USF basketball accidentally leaves two players behind in Houston airport

Published Feb. 25, 2017 1:13 p.m. ET

Barry Werner

The South Florida basketball team not only lost a game at Tulsa on Thursday, but the Bulls troupe somehow managed to forget two players at the Houston airport, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Per Tampabay.com:

Guards Troy Holston and Geno Thorpe, who played in USF's loss at Tulsa on Thursday night, flew with their teammates to Houston on Friday morning but fell asleep in the airport there. USF coaches didn't realize they weren't on the flight until too late, and three hours later, the two players were able to get on a flight and return to Tampa.

"It's very disappointing, and it's a reflection of how terrible a program the men's basketball program is," Monique Holston-Greene, who spoke with interim coach Murry Bartow on Friday, told the website.

"This unfortunate circumstance, for which I apologize, was recognized by our staff as the plane was leaving the gate and not in time to get the players on the commercial flight," Bartow said in a statement issued Saturday. "We immediately began to make arrangements to get the players on the very next flight to Tampa, and were in communication with them as soon as was possible. Both players arrived safety home in Tampa later that afternoon at approximately 4:25 p.m., where a staff member met them at the airport. They are joining the rest of the team in a charity activity today."