USC Basketball

As an admitted USC "homer," I was sad and disappointed when I ventured over to the Bleacher Report Trojan basketball page and found the most recent entry was from last year.

Admittedly, the 8-5 record of this year's version of the hoops men of Troy may not be a cause for mass celebration, but let's take a look at the circumstances surrounding this under-appreciated team.

First, due to the sins of those who came before them (Tim Floyd), the Trojans were forced to play the 2009 season under the auspices of a self-imposed penalty, which mandated that there be no postseason play.

Yet, that team sucked it up and managed to post a decent record including beating several top 20 teams along the way.

And this was accomplished despite the fact that the penalties were announced midway through the season thus giving the team little, if any, motivation to give their all game in and game out.

It was a tribute to head coach Kevin O'Neil and his entire staff, along with the team itself, that the pride they played with was not predicated on postseason rewards.

Now, in 2010, those rewards can be realized, thanks to the NCAA's (don't get me started on them) decision to not further penalize the men's basketball team.

To that end—the one that strives for tournament play—coach O'Neil put together a nice, but very young, hoops team.

Led by veteran forwards, Alex Stephenson and Nikola Vucevic, and complemented by true freshmen, Maurice and Bryce Jones (no relation), the Trojans have a new look and a new motivation.

Yet, sadly, still little or no fans to take notice.

Despite wins over ranked opponents Texas and Tennessee (on the road) and a two-point loss to Kansas (on the road as well), there is nary a murmur extolling the virtues of this improving team.

Add to the mix guard Jio Fontan, an exciting transfer from Fordham, whom O'Neil calls "his best player," and you have the ingredients for a team that can make noise in conference play and beyond.

Of course, USC is a football school; we all know that.

But with the huge Trojan fanbase, especially given the travails of the football team, can't we find a way to support USC basketball?

This team is good and only going to get better.

And every game, the Trojans will be on the hardwood giving it their all.

Kevin O'Neil will have it no other way.

And where will you be, Trojan fan?

Let's hope you can muster up a modicum of the passion you offer the football team and now extend it the hoops version of the cardinal and gold.

They deserve it, and along with early support comes early momentum.

When this year's Trojan hoops team surprises everyone and succeeds beyond what was expected, you could smile smugly and say you knew all along.

And that is the kind of satisfaction that can last a whole season long.

Supposing someone said before last fall’s football campaign that the USC defense would implode on the football field, as it did at Oregon and at home against Stanford, but that after being ruled out of any postseason rewards the Trojan basketball team would impose defensive muscle.

How would those predictions have been greeted?

So it is in the glorious and unpredictable world of college sports, where first-year basketball mentor Kevin O’Neill took over a troubled program and instilled a clinging, aggressive defense, while Pete Carroll’s football team, an anticipated defensive juggernaut, had trouble galore stopping Oregon and Stanford.

O’Neill announced after USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett levied strong penalties against the basketball team—which shut it out of any postseason activity, including the Pac-10 tourney and any NCAA March Madness competition—that the Trojans would look at every game as an opportunity to prove themselves.

The strategy was simple: The incentive would be winning. Each time the team took the floor, the idea of a postseason reward was structured around that particular game.

As to how to win, O’Neill kept that strategy simple as well. There would be nothing fancy, but fundamentals would be heavily stressed, particularly that of aggressively attacking opposing offenses.

Last night, after scoring a rout over Washington at home, USC took the floor at Bank of America Arena smack dab on the Husky campus. This was when the Huskies were determined to initiate payback on their floor, where they had only lost once all season in a conference clash with Oregon.

Quincy Pondexter, after being held to two points by the suffocating Trojan defense at Galen Center, was determined in one of the senior’s final two games at home to have a good night. He did, leading his team’s scorers with 18 points, but most came late during an uphill climb.

