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Price Of Success

The smashing financial success of football under Pete Carroll actually works as a deterrent to spending an arm-and-leg on a basketball coach. If USC lose money in football or barely made money, there would be pressure to pay Jamie Dixon $2 million or more per year to get basketball going.

But with football bringing millions in profit, there's no urgency to make money on basketball, so that's why there were not any marquee names that almost got the job.

What?

I realize that I am not a Marshall School Grad let alone a college graduate but I think I am a pretty good businessman. I have been pretty successful in most of the sales jobs I have taken since I left the service so the thought process above makes absolutely no sense to me. If true, it takes another layer off the onion in how Mike Garrett really doesn't get the big picture.

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ESPN's Andy Katz reported yesterday that Kevin O'Neill will keep Tim Floyd's assistant coaches for the 2009/10 season.

The only difference you'll see at USC as far as the coaching staff is concerned is Kevin O'Neill standing where Tim Floyd used to in front of the bench.

The coaches behind him will all be the same.

Although it's not official, O'Neill did confirm he is retaining assistants Phil Johnson, Gib Arnold and Bob Cantu.

That's a significant move, considering those three are largely responsible for securing a number of the top talents USC has recently had under Floyd.

"I feel comfortable with all of them," said O'Neill.

The USC situation is unique in that the Trojans hired a coach who wasn't coming directly from another program, so the transition from one staff to another should be rather seamless. Johnson and O'Neill have known each other for decades. They both coached under Lute Olson, albeit not at the same time.

You can probably look at it a couple of different ways. 1) there wasn't enough time for O'Neill to assemble his own staff or 2) he wanted to keep some continuity in place with the current team while also having the coaching staff be able to hit the ground running on the recruiting trail.

I have seen it written in numerous places that O'Neill is a tireless recruiter. I would really like to know just what that means. What top recruits has O'Neill brought into the programs that he has coached. I am not really worried about O'Neill going after former commits that opted out of their LOI's. It would be nice to have them back but I think we are pretty much past that as it was announced that Derrick Williams will attend Arizona.

O'Neill has a tough road to hoe...He has to fight the perception that he is not a very warm person to be coach by. He has to prove that he has changed. He also is going to have a tough time getting kids to commit to USC if he cannot show them that he will be willing to open the offense up. Defense is a good thing but today's kids want to score...will this old dog learn some new tricks? Of course the other shoe has yet to drop in the form of the NCAA's investigation in regards to improper benefits given to OJ Mayo. That is O'Neill's other hurdle.

Speaking of players...Donte Smith will probably be returning to USC.

USC basketball coach Kevin O'Neill said he expects point guard Donte Smith to return to the team next season.

Smith decided to transfer to Cal State San Bernardino after last season but remains enrolled at USC for summer classes. Former coach Tim Floyd made Smith stay in school this summer to make sure he left in good academic standing.

But O'Neill said the junior will be back, which is a boost to the Trojans' point-guard depth.

"I'm planning on him coming back," O'Neill said. "His intentions are to be back."

Well, at least we will have a point guard to start the season...No, I do not think that Romeo Miller is a viable option, no offense to Mr. Miller. I would be surprised if he is still on the team in the fall let alone taking up a scholarship on the roster but you never know.

Speaking of Derrick WIlliams...

I find it very odd that the AD would let Jones and Williams out of their LOI without some Pac-10 restrictions. I highly doubt that allowing players out of their LOI's while imposing restrictions will have any negative impact on the NCAA. So, fine SC punishes itself but will then get punished by the NCAA...it makes no sense and it just goes to show how screwed up things are in Heritage Hall. It is like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Anyway, we move on...

Great interview by DeMar. Apologies for the music at the end

Some great news for USC basketball...Sadly, its going to be a while before we see this again.

Tim Floyd's final "gift" to USC basketball was getting DeMar DeRozan and Taj Gibson prepared for the NBA draft. Gibson was the one we all kept an eye on as he was projected to go late first to early second round. His going first to Chicago will get him some nice guaranteed money. Hackett was not drafted but that a surprise to no one...his departure now just seems a as someone who wanted out. He will head back to Italy to play there and back to a life style that seems more suited to him...I could not be more happy for him. sometime you just have to follow your heart.

DeRozan made a strong case for himself in not being a head case and being willing to learn and play defense.

But NBA teams loved his unselfishness, desire to play defense and his athleticism, which is expected to make him a possible star one day. He knew the Raptors were interested and believed they would select him after visiting the city during his team workout.

"Toronto showed a lot of interest and everything, so I tried to stay open-minded and everything and thought I might go before, or that it might wait till Toronto picked," he said. "But I really felt that they really wanted me and I'm glad that I went right to the Toronto Raptors."

He was also excited about the Raptors, even though they went 33-49 last year and did not make the playoffs.

"You know, I think I can fit in great," DeRozan said. "I can bring a lot to the team on both ends ... probably would be defense and offense, that's my thing; I try to bring and just get the team going again. Just try to do the little things that need to be done.

"I'm going to go and give my all on both ends, go out there and try to win every game and never slack a bit.

He also knows what he still needs to work on and that goes to his attitude. DeRozan is well grounded and is willing to be tutored in what he needs to learn to make him a top NBA player. His willingness to play and improve his defense will go a long way to helping a team immediately that had a less than stellar season last season.

