best season in program history, winning a school-record 21 games and making the WNIT for the second season in a row.

Neither Jones nor head coach Jose Fernandez could be reached for comment. — compiled by John Calkins