The Trojans jumped off fast and led 32-24 at halftime. How often are the Huskies held to 24 points for a half on their home floor? Again, O’Neill stresses aggressive defense. Remember the first meeting with UCLA at Pauley Pavilion? The Bruins were held to under 50 points in a 67-46 Trojan rout.

Dwight Lewis, who provided scoring punch against UCLA in last Sunday’s 68-64 Trojan triumph at Galen Center, was the major Trojan offensive force with 22 points.

Also aiding O’Neill’s team’s cause down the stretch were sophomore Nicola Vucevic with 13 points and senior Mike Gerrity with 12. They supplied needed points at a time when Pondexter and his Husky teammates were making a strong run that almost enabled Lorenzo Romar’s team to catch the visitors.

The Pac-10 basketball race becomes more interesting all the time with the surprise Trojan team just a half-game out of first place after California’s loss to Oregon State.

Anywhere else the Cal loss would be seen as a surprise. With all that has happened in the Pac-10, as the conference where the word surprise was the watchword, things have become so fascinating in a shatter-all-conventions way that the word surprise has become obsolete.

LOS ANGELES—Washington State (14-5, 4-3) was a little slow out of the gate Thursday night but finished strong down the stretch to take down the USC Trojans (11-7, 3-3) at the Galen Center.

Coach Ken Bone considered changing his starting lineup following the game last Saturday against Stanford, but instead of trying something new, coach Bone showed patience with his young roster of student athletes, and it paid off big time for the Cougars.

USC came out aggressively on defense and deliberately at the offensive end of the court, as they stuck to coach Kevin O'Neill's game plan.

The Trojans took WSU out of their game by crashing the boards and completely shutting down the Cougs' transition game.

With Dwight Lewis and Marcus Johnson providing offensive firepower and Alex Stepheson controlling the paint, the Trojans enjoyed a 10-point lead at halftime, 34-24.

How dominant was USC in the first half?

Klay Thompson led the Cougs with 11, and Reggie Moore added another 10. The rest of the Cougars managed just three points.

It was during the intermission where things turned in favor of Washington State.

“We talked about the fact they had 10 points in transition, and we had zero. They had seven points on second-chance points, and we had two. That’s a 15-point difference, and we’re down five. We talked about how we can clean those two things up," said WSU coach Ken Bone.

Okay, it wasn’t all Cougs in the second half. In fact, USC built their lead up to 15 points in the second half with 17:26 remaining on a vicious dunk by Marcus Johnson.

But that was it. Johnson's dunk appeared to be the last straw, and it was all Reggie Moore could tolerate. He stepped up his game to another gear and took over the basketball game.

Moore knocked down one of his three-pointers about five minutes into the second half and clearly motivated his teammates to play their game—Cougar basketball. Coach Bone’s team was on the march and slowly but surely got back into the game.

“I’m a lifetime basketball player. Once a team gets a big lead on you, that’s all you can do [is chip away]. There’s no shot you can hit that’s worth 15 points. You have to take it one point, two points, or three points at a time and get stops,” said WSU guard Reggie Moore.

Fittingly, Washington State took back the lead for good on a smooth, high-arching three-pointer from the corner baseline by senior Nikola Koprivica. How'd he get the ball? Moore drove the lane, drawing the defense to collapse on him, then dished the ball to Koprivica who was wide open.

By resisting the urge to push the panic button and stick with the game plan, the Cougs worked their way into a position to earn a Pac-10 road victory to begin their Southern California trip.

“There were a couple of times tonight where we could have fallen apart because…[USC] is a very good team,” said Coach Bone outside the locker room.

A couple of second-half stats jump out to define how Washington State won the game. The Cougs scored 13 points off turnovers to none for the Trojans, and coach Bone got some scoring out of his bench, creating a 13-2 margin over USC. That was more than enough.

In the end, USC coach Kevin O’Neill didn’t have the roster depth necessary to control the flow of the game for 40 minutes. WSU simply hung in there until the Trojans ran out of gas.

Coach Bone pointed out, “Our guys are relentless, and they keep battling every minute. I thought our guys played with a lot of poise. I appreciate the effort.”

