Bradley Mosley, a senior guard on the USF men’s basketball team and the only player to start every game last season, has been diagnosed with renal cell cancer and will miss the entire 2004-05 season.

Mosley, 21, was diagnosed Nov. 8 and will be treated at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center on the USF campus. Mosley has not practiced with the team since Oct. 28 and sat on the bench in street clothes during USF’s 76-66 win over Saint Leo on Friday at the Sun Dome.

“Our team and staff are extremely saddened to learn of Bradley’s diagnosis,” USF coach Robert McCullum said. “As sad as we are, our sadness is certainly surpassed by our support and our hope and our confidence that Bradley will overcome this and that he will be another survivor.”

A transfer from Daytona Beach College, Mosley joined the Bulls in 2003 and was USF’s second leading scorer, averaging 14.6 points per game.

The seriousness of Mosley’s cancer, which affects the kidney, is unclear.

“The results of (Mosley’s) biopsy are fresh, so we really don’t know,” McCullum said. “We’re all anxious to get information. We don’t know the answers; I don’t think anyone does at this point.”

McCullum said the team was told of Mosley’s illness before the information was released to the press.

“We shared it with (the team) before the release went out so that they would be put in a comfortable situation,” McCullum said.

The team’s response was expected.

“It was basically silence. We gave them a chance to answer some questions, and we shared with them as much information as we know.”

Mosley, who was second on the team in assists last season, was considered a leader for the Bulls and an important piece to any Bulls’ success.

“We are confident through prayer, through medical treatment and through his own strength and determination as well as that of his family and friends, the basketball program and the university at large, he will win this battle just as he has won so many other battles up to this point,” McCullum said.

Exactly how Mosley’s illness will be treated remains unclear and McCullum says Mosley will be assisted.

“The administration stands fully prepared to assist Bradley and his family however possible,” he said. “We all wish him the best. He will certainly be missed by our basketball team and our program, and not just because of what he contributed on the court, but for what he is as a person and how he approached both basketball and his pursuit of a degree at USF.”