MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Butch Estes and Barry University men's basketball team has been chomping at the bit to get going.
"Right now, everyone of these guys are thinking, and I hope they are," Estes, the Bucs' first-year coach said in a media day press conference. "And that really slows 'em down. So there's some potential for some frustration here."
That was two weeks ago. That frustration has turned to anticipation, which is what the Buccaneers are now focused on as they begin the exhibition season Monday at 7 p.m. against NCAA Division I South Florida in the Sun Dome in Tampa. The game will be broadcast on the Buccaneer Broadcast Network.
Barry is implementing a new style into this year's team after Estes took over for 18-year coach Cesar Odio, now an administrator at the university.
"The first word that comes to mind is 'unselfishness,'" Estes said of a team that is meshing 10 new players with five leftovers from last year, three of which did not suit up in 2012-13. "We really try to encourage these guys to share the basketball."
Monday's exhibition will set the stage for Moonlight Madness at 9 p.m. Wednesday to introduce the Buccaneers in Barry University's version of Midnight Madness to begin the college basketball season. Next Friday at 7 p.m. the Bucs will open the regular season at Johnson & Wales at the Wildcat Center in North Miami.
"Defensively, we're a multiple defensive team, and the heart and soul of that is man-to-man," Estes said. "But out of that we'll do a lot of different things, including trapping and zones. So to give you a baseball analogy, we'll throw a curve ball, we'll throw you a change-up, we'll throw a fast ball. We're not coming with all fast balls."
GAME NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: Barry lost in the Sunshine State Conference quarterfinals to No. 10 Florida Southern, 75-57, to end the 2012-13 season.
SERIES RECORD: Barry and South Florida have never met in a regular season game.
EYES ON OPPONENT: The Bulls lost to Seton Hall in the Big East Tournament opening round last year ... G Anthony Collins averaged 8.6 ppg and 6.5 apg ... F Victor Rudd is the Bulls leading returning scorer (12.3) and rebounder (6.9) ... South Florida’s recruiting class, bolstered by 6-foot-10 John Egbunu and 6-8 Chris Perry, was ranked 12th nationally by HoopScoop.com and 21st by ESPN Recruiting Nation.
NEW BEGINNINGS: Barry is under the direction of new coach Butch Estes ... Estes has coached at Division I Furman, where he went 135-122 in nine seasons ... He was 92-63 at Presbyterian in five seasons when the Blue Hose were an NAIA school ... Estes was 43-58 in four years at Division III Guilford ... He was an assistant at East Carolina, Rice and Miami.
TRANSFER INFLUX: Barry has three Division I transfers with the addition of G Juan Ferrales (Florida International), PG Deric Hill (FIU) and F Yunio Barrueta (East Tennessee St.) ... Hill was named to the Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament Team last year.
MAGNE-FIED: Sr. F Magne Fivelstad is the Bucs’ leading returning scorer and rebounder after averaging 10.5 ppg and 5.9 reb in his only season in Buccaneers Red and Black.
HANG 10: Barry has 10 new players on its roster this year, and G Nico Ostbye only practiced with the Bucs from January on.
HIALEAH CONNECTION: The Bucs have four players on the roster who won a state championship together at Hialeah Gardens in F Yunio Barrueta, F Henry Leonardo, G/F Adrian Gonzalez and F/C Alvaro Simoza ... First-year assistant coach Marcos Molina was also their high school coach.
WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES: Both Fivelstad and Ostbye competed for Norway in the 2013 Summer World University Games ... Ostbye, a transfer from Missouri-St. Louis, scored eight points against the USA U-23 team.