Winning the first game in Los Angeles is big for WSU, but things won’t get any easier come Saturday afternoon when they face UCLA in storied Pauley Pavilion.

Originally published in Lew Wright's WSU Sports column on Examiner.com

Former USC men's basketball coach Tim Floyd finally spoke to ESPN.com about his abrupt resignation from USC and the allegations surrounding his recruiting of O.J. Mayo.

The timing for Floyd to speak was fitting as Wednesday, Mayo's Memphis Grizzlies met up with the New Orleans Hornets, where Floyd is now an assistant coach. 

A quick recap before I respond to Floyd's defense that he did not leave USC because of the sanctions, but because he had no relationship with athletic director Mike Garrett: http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncb/news/story?id=4845312

Following the 2008-2009 season during which the Trojans won the Pac-10 Conference Tournament and were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by eventual runner-up Michigan State, Floyd was rumored for two coaching vacancies: Arizona and Memphis, the latter which had opened when John Calipari left for Kentucky.

Floyd even flew to Tucson to interview for the Wildcat job but, upon returning to Los Angeles, decided to stay at USC. Then in June he resigned, soon after it was reported Floyd had received cash from an associate of Mayo's.

Now Floyd is an assistant coach with the New Orleans Hornets.

Naturally, Floyd claimed he left USC because Mike Garrett failed to support him, not because of the reports, stating in the ESPN.com article, "Why I left was not in any way an admission of guilt. It was a complete testament to a lack of support by my administration after four years of doing everything the right way."

There are problems left and right with Floyd's statements in the ESPN article.

First, what did everyone expect Floyd to say? He's not going to say, "I resigned because Louis Johnson gave me a thousand dollars and I wanted to get out of there before the NCAA found out."

If President Nixon can resign without admitting guilt over Watergate, does anyone think Tim Floyd was going to leave USC saying he got caught?

Then, if in fact Floyd was directly involved with illegal recruiting related to O.J. Mayo, that would have occurred during his second year as USC coach. Therefore his "four years of doing everything the right way" is a straw-man argument since it would not have happened after four years.

Floyd went on to complain that Garrett, upon reading the breaking story on Floyd receiving payments, called him and told him to "get your ass back to Los Angeles." 

My only problem with Garrett's statement is that he did not add the words "right now" to it.

Mike Garrett had every right to bring tell his coach to come home, explain what had actually happened, and determine what needed to happen inside the men's basketball program to ensure it was not crossing the line with regard to NCAA rules. Get this through your head, Tim Floyd. The head coach works for the athletic director.

(Maybe not if your name is Mike Krzyzewski, but since Tim Floyd is not, I go on.)

Floyd then continued complaining about the way his coaches were treated. It must have been quite awful since all of them are still coaching in the program. In fact, assistant coach Bob Cantu is now on his fifth head coach at the university (Henry Bibby, interim coach Jim Saia, Rick Majerus for four days, Tim Floyd, and now Kevin O'Neill).

I'm glad that in "over 33 years" of coaching you have "never [had your] integrity challenged." That does not mean you are innocent. 

And if your Mike Garrett, its your job to find out what wrongdoing was committed, if any, and make sure it does not happen again.

Coach Floyd, it is very convenient to place the blame on your former boss. The fact of the matter is that it was you who allowed Rodney Guillory (Mayo's "friend") access to the men's basketball offices, practices, and your locker room for three years. You knew he was dirty at best after what he did with (former player) Jeff Trepagnier. Garrett did not force him upon you.

I do not know whether Tim Floyd was directly involved in illegal recruiting practices that resulted in O.J. Mayo becoming a Trojan. But the people Tim Floyd allowed to have access to his program, combined with his sudden resignation, certainly creates some serious doubt to his veracity.

Oh, and Trojan haters that may be reading: This O.J. Mayo/Tim Floyd stuff has nothing to do with Reggie Bush/Pete Carroll (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/319059-the-oj-mayo-scandal-completely-different-from-the-bush-investigation).

