Dominique Jones Introduces Himself To The World

In case you haven’t noticed, South Florida (South Florida!) has now won four in a row, the last two against ranked teams. At 16-7, with wins over Georgetown, Pittsburgh and Virginia, I don’t think it’s too premature to talk about them as a possible NCAA Tournament team.

But the craiziest part about South Florida’s run is that they’re basically doing it as a one-man team. Dominique Jones, who didn’t even make the all-Big East third team last year, is playing out of his mind. He’s averaging 35 points per game in his last four games, all while averaging almost 37 minutes a game this season. Cover him with a single guy at your own peril. (Yes, I’m looking at you, Georgetown).

Leave it to Basketball Prospectus’ John Gasaway to put this recent run in perspective.

The practice of referring to any team as “(Leading Scorer) and the (Team)” is not one I generally endorse, but certainly you could make a strong case for getting into the habit of saying “Dominique Jones and the South Florida Bulls.” He’s alwayson the floor (during the past four games he’s played 98.8 percent of the available minutes) and the ball’s always in his hands. Jones is respectable from outside, he dishes assists, minimizes turnovers, and he can finish in the paint. This is his team.

Maybe now South Florida can market their own team instead of everyone else’s.