Taj Gibson had to be pleased at where he went. Tim Floyd wanted him to stay an extra year but I think its pretty clear that with all the turmoil surrounding the program that it was time to go. I can't really blame him and his gamble paid off. He really wanted to go to Chicago so he got his wish. He gets to play with Derrick Rose and a big city like Chicago is similar to where he grew up in Brooklyn so it should be a comfortable transition. I really don't know enough about the Bulls to know what they need and how Taj fits in...I'm just happy that he went in the first round.

Hackett is heading to Italy to play for Benetton Treviso where Hackett signed a one-year contract. From what I have read the team plays in a pretty small venue and finished 4th in their league. I don't think Hackett was ever a serious prospect for the NBA. He is not a true PG and playing out of position may have hurt him. Sure, he would have jumped at the chance to play in the NBA but it just never seemed realistic.

I think this was the best move for all three and it to me it really wasn't a surprise with Gibson and Hackett...why deal with the coming storm when you don't have to.

With all three now on their repsective paths away from USC I think it is safe to say that we can officially close this chapter in the book on the Tim Floyd era. We still have the NCAA to deal with and once that comes down we will officially close the book on the whole thing.

We wish all three if them the best and for a long succesful career.

FIGHT ON!

Apologies for a lack of posting yesterday...just got jammed with a lot of different things.

USC basketball had a nice showing in Thursday's NBA Draft. With all the turmoil surrounding the program that was the good the news...the bad news? Don't expect SC to much of a presence in next years draft let alone in the Pac-10 next season. I will discuss that in another post...

Dickie "Hoops" Weiss made a great observation about Pac-10 basketball.

The Pac-10 continues to produce a constant flow of NBA first round picks. Six players from that conference - James Harden of Arizona State (3, Oklahoma State); Jordan Hill, Arizona (8, Knicks); DeMar DeRozan of USC (9, Toronto); Jrue Holiday of UCLA (17, Philadelphia); Darren Collison of UCLA (21, New Orleans) and Taj Gibson of USC (26, Chicago) - went in the first round of tonight's NBA draft.

Hoops is about the only one I read here in NYC that has consistently noted how well the Pac-10 does in the draft and basketball in general. Others make minor notes about it but it is always lost in the noise of the big national sports news outlets.

Let me take a moment to address this. Ted Miller linked anh_sc79's post on conference scheduling but he reluctantly did so because he did not like A's comments about Tom Hansen.

That is fine, I like Miller's work overall but something has stood out to me in his work lf late. He is afraid to criticize those he has access to.

He gave Slick Rick a pass on when Pete Carroll voted against Slick Rick's move to have an NCAA rule reversed that banned kids under 18 from being on the sideline. Yet, both Skippy and apparently Miller missed the minor fact that a rule was already in place stating it was OK if the minor was performing a team function. By the way, the P-10's AD's overruled Skippy's  lobbying anyway.

Second, Miller in his post linking up A's solid work he defended Hansen as a nice guy who has a very difficult job to do. I don't think anyone will deny that. I'm sure Tom Hansen is a nice guy but because Hansen refused to get into the present day by holding onto old business models and by thinking that Pac-10/Big-10 Rose Bowl match-up should never change the Pac-10 has fallen behind in decent bowl game match-ups and Pac-10 basketball is pretty much non-existent east of Arizona unless 1) a game with national interest like USC v. ucla in 2007 or 2) it is some conference challenge with another power conference. Getting stuck on Fox Sports West does not give us great exposure.

Instead of asking the tough questions as to why the Pac-10 is so out of touch the media continued to enable guys like Hansen. The media has a bully pulpit, but by not turning up the heat on Hansen like some did demanding that USC say something, anything about the NCAA's investigation they become complicit in reducing the PAc-10's exposure.

Hansen is pretty much gone now so hopefully the new Pac-10 commissioner will try and change things.

It is just disappointing to see Miller stand up for Hansen because he is a "nice guy" but not hold his feet to the fire on something that is so important to the conferences exposure overall. Sure the job is difficult but it is not like Hansen started just a a few years ago he has been there 25+ years and he changed nothing.

Hopefully things will change when Larry Scott takes over...

Here is an interesting story from the OCR.

I walked into Bob Dobbs Bar and Grill - a classic neighborhood tavern in Tucson, about four blocks east of the Arizona campus - and explained to the bartender why I was there: to talk to some die-hards about Kevin O’Neill.

“He’s my boyfriend’s father,” she replied.

I should have known. Despite its 500,000 or so residents, Tucson is an amazingly small town, where everybody knows everybody.

The bartender was a little too close to O’Neill to discuss him objectively, so she pointed me to the patio, where a group consisting mostly of middle-aged men was enjoying after-work drinks and smokes. A brown awning blocked the late-afternoon sun and made it tolerable to sit outside in the 100-degree heat.

They were all big Arizona basketball fans, of course, and they all expressed the same sentiment about O’Neill:

That USC just hired a very good coach and a great guy who will work tirelessly to build a winning program.

Finally, some good news! Will wonders ever cease?

With all the turmoil that USC basketball has been through the past couple of months this is actually a time to celebrate as the NBA draft approaches on Thursday night. DeMar DeRozan is almost a sure lottery pick possibly heading  to either to the NY Knicks or the Toronto Raptors. It would be neat to see DeRozan come to NYC, it would be fun to see him up close at MSG.

DeRozan will be in attendance at The Garden for the draft festivities tomorrow night.

He was bit of an enigma early in the season but he certainly made his mark and he didn't disappoint in his overall performance. He had some tough shoes to fill once OJ Mayo left for hte NBA. All that star attraction fell on him.

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