{"id":150872,"date":"2026-02-10T23:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T23:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/150872\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T23:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T23:44:09","slug":"new-usfsp-club-takes-basketball-off-the-bench-the-crows-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/150872\/","title":{"rendered":"New USFSP club takes basketball off the bench \u2013 The Crow’s Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo by Dominic Feo | The Crow\u2019s Nest <\/p>\n

By Dominic Feo<\/p>\n

Basketball has been a recreational activity for University of South Florida students at the St. Petersburg campus since 2006. Twenty years later, the courts are more often hosting pickleball.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over a hundred USF St. Petersburg students have played the recent phenomenon since the Pickleball Club began in 2024<\/a>. Club meetings have provided students four extra hours a week to play, while basketball still shares the regular time of 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday with pickleball. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A few students organized this semester to help USF St. Petersburg basketball reach overtime. Senior business analytics and information systems major and club president, Gabriel Lopez and his friends have considered creating the St. Petersburg Basketball Club since last April.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Gabriel Lopez (left) and Jaden Kyobe (right) during the Campus Recreation 3v3 Basketball Tournament on Sept. 17, 2025.\u00a0
Photo by Dominic Feo\u00a0| The Crow\u2019s Nest <\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew that USF [St. Petersburg] needed a basketball club, we wanted the courts a little later, and we want to start building a consistent community with basketball,\u201d Lopez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The club gives basketball its own four additional hours, scheduling meetings every Friday and Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Organized basketball events have always been hosted by Campus Recreation, the most recent being an Intramural 3v3 Tournament on Sept. 17. \u00a0It has been almost four years, however, since USF St. Petersburg offered weekly basketball events. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Jaeden Kyobe during the Campus Recreation 3v3 Basketball Tournament on Sept. 17, 2025.\u00a0
Photo by Dominic Feo\u00a0| The Crow\u2019s Nest<\/p>\n

Senior and graphic design major Jaeden Kyobe, who is the club\u2019s first marketing chair and secretary, believes structured basketball will improve the quality of play at USF St. Petersburg. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWe can focus on developmental skills because I don\u2019t think just shooting around when the courts are open will really improve your game,\u201d \u00a0Kyobe explained. \u201cIt\u2019s really getting put into game-type situations that we want to focus on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aside from learning, he just wants to see students benefit from basketball the same way that he has. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust coming out here, shooting the ball or just hanging out with friends on the court, it\u2019s been a great way to clear my mind, that\u2019s why I come out here all the time,\u201d Kyobe said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first meeting, held on Jan. 30, consisted of three 5v5 scrimmage games. Their second meeting on Feb. 7 included halfcourt 3v3\u2019s. Over twenty people have since joined the club on BullsConnect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cWe\u2019re still [a] growing club, so we\u2019re definitely hoping that we can increase the hours, so more people continue to come out,\u201d said business analytics and information systems and risk management insurance double-major Raffaele Capaldi, who is also the club\u2019s vice president.\u00a0
Photo by Dominic Feo\u00a0| The Crow\u2019s Nest<\/p>\n

Every game included students with varying levels of experience, but the club\u2019s founders are happy to assist newer players.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Ryan Schwartz during the Campus Recreation 3v3 Basketball Tournament on Sept. 17, 2025.\u00a0
Photo by Dominic Feo\u00a0| The Crow\u2019s Nest
\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIf you\u2019re just trying to learn, or if you\u2019re an experienced ballplayer, it doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d said junior business analytics major and club treasurer Ryan Schwartz. \u201cWe\u2019ve got opportunities for everyone, so just come out here, have a good time and get active.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 35 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"More<\/a>
Written by: Dominic Feo<\/a> on February 10, 2026.
Last revised by: Alisha Durosier<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Dominic Feo | The Crow\u2019s Nest By Dominic Feo Basketball has been a recreational activity for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-150872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-st-pete","9":"tag-st-pete-headlines","10":"tag-st-pete-news","11":"tag-st-petersburg","12":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","13":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}