USC BASKETBALL HISTORY First thoughts of USC Athletics tradition often gravitate Miner was named Sports Illustrated’s Player of the Year in toward the gridiron, the white sweaters of the song leaders and the 1992, leading USC to a 24-6 record and a school-best No. 2 seed in Spirit of Troy, USC’s indomitable marching band. the NCAA Tournament. But fl ash to the hardcourt, where the tradition is also Former UCLA great Henry Bibby took over the USC pro- quite storied and you can still fi nd the same white sweaters and gram in 1997 and kept USC among the top teams in the West. the same inspiring fi ght songs. The only thing missing is Traveler, Included in Bibby’s three NCAA Tournament teams was a USC’s regal white horse, but he likes it better on grass anyway. breakthrough 2001 Elite Eight team, marking the Trojans’ furthest USC’s men’s basketball program has a long and deco- foray in the Big Dance in the tournament’s current format. Only rated tradition in Los Angeles, the original Southern California eventual champion Duke was able to slow the Trojans down. powerhouse. That 2001 team featured NBA draftees Brian Scalabrine, The Trojans started playing basketball in 1907 and have Jeff Trepagnier and Sam Clancy. The Trojans returned to the compiled a record of 1,459-1,042 (.583), winning 14 league cham- NCAAs again in 2002, but were a fi rst-round upset victim in overtime pionships and one conference tournament title. to UNC-Wilmington. By the 1920s, USC established itself as the top team The Trojans struggled in Los Angeles and won its fi rst Pacifi c Coast Southern Division over the next few years until Tim League title in 1928. It began a run of 10 league titles in 16 years Floyd became the new coach for including a string of fi ve in a row from 1932-36. the 2005-06 season. He turned the Among the early standouts at Troy were future Hall of team around immediately going 17- Famers Jack Gardner and Sam Barry. Gardner played for Barry 13 in his fi rst season and guiding from 1930-32 but went on to become the only coach in history the 2006-07 Trojans to a school-re- to lead two schools to the Final Four twice each (Kansas State cord 25 wins (25-12). The 2006-07 in 1948 and 1951 and Utah in Trojans were selected to play in the 1961 and 1966). Barry is USC’s NCAA Tournament for the fi rst time all-time winningest coach. since the 2001-02 season and ad- It was in this era when USC vanced to the Sweet 16, led by fi rst ran off a remarkable 42 con- team All-Pac-10 junior swingman secutive wins over rival UCLA Nick Young, who was then taken in from 1932-42, by far the great- the fi rst round of the NBA draft by est streak in the series. Washington. USC again reached Two of the game’s the NCAA Tournament in 2007-08 giants came through in the late with a 21-12 record behind fresh- 1940s in Tex Winter and Bill man O.J. Mayo, who following Sharman. Winter, who coached the season became USC's high- USC's third all-time scorer and sec- collegiately and in the pros for est-ever drafted player when he ond all-time rebounder Sam Clancy more than 55 years, lettered for taken with the third pick in the the Trojans in 1947 and later NBA draft. The Trojans went 22-13 in 2008-09, captured their fi rst received a bit of attention for a Pac-10 Tournament title by defeating NCAA-bound California, UCLA little offense he designed in the and Arizona State, then joined them in the Big Dance where they fell shape of a triangle. in the second round to NCAA runner-up Michigan State. Following USC and NBA great Paul Westphal Sharman was an All-Ameri- the season, DeMar DeRozan (No. 9) and Taj Gibson (No. 26) were can at USC as a senior in 1950 both fi rst-round draft picks, marking the fi rst time in school history before becoming a standout player and coach in the NBA. Known USC had to players selected in the fi rst round. Further demonstra- as “Bullseye Bill” for his marksmanship at the foul line – a true tion as to how far the team has risen is the fact that the Trojans are weapon in the days when every foul resulted in a foul shot – Shar- the only program with a top 16 pick in each of the last three drafts. man spent 10 years with the Boston Celtics, winning four NBA Floyd resigned during the offseason, but the well-respected Kevin titles and going to eight All-Star games. He later went on to coach O'Neill has taken over the reigns of the Trojans' storied program and the Los Angeles Lakers to their fi rst title in 1972 and was a long- looks to keep the good times rolling. time executive with the club. USC remained formidable during the 1950s and 1960s, the latter decade featuring Trojan stalwart John Rudometkin, whose 18.8 scoring average remains second all-time at Troy for players who played more than one season. USC surged in the 1970s under coach Bob Boyd. In fact, Boyd