You can follow my thoughts on the sports world and more on Twitter at @plh55.

Los Angeles, CA –The Washington State (13-5, 3-3) men's basketball squad will travel south to Los Angeles this week for a pair of Pac-10 road games. First up for the Cougs will be the USC Trojans on (11-6, 3-2) Thursday night at 7:30pm PST at the Galen Center.

Trojans' first year coach Kevin O’Neill is no stranger to the Pac-10. He is a coach who puts defense first and the style of play he prefers has become the standard of the conference.

Though the Trojans have won nine of their last 11 games, USC put up more than 70 points in just one of them.The men of Troy are playing smothering defense this season and it's translating into wins.

A look at what USC has done in conference play is impressive. They have held Arizona, ASU, Stanford, UCLA, and high-powered Cal to just 50, 37, 54, 46, and 67 points respectively. Their two losses came at the hands of Stanford and Cal on the road and could have easily been logged in the win column with just a break or two.

Coach O’Neill is doing a brilliant job leading USC, especially taking into consideration that the school voluntarily imposed sanctions on themselves, including no postseason play.

As much as the sanctions may have hurt his ability to motivate the team, O’Neill has benefited from the play of senior transfer Mike Gerrity. The senior point guard wasn’t eligible at the beginning of the season, but Gerrity has been a steadying force in the backcourt and plays with confidence and is under control.

The only hint of pressure on the Trojans on Thursday night will be defending their home court. It's simply a matter of pride, something USC has an abundance of.

USC will start a lineup similar to WSU, as neither team plays a conventional center. Comparing their front lines, the Trojans may have an edge with size and experience. Coach O’Neill will start 6’10” sophomore Nikola Vucevic, 6’9” junior Alex Stephenson, and 6’6” senior Marcus Johnson at forwards, with Gerrity and senior Dwight Lewis at guard positions. Other than Stephenson, the starters will be on the court most of the game unless they get into foul trouble.

WSU coach Ken Bone suggested that there might be a change in his starting lineup, but even if that’s the case he probably won’t change the amount of time players spend on the court.

There are a couple of keys to Washington State earning a victory over USC.

First, it will be important for the Cougs to handle the ball well. The Trojans will pressure the ball constantly trying to create turnovers. Since USC will try to keep the pace of the game slow and deliberate, every possession will be valuable. Sound familiar? It should. WSU played that style under both coach Dick and Tony Bennett with success.

The other key for WSU will be the play of Klay Thompson and Reggie Moore. Both are very capable scorers as they drive to the basket to create opportunities for either themselves or a teammate. They can put pressure on the Trojans by either getting layups or picking up fouls on USC defenders. The most effective group for coach O’Neill is his starting five. If the Cougs can cause the Trojan starters to watch from the bench then they will be in a great position to pick up a conference win on the road.

The game Thursday night will not be televised. As usual, you can listen in at 7:00pm on the Cougar Basketball Radio Network with Bud Nameck calling the game. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30pm PST.

Originally published in Lew Wright's WSU Sports column on Examiner.com

Today it was announced by USC athletic director Mike Garrett that the Trojans would self-impose sanctions resulting from NCAA infraction violations stemming from former coach Tim Floyd's illegal payments to a USC booster that had ties to former Trojan OJ Mayo.

These sanctions include the forfeiture of all wins in the 2007-2008 season, Mayo's only year with the Trojans and, more importantly, no postseason appearances in either this years PAC-10 tournament or the NCAA playoffs.

When the news of the NCAA violations first surfaced, I recall thinking that there was no way anyone could be so stupid as to pay off anyone associated with a recruit.

So I never thought for a minute that the allegations were true.

Later, when Tim Floyd resigned under this cloud of suspicion, I truly felt sorry for Floyd, who I thought was being unfairly run out of town on a rail.

Silly me.

