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When Andy Enfield was hired by Pat Haden last spring, the direction of USC's basketball program was in desperate need of revival to adjust towards a faster and more offensively centered brand of basketball.
After struggling through a two-win Pac-12 campaign, the second time in the last three years USC finished last in the standings, Enfield's stellar coaching staff reeled in some top-notch recruits for the immediate future.
Tony Bland and Jason Hart landed the services of Jordan McLaughlin last month and will now have the additional pleasure of welcoming local four-star talent Elijah Stewart (Westchester), the No. 40 prospect on Scout.com rankings and four star prospect on 247sports.com who visited USC over the weekend.
Stewart, the 2013-2014 LA City Section Player of the Year, was committed to LMU before their head coach was fired shortly after the season, officially reopening up his services between possible landing spots in USC, Boston College, Cincinnati and Oklahoma State.
Today is a great day to be a #TROJAN #USC #FIGHTON✌️ #LA #FutureIsBright
— Tony Bland (@TonyBland04) May 18, 2014
How about the backcourt that Andy Enfield has coming in 2014? Elijah Stewart, Malik Marquetti and Jordan McLaughlin.
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) May 18, 2014
Stewart joins point guard Jordan McLaughlin, center Jabari Craig, small forward Malik Marquetti, and power forward Malik Price-Martin in USC’s 2014 recruiting class and will make an immediate impact alongside leading returners PG Julian Jacobs, PF Strahinja Gavrilovic and PF Nikola Jovanovic.
The big question on everyone's mind however, is whether Enfield can develop this star-studded talent into an offensively powered program that can keep up with the explosive players that reigns in opposing Pac-12 backcourts.
While the court is still out in that department, especially while the team goes through an offensive transition of sorts, USC will have a team that truly fits the bill for an Andy Enfield club on both ends of the floor. Offensively, the basketball will rotate between the gifted hands of Jordan McLaughlin, Katin Reinhardt (UNLV transfer) and Stewart.
The Trojans want to run a stretch offense that utilizes great ball movement, and the combination of players that can score and not turn over the basketball will create some strong options especially at the end of the shot clock. McLaughlin is great at driving and dishing the basketball, Reinhardt can jack up shots from all over the court, and Stewart creates contact at the bucket, who has also shown ability to take over games.
Meet Stewart and learn more about his game, thanks to the folks from Qwik11 Sports.