led the Trojans to their greatest regular season record ever, a 24-2 mark in 1971 on a team that included the great Paul Westphal. USC won 24 games again in 1974 (featuring the tal- ented Gus Williams) and won 20 in Boyd’s fi nal year in 1979. Stan Morrison and George Rav- eling followed Boyd with Raveling returning the Trojans to promi- nence in the early 1990s thanks in large part to the school’s all-time Daniel Hackett and Michael Beasley meet at center court to shake leading scorer, Harold Miner. Bob Boyd and Don Carfi no hands before the 2008 NCAA Tournament game in Omaha, Neb. 2009-2010 • 112 • USC BASKETBALL 46516MBBp108_138.indd 112 10/15/2009 6:16:58 PM USC • History HEAD BASKETBALL COACHES CONFERENCE ALL GAMES COACH (ALMA MATER), YEARS COACHED W L W L PCT Emil Breitkreutz (USC), 1907 ............................................................................................... 6 5 .545 J.S. Robson, 1911, 1913 .................................................................................................... 23 10 .697 Walter Hall (USC), 1912 ....................................................................................................... 9 5 .643 Ralph Glaze (Dartmouth), 1915-16 ...................................................................................... 8 21 .276 Motts Blair (USC), 1917, 1919.............................................................................................11 20 .355 Dean Cromwell (Occidental), 1918....................................................................................... 0 2 .000 Elmer Henderson (Oberlin), 1920-21 ................................................................................. 18 6 .750 Bill Hunter (Oberlin), 1922 .........................................................1 3 7 5 .583 Les Turner, 1923-27 ..................................................................6 22 48 36 .571 Leo Calland (USC), 1928-29 .....................................................9 9 38 10 .792 Sam Barry (Lawrence), 1930-41, 1946-50 ............................129 67 260 138 .653 Julie Bescos (USC), 1942 .........................................................7 5 12 8 .600 Ernie Holbrook (USC), 1943-44.................................................7 2 29 9 .763 Bobby Muth (USC), 1944-45 .....................................................4 7 17 17 .500 SAM BARRY Forrest Twogood (Iowa), 1951-66 ......................................... 111 104 252 178 .586 Bob Boyd (USC), 1967-79 .....................................................107 79 216 131 .622 Stan Morrison (California), 1980-86 ........................................62 64 103 95 .520 George Raveling (Villanova), 1987-94 ....................................60 84 115 118 .494 Charlie Parker (Findlay), 1995-1996 .........................................9 18 21 28 .429 Henry Bibby (UCLA), 1996 (interim head coach) ......................1 8 1 8 .111 Henry Bibby (UCLA), 1997-2004 .............................................70 74 131 111 .541 Jim Saia (Chapman), 2004-05 (interim head coach) .................5 13 10 15 .400 Tim Floyd (Louisiana Tech)......................................................39 33 85 50 .630 WON – LOST RECORDS CONFERENCE ALL GAMES YEAR CAPTAIN W L FINISH W L 1907 Steve Melrose ..................................................................................................................................6 5 FORREST 1908 Steve Goode ....................................................................................................................................3 3 1909 Grover Coloneus ..............................................................................................................................8 3 TWOGOOD 1910 Randall Henderson .........................................................................................................................21 3 1911 Jay Goodsell ...................................................................................................................................12 8 1912 Motts Blair ........................................................................................................................................9 5 1913 Slim Taylor ......................................................................................................................................13 2 1914 Walt Hall ...........................................................................................................................................5 7 1915 Art Taylor ..........................................................................................................................................3 6 1916 Bill Splotte ........................................................................................................................................5