Based on Mike Garrett's press conference, there was ample proof that Floyd was indeed stupid enough to make that pay-off.

Now the Trojans are left to pick up the pieces of the wreckage that Floyd left behind.

While it hurts those fans of USC who were just beginning to rally behind this new group of players, it completely destroys this year's team, which has played remarkably well over the last eight games, all victories.

The Trojans started out 2-4 but since has won those eight straight games, including blowouts of the then-No. 8 Tennessee and No. 20 UNLV and now stand at 10-4.

This weekend, USC swept the Arizona schools, including holding the 10-4 Arizona State Sun Devils to 37 points last night at the Galen Center.

USC was picked to finish last in the preseason PAC-10 poll after losing four starters, all their recruits save one (Evan Smith), and, of course, the aforementioned Tim Floyd.

New coach Kevin O'Neill, who knew that the possibility of these sanctions could occur was nonetheless disappointed at the news, which he broke to his players prior to the press conference.

O'Neill, who has done an amazing job with the Trojans in his short time here, said his players were devastated.

And well they should be.

With the exception of Dwight Lewis, none of this year's men of Troy played significant minutes for USC during OJ Mayo's brief stay.

Two of the players, Mike Gerrity and Alex Stepheson, weren't even going to school at USC at the time having transferred and being declared eligible only this season.

For Gerrity, who has won every game he has played for the Trojans this season and has been rightly identified as the missing component in the Trojans' recent success, this news is particularly horrible.

Mike Gerrity, who has transferred twice before finally landing at USC, is a senior.

Now, with the future looking so bright for this year's Trojans, the rug has been pulled out from under him.

Make no mistake about it, the Trojans were on the road to March Madness.

Employing a suffocating defense and just enough offense, USC was just starting to gel in what appears to be a fairly weak PAC-10 conference.

Now their last game will be the end of the regular season on March 6, no matter how well they do.

Which is sad, because this group of players had nothing to do with Tim Floyd's stupidity, yet they will be the ones to pay the price.

Further sanctions may be imposed by the NCAA, which is continuing its investigation.

But, make no mistake about it, even if there are no further sanctions imposed, this years Trojans will suffer mightily.

Meanwhile, Tim Floyd stays in his lucrative job as an NBA assistant.

Some things in life aren't fair, and this certainly qualifies as one of them.

As a Christian, I shouldn't wish for anyone, including Tim Floyd, to go to hell.

But as an avid fan of the USC Trojans and one who truly feels for this year's basketball team, I just can't get over the unfairness of it all.

I'll ask the Lord for forgiveness later.

If I'm Nikola Vucevic, Marcus Johnson, Alex Stephenson, Mike Gerrity, Donte Smith, Marcus Simmons, and Leonard Washington, then I'd be writing to the NCAA to let me transfer, give me another year of eligibility or something that makes up for the fact that the school just stripped me of a year of potential postseason.

Is it these players' faults the Trojans butchered the recruitment of O.J. Mayo to the point USC has to ban itself from postseason play this season, drop one scholarship this year and next, as well as cut down on recruiting efforts?

The answer is absolutely not.

They play for a coach, Kevin O'Neill, who is not connected to Tim Floyd's idiocy and irresponsibility. They aren't connected to Rodney Guillory, a booster responsible for the O.J. Mayo debacle.

And now they must suffer.

Mike Gerrity, after transferring twice, finally found a home and a team he can excel for. As soon as the senior in his final semester of eligible was able to step onto the court, the Trojans became a borderline NCAA Tournament team.

Now Gerrity in his last chance to go dancing won't be able to sniff the NCAA Tournament. How can current student-athletes be punished for previous failures?

The NCAA needs to reject this portion of Southern California's self-imposed punishment.

The problem the NCAA faces is how does it effectively punish the Trojans of the past and not the ones of the current? Stripping wins has little effect on those involved.

