TALLAHASSEE The second time was the charm for the University of South Florida.

The Florida Board of Governors on Thursday unanimously endorsed USF's proposed $153 million downtown medical education and research center, which is poised to rise in the heart of Jeff Vinik's $1 billion downtown Tampa redevelopment project.

"There's a lot of academic merit as well as economic merit to moving the medical school and the heart health institute downtown," said USF President Judy Genshaft. "We're so pleased that the Board of Governors obviously agreed with that decision."

What USF needed from the BOG and what the governors came through with on Thursday was to endorse a key part of the state funding needed for the project.

The BOG, which oversees the State University System, essentially recommended that the Florida Legislature give USF the first $17 million payment for the project this session. USF will need the rest of the $57 million over the next two years.

The BOG has already approved funding the heart institute, and that $50 million will be combined with the $57 million for the medical school to build one downtown office tower to hold both.

But what also made Thursday critical was that it was the first time the BOG voted to endorse USF's downtown Tampa plans. That should make the process much smoother when USF asks the governors for the rest of the $57 million down the road.

That's especially important considering the reception the project got the last time the BOG heard about it. Last month in Jacksonville, some governors seemed surprised by USF's proposal and demanded more information, like a more detailed business plan. The BOG postponed voting on the project and sent USF back to Tampa to hone its pitch.

USF responded Thursday with a polished pitch delivered by Dr. Charles Lockwood, dean of the medical school, and USF trustee Brian Lamb, the chair of the Tampa Bay Partnership, bank executive and former USF point guard.

This time the BOG asked no questions, and governor Dean Colson who raised the biggest fuss last month was the one who made the motion to recommend USF's project.

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Board of Governors endorses USF medical school for downtown Tampa