The USF Bulls had planned to unify their team by stripping off the player names from the back of the jerseys and replacing the nameplates with “THE TEAM”. Turns out, that violates an NCAA rule (what doesn’t these days):
According to rule 1-4-5, other than a player’s number, a jersey may contain only the player’s name, school name, NCAA logo, sleeve stripes, the American and/or state flag and a logo for the school, conference, mascot, postseason game, memorial or the military.
The rule also states that only military services may substitute words such as Honor, Integrity, etc. for the player’s name on the back of the jersey. Civilian institutions are not allowed to substitute any other word for the player’s name.
Funny enough, if the team is in violation of the rule they will be asked to change into the legal jerseys before kickoff and before the start of each quarter until they are changed. A timeout is charged at the start of each quarter until the jerseys are changed, which would make it a lot of fun to see a coach with a “no f’s given” attitude who just wants to prove a point.
Instead of the new name plates, the team will wear blank jerseys, according to USF spokesman Brian Siegrist.
“We’re Bulls and we’re a team,’’ coach Willie Taggart said Monday. “Not to say the names won’t come back at some point (in future seasons), but we’re focusing on the team and that’s what it needs to be.
“After going through our first year, that’s one of the things our coaching staff felt it could do better, just becoming a team, making it all about USF, not about individuals. When you have that, good things can happen for us.’’
That’s the strong start the Bulls were hoping to make to start the season, I’m sure.
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