O.J. Mayo's 2007-2008 Trojan team will always have the memories and experiences of that season. Maybe they won't mean as much, but the year should still remain one of the best in the lives of those players and coaches.

Those involved in the fiasco should be targeted by the NCAA. Tim Floyd should receive a similar sentence to Kelvin Sampson.

Athletic Director Mike Garrett should bare some responsibility as well. He's now been the head honcho during the Mayo scandal and the Reggie Bush blunder.

He should be watching closely over his athletic department, instead corruption has filled his time at the top.

The NCAA needs to develop punishments that severely sanction athletic departments WITHOUT destroying the experiences of current student athletes.

If these Southern California players don't receive an extra chance to reach the postseason to make up for this season, the NCAA will continue to be a farce in upholding the ideals of college athletics.

For more on college basketball, follow @JamesonFleming on Twitter.

Well, this was unexpected.

No, check that. This was unimaginable.

Even for first year Trojan coach Kevin O'Neill who said, "If you told me at the beginning of the year we would have an eight game winning streak, I would have told you that you were crazy."

Consider us all candidates for the loony bin.

USC won their eighth game in a row by beating the Arizona State Sun Devils 47-37 at the Galen center last night in a defensive slugfest.

This followed the Trojans 56-50 win over Arizona two nights earlier and now finds USC tied for first place in the PAC-10 standings.

Unexpected? No doubt.

The Trojans, picked to finish at or near the bottom of the PAC-10 in preseason voting, have forged an identity based on lockdown defense and just enough offense to win.

After losing 80 percent of their starting five, all but one of their recruits, and their head coach amidst a cloud of NCAA impropriety, USC should have been picked to finish last in the conference.

Except the only ones who matter, the players and their coaches, didn't buy in to the negativity.

Coming into the ASU game, they and the Sun Devils were tied for third place nationally for overall defense efficiency.

After last night, the Trojans separated themselves from ASU by holding the Sun Devils to a ridiculous 24 percent shooting percentage for the game.

USC wasn't much better, shooting 36 percent but it didn't matter.

When your opponent scores only 37 points for the entire game, you don't have to be an offensive juggernaut to win.

Which is good because the Trojans will never be mistaken for that.

But they sure as hell aren't a last place team either.

Now 10-4 and riding that aforementioned eight game winning streak, the Trojans head up north to play Stanford and Cal this week.

We should know more about USC after this two game roadie which will feature a tilt with Cal who routed rival Stanford 92-66.

If the Trojans can find some semblance of offense and continue their suffocating defense, the Trojans just might pull off a victory at Maples pavilion against the Bears, but it won't be easy.

Yet, for USC, nothing this season has come easy but they still persevere.

Still, a sweep over the the two northern California teams will a tough sell.

Unimaginable? Maybe.

Just don't tell Kevin O'Neill and his players that.

Most people don’t like Tim Floyd.  He is surly and aloof.  In some ways, these attributes can serve you well in the world of coaching. However, for Tim Floyd at USC, his unwillingness to play USC’s “game” may have cost him the best job he will ever have.

Coach Floyd was thrown under the bus. Not only was he was thrown under by the USC Athletic Department, but also the national media. Both entities were far too quick to believe the allegations of some guy. Some guy who was willing to sit in front of camera and tell a convincing story.

Almost a year later, there is no fire where “whistleblower” Louis Johnson provided the proverbial smoke.  I think it is time to consider the fact that maybe Coach Floyd was not guilty of anything Johnson claimed.

With holes in his story that Snoop Dogg could run through, Johnson claimed that Floyd handed OJ Mayo “handler,” Rodney Guillory, $1000 in an envelope.  Nevermind that when he claimed it happened, that Floyd was running a practice in the Galen Center.  Nevermind that there is zero proof. 

Nevermind that anyone who knows anything about college basketball and recruiting knows that nobody would ever do anything this obviously naïve and stupid.

