USC BASKETBALL HISTORY First thoughts of USC Athletics tradition often gravitate in Boyd’s fi nal year in 1979. toward the gridiron, the white sweaters of the song leaders and the Stan Morrison and George Raveling followed Boyd with Raveling re- Spirit of Troy, USC’s indomitable marching band. turning the Trojans to prominence in the early 1990s thanks in large But fl ash to the hardcourt, where the tradition is also part to the school’s all-time leading scorer, Harold Miner. quite storied and you can still fi nd the same white sweaters and Miner was named Sports Illustrated’s Player of the Year in the same inspiring fi ght songs. The only thing missing is Traveler, 1992, leading USC to a 24-6 record and a school-best No. 2 seed in USC’s regal white horse, but he likes it better on grass anyway. the NCAA Tournament. USC’s men’s basketball program has a long and deco- Former UCLA great Henry Bibby took over the USC pro- rated tradition in Los Angeles, the original Southern California gram in 1997 and kept USC among the top teams in the West. powerhouse. Included in Bibby’s three NCAA Tournament teams was a The Trojans started playing basketball in 1907 and have breakthrough 2001 Elite Eight team, marking the Trojans’ furthest compiled a record of 1,437-1,029 (.583), winning 14 league cham- foray in the Big Dance in the tournament’s current format. Only pionships. eventual champion Duke was able By the 1920s, USC established itself as the top team to slow the Trojans down. in Los Angeles and won its fi rst Pacifi c Coast Southern Division That 2001 team featured League title in 1928. It began a run of 10 league titles in 16 years NBA draftees Brian Scalabrine, Jeff including a string of fi ve in a row from 1932-36. Trepagnier and Sam Clancy. The Among the early standouts at Troy were future Hall of Trojans returned to the NCAAs Famers Jack Gardner and Sam Barry. Gardner played for Barry again in 2002, but were a fi rst- from 1930-32 but went on to become the only coach in history round upset victim in overtime to to lead two schools to the Final UNC-Wilmington. Four twice each (Kansas State The Trojans struggled in 1948 and 1951 and Utah in over the next few years until Tim 1961 and 1966). Barry is USC’s Floyd became the new coach for all-time winningest coach. the 2005-06 season. He turned the It was in this era when USC team around immediately going 17- ran off a remarkable 42 con- 13 in his fi rst season and guiding secutive wins over rival UCLA the 2006-07 Trojans to a school-re- from 1932-42, by far the great- cord 25 wins (25-12). The 2006-07 est streak in the series. Trojans were selected to play in USC's third all-time scorer and sec- Two of the game’s the NCAA Tournament for the fi rst ond all-time rebounder Sam Clancy giants came through in the late time since the 2001-02 season 1940s in Tex Winter and Bill and advanced to the Sweet 16, led by fi rst team All-Pac-10 junior Sharman. Winter, who coached swingman Nick Young, who was then taken in the fi rst round of the collegiately and in the pros for NBA draft by Washington. USC again reached the NCAA Tourna- more than 55 years, lettered for ment in 2007-08 with a 21-12 record behind freshman O.J. Mayo, USC and NBA great Paul Westphal the Trojans in 1947 and later who following the season became USC's highest-ever drafted player received a bit of attention for a when he taken with the third pick in the NBA draft. little offense he designed in the shape of a triangle. Sharman was an All-American at USC as a senior in 1950 before becoming a standout player and coach in the NBA. Known as “Bullseye Bill” for his marksmanship at the foul line – a true weapon in the days when every foul resulted in a foul shot – Sharman spent 10 years with the Boston Celtics, winning four NBA titles and going to eight All-Star games. He later went on to coach the Los Angeles Lakers to their fi rst title in 1972 and was a long-time executive with the club. USC remained formida- ble 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 play- ers 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- Daniel Hackett and Michael Beasley meet at center court to shake ented Gus Williams) and won 20 Bob Boyd and Don Carfi no hands before the 2008 NCAA Tournament game in Omaha, Neb. 2008-2009 • 110 • USC BASKETBALL 46516MBBp108_138.indd 110 10/21/2008 6:48:09 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)......................................................30 24 63 37 .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 15 1917 Cliff Henderson .................................................................................................................................8 12 1918 Art Taylor ..........................................................................................................................................0 2 1919 Rowland McCormick ........................................................................................................................3 8 1920 Charley Ainley ..................................................................................................................................8 2 1921 Fred Hinrichs ..................................................................................................................................10