A couple weeks ago, USF men’s basketball coach Stan Heath said he was looking to build a better post presence on the team.

He’s taken a step forward in doing just that.

Westchester Community College transfer Jarrid Famous verbally committed to USF  on Tuesday morning, choosing the Bulls over Arizona, Missouri, Seton Hall and Pittsburgh, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported.

One of the top unsigned recruits in the country, Famous — a 6-foot-10, 240 pound center — will make an immediate impact in the USF interior, which lost senior B.J. Ajayi from last season’s team.

“Famous decided to go with what his mind told him, not with what his heart said when he made his collegiate decision,” Westchester Community College coach Tyrone Mushatt told the Tribune.

After Heath gave Famous an in-home visit last week, he visited Arizona. Though he was being pursued by some of the nation’s top programs, Famous chose USF because he has family near the campus.

He averaged 25.2 points and 13.7 rebounds per game at Westchester.

Famous joins guards Mike Burwell Jr., Jordan Dumars and Shaun Noriega in the 2009 class. Guard Anthony Crater, who transferred last semester from Ohio State, will also be eligible to play next season.

USF in preseason top 25
Don’t look now, but USF’s WNIT championship has people already glancing into their future.

In its preseason top-25 rankings for 2009-10, Full Court Press ranked the USF women’s basketball team No. 18 after finishing the season with five consecutive wins and the program’s first ever postseason basketball championship.

The Bulls, who finished with a 27-10 record, join seven other Big East teams in the rankings, including Connecticut (No. 1), Notre Dame (No. 7) and Louisville (No. 8) in the top 10.

If the Bulls want a repeat of this year’s performance, they’ll have to do so without seven graduating seniors, including first team All-Big East guard Shantia Grace.

Grace and three other seniors — Jessica Lawson, Brittany Denson and Jazmine Sepulveda — were four of the Bulls’ top five scorers.

Giddens earns honors
After getting multiple hits in three of four games this weekend, USF senior Britta Giddens was named to the Big East Honor Roll on Monday.

Giddens hit .533 and had a home run this weekend as the Bulls split doubleheaders against St. John’s and Seton Hall.

“(Giddens) was a very key component to our two wins this weekend,” said USF head coach Ken Eriksen in a statement. “The home run in game one versus St. John’s and her single in our sixth inning rally against Seton Hall was huge. She has been clutch in many of our wins so far this year.”