People say that Floyd’s “flight” from the story proves his guilt -that anyone who was innocent would fight for their name. But does everyone remember just how hard that story hit?  It was a virtual tidal wave. Was Floyd not deemed guilty the first time ESPN ran Johnson in front of the camera? Does anyone recall any reporting that was not just pile-on journalism?

OJ Mayo at USC, at least conceptually, was a target. Not because Mayo was a bad kid.  He was, in fact, mature beyond his years and handled himself like a pro on the court. But he was a target because nobody could accept him going to a middle-of-the-road program like USC, especially without any recruiting or any of that fun stuff that surrounds blue-chippers before they put on that hat and choose a school.

Had Mayo just decided to go to UNC or UConn in the same manner he decided on USC, there would not have been any of the unfailing meddling into his journey to get there.  A decision to go to an elite program is explainable. But why a kid from West Virginia would go across the country to a B+ program didn't make sense and every two-bit member of the media was determined to be the sleuth that figured out why.

And then—FINALLY!—a guy who would go on-screen and say he knew why. With such a black andwhite story, too. He gave Mayo’s handler a white envelope full of cash. So easy. So obviously against the rules.

But at the same time, so inexplicably stupid.  Does anyone think that ANY major Division I coach would hand an envelope of cash to someone in a public place?  It would take me 15 minutes to come up with 100 better ways to make that transaction, including tying the envelope to a carrier pigeon and pointing him in Guillory's direction.

So, here we are. A story by some dude who carries no real significance in this arena at all and several months later, all the supposed rocks are overturnedand there is still nothing more than that single story. 

One guy. With one story.

I, for one, do understand why Floyd chose not to fight this.  How could he?  Should he sit in front of ESPN’s cameras, just like Johnson did and say, “Nope,I didn’t do it.”

Where would that get him?  USC’s Uber-dubious A.D., Mike Garrett, had already decided he was not going to fight Floyd’s fight, at least not from the same corner, so what course of action could Floyd have taken?  It was literally him against the world.

He chose to let it go and move on.  I get it.  I am not sure I would have done that, but I do get it. Sometimes it is just easier to give in, especially when there is no visible path to salvation. All doors had been closed to him at that point and he was a man alone.

Now, coach Floyd has a job as an assistant with the New Orleans Hornets. Good for him.  It does make one wonder though, why an NBA team would take a chance on him so quickly when there was no real need to.  Surely the Hornets would not have taken such a risk on such a radioactive coach without doing their own due-diligence, right?

I wonder what the Hornets’ investigators found? If it was anything more than zilch, you can be certain that they would have just very easily passed on him. There was no reason to take Floyd and his baggage unless your findings were conclusive and they were willing, as an organization, to stand in front of everyone and say, “The smoke provided no fire.”

And here we are today, Coach Floyd has moved on. USC and OJ Mayo have moved on. Louis Johnson has slipped back into obscurity. The only thing left is a thoroughly-unsubstantiated story from a thoroughly insignificant attention seeker that brought down the best thing USC Basketball had seen in 40 years or more.

So, I will be the first to offer Coach Floyd an apology and my sympathy. This is nothing more than a “he said-he said” situation, and Floyd was the decisive loser in this ordeal.

One thing is certain, though, if Coach Floyd did not give Rodney Guillory that $1000, then this is merely an appalling tragedy where a less-than-likable, introverted coach, was felled by one guy’s story and the media hoard who made a mountain out of this molehill of a questionably-credible story.

Sadly, in some ways, I hope Tim Floyd did hand-deliver that envelope of $1000.  I hope this because the alternative is just too sad.

Since it is a generally accepted fact that USC A.D. Mike Garrett lucked out with his hiring of Pete Carroll several years ago, it brings up the question if maybe he has done it again with USC basketball coach Kevin O’Neill.

Everyone knows that Carroll was USC’s fourth or fifth choice after the carousel of “No thank you’s” that the USC fax machine (yes, they were still using fax machines then) received from several other, more desirable coaches that Garrett tried to lure to USC. 

