TAMPA, FL - David Collins believes he is an NBA Talent.

That’s why the USF guard put his name into the NBA Draft this spring. But this was more about the draft process than it was about leaving USF.

“They just told me things that I could work on like being more efficient; being more effective in the game,” said Collins, who will be a senior this season at USF. “Just raising my assist totals; shooting better from the free throw line.”

“He had a list of questions that were not only going to benefit him in terms of information that he received on his decision, but in the bigger picture benefit him on things that he felt, basketball-wise, could help him elevate his game,” said USF men’s basketball head coach Brian Gregory.

Gregory believes that this experience in the pre-draft process will be beneficial to Collins’ approach this season. 

“This big thing is, the change, with The G-league, and two-way contracts, and he learned a lot of information on that as well,” said Gregory. “There are a lot of different paths to get to that league.”

“It was really just about what I could do to just improve my stock and just me asking a lot of questions and them giving me very thorough answers,” Collins said.

With those answers Collins is focused on highlighting certain areas of his game for NBA teams. 

“Increasing my three-point percentage, of course, and just being more effective as a player and making better decisions,” said Collins, who led USF with 13.7 ppg last season. 

Most of all, Collins and his coach are eager to prove USF is a contender for the NCAA Tournament next spring.

“He’s the heart and soul of the team as the senior leader,” said Gregory, who recruited Collins to USF in his first two months as Bulls head coach in April 2017. “And now its time for him to really take a roll and lead the team to doing something we haven’t done in a long, long time here.”

“We just have a great culture and guys come in, they fit right in and they know that we work hard and we play hard,” said Collins.

In a year’s time, Collins will exit USF and live out his professional basketball dream. Brian Gregory believes that because of his talent and hard work, David Collins will see his dream become a reality.

“I see him playing in the NBA,” said Gregory. “I really do.”