Tim Floyd To Stay At USC

Looks like Tim Floyd had second thoughts about going to Arizona. Considering how much he pleaded with some of his USC players--particularly DeMar DeRozen--during the team's banquet on Tuesday to stay at USC instead of going to the NBA, it was good to see Floyd follow some of his own advice