While there may not have been as many basketball coaches to hit the “Decline” box in this year’s attempt to fill the hole left by Tim Floyd’s resignation, this was probably only because it was obvious that going after a top coach was a certain waste of time. 

There was a "Line of Desirability" that existed for USC, with all the previous allegations of wrongdoing and the imminent exodus of top players and recruits, from which trying to get any coach with a current job or in line to get a job at a solid program would be a pointless attempt.

That left a VERY short list for Garrett to choose from. In fact, there may not have been a "choice" at all. Much speculation was that if O’Neill had said no, USC may have not had another name on that list.

So, this makes one wonder if Garrett has lucked into another program-changing, or in this case program-continuing, hire?

Both Carroll and O’Neill were nowhere near USC’s top choice. Neither produced kudos from the alumni and neither increased season-ticket sales or booster donations right away. However, both took the job by the horns and ignored the air of ambivalence around their arrival and attacked the job as if the upcoming season had Championship possibilities.

Kevin O’Neill, personality-wise, is the polar opposite of Pete Carroll. He will not charm you into his corner. No one will ever refer to him as “slick”, as Carroll is often called. But where he does parallel Carroll is in the way he runs his program and builds a wall around the team, ignoring the doubters and convincing his guys that his way will produce the results they, and the university, desire.

There are obviously still many hurdles for O’Neill. He has barely cleared the first one on a 400-meter track. But what USC has done under his guidance in the last six games is nothing short of incredible. 

Taking a depleted roster that lost its three best players from last year and their four top recruits, including three in the top 77 of the ESPN Top-100, and patch working a run that includes two blowout wins over top-20 teams is borderline unthinkable.

O’Neill is gruff and prickly. He is no charmer like Carroll. If USC Nation had a rough time embracing the crusty Tim Floyd, then trying to warm up to O’Neill’s personality is going to be a tough task.

The main difference, however, may be that while O’Neill is these things, he is at the same time self-realizing of this. He has a self-deprecating side that can soften his hard shell that Floyd did not.

While Floyd’s demeanor was “life and death, 100 percent of the time”, O’Neill is all business 90 percent of the time, but can tone it down when most necessary. This could prove to be his saving grace at the media-savvy USC.

O’Neill has not really hit the recruiting trail yet. This will be his true test that may determine his staying power at USC. When Coach Carroll comes to your living room and explains why he needs you, it's like a visit from Bear Bryant. When Kevin O’Neill comes to your living room, its more like a visit from a hungry bear.

But, O’Neill has some very savvy recruiters on his staff, the same guys who helped Coach Floyd, a noted hater of recruiting, put together a few top-15 classes in his short stint at USC.

But nothing will sell O’Neill and USC to potential recruits like success, and USC’s start has to have produced a few return phone calls from top recruits who may have just hit the delete button on O’Neill’s calls a few weeks ago.

There is a lot to be interested in at USC right now if you are a top recruit, including a weak Pac-10 and the potential for a ton of playing time as the shallow USC roster loses several more top players next year.

It is impossible to dispute that O’Neill is off to an amazing start at USC. But it is just that, a start. If this momentum cannot be carried into the Pac-10 season, then it may not mean anything in the long run.

The Pac-10 is weak this year and there for the taking. USC just beat three teams in the last week that would be considered favorites, or at least challengers, for the Pac-10 title in Tennessee, UNLV, and St. Mary’s.

There are no teams in the Pac-10 that are clearly better than any those three teams.  No other Pac-10 team has three wins over teams that are anywhere near the quality of these three. No other Pac-10 team even has two wins over teams that good.

It is, of course, impractical to guess at this point whether USC’s hire of Kevin O’Neill is “Carroll-ian”, or if O’Neill will be just another stab in the dark by Garrett that has brief moments of greatness, followed by an intense flame-out.

But the very fact that the comparisons between O’Neill and Carroll are being made after the innocuous hire and feeble start to the season is a remarkable progression of events in its own right.