More New Faces For San Francisco
By Mary Harvill
The overhaul of the Dons roster is taking shape as San Francisco has added three more new faces and lots of size to the team for the 2015-2016 season.
Marquill Smith, a 6’4” freshman guard will literally go coast to coast, joining the Dons from Florida’s Miami Christian High School, 2015 Florida State 2A Basketball Champions. Smith averaged 22.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists during his senior year at Miami Christian. He was Dade County’s Player of the Year, the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 2A Player of the Year and named to the All-Tournament team at the 2014 Orange Bowl Boys’ Basketball Classic. Smith was also one of nine finalists for Florida’s Mr. Basketball award. Quite a pedigree for an incoming freshman.
Ronnie Boyce, a 6’4” junior shooting guard from Connors College in Warner, Oklahoma will join the team with two years of college eligibility remaining. He averaged 18.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists last season and was named to the National Junior College Association of America (NJCAA) third team All-America Honors. He was also NJCAA Player of the Week during the 2014-15 season after scoring 31 points in Connors College’s win against Seminole State College.
Connors College, one of the best junior college teams in the nation, finished 17-0 in league play and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Championships where they were defeated by South Plains.
Boyce graduated from Putnam High School in Oklahoma City, OK. Perhaps he can compare notes with former USF Don Matt Christiansen when he returns to Oklahoma City at some point during 2015-16.
Nate Renfro, 6’7 freshman forward from Sahuaro High School, Tucson, AZ adds another “big” to the USF line-up. Renfro started his high school basketball career as a 5’9” point guard on the freshman team then moved to the varsity team as a small forward after a major growth spurt. He averaged 16.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists during his senior year. He was a first-team All-Southern Arizona selection by the Arizona Daily Star and earned first team all-section honors by AZSports360.com. He was also named to “The Five” Boys Division II All-Stars by AllSportsTucson.com.
In addition to his basketball skills, he is also an outstanding student ranked No. 1 in his class with a 4.0 grade point average as a high school junior.
Smith, Boyce and Renfro will join USF newcomers Australian forward Matthew McCarthy (6’9”, Xavier College/Waverly Falcons), Dont’e Reynolds (F, 6’7”; Kinston, NC / Odessa College) and Cedric Wright (F, 6’6”; Fort Lauderdale, FL / Dillard HS).