DOM - Antigua set to bring up-tempo style to South Florida

TAMPA (NCAA/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Orlando Antigua tasted success in his first summer as the head coach of the Dominican Republic, leading the team to a spot in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

The Dominicans clinched a top-four finish at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship in Venezuela to book their passage to this year's 24-team tournament in Spain.

At the World Cup, which tips off 30 August, Antigua will coach the Dominicans in Group C against the United States, Turkey, Ukraine, Finland and New Zealand.

He will then turn his full attention back to American college basketball and will do so for the first time as a head coach of his own team, the University of South Florida.

Unveiled this week as the new coach of the Bulls, Antigua made it clear that his experience with the Dominicans has been very important.

"One of the things that I look to do as a coach," Antigua said, "and I did this with the Dominican national team, is assess what our strengths are; play to our strengths, try to hide our weakness and have a commitment to defense.

"That's kind of what we'll do and we'll go from there, but I would like to play as fast as we can.

"It's an exciting brand of basketball.

"It's a way you can impose your will on opponents and it's a way that kids want to play.

"And as a former player, I like playing those games where they're up and down a little bit."

Antigua played for Pittsburgh during his college years, graduating in 1995.

He then competed professionally, including a stint of several years with the Harlem Globetrotters.

After serving as an assistant coach at Pittsburgh from 2006-08, Antigua accepted an offer from John Calipari to work as his assistant at Memphis (2008-09), and more recently Kentucky (2009-present).

The 41-year-old has a reputation as an excellent recruiter.

He will end his assistant coaching tenure with the Wildcats this weekend at the NCAA Final Four in Arlington, Texas.

USF Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mark Harlan says everyone in Tampa, Florida, should be excited about Antigua.

Harlan said: "His passion for life and for the game of basketball is infectious and you're going to learn that, traits that were born from childhood in the Bronx (New York) and his instincts for leadership from serving as student council, student body president at St. Raymond's in New York and to leading the Dominican national basketball team.

"He has the ability to spread the power of this game, whether performing around the world with the Harlem Globetrotters or sharing his knowledge with youngsters in New York, Memphis, Pittsburgh and Lexington.

"He has an innate ability to understand people and to motivate them beyond their own expectations. He's a winner in the game of life, he's a winner in the game of basketball and he's going to teach the game the right way."

Antigua faces a big challenge because USF are coming off a season when they won just three of their 18 games in the American Conference and finished 12-20 overall.

South Florida have had some good years, making the NCAA Tournament as recently as 2012.

Antigua says he had the backing of Calipari, who he also assisted when the latter was coach of the Dominican Republic in the summers of 2011 and '12.

"He (Calipari) said that it's (South Florida) a sleeping giant, unbelievable opportunity," Antigua said.

"Go get the job and go surprise people, go make history.

"That's what he said."

The South Florida job wasn't supposed to be presented to Antigua, but to another rising star in the college game, Manhattan coach Steve Masiello.

The Bulls withdrew their offer to Masiello after discovering that he had not graduated from Kentucky, despite a claim on his résumé that he had.

It's unclear when, or even if, Masiello will coach again because Manhattan have put Masiello on leave.

Antigua has benefitted.

He has received a five-year, $4.75 million contract to coach South Florida.

The deal could be worth more with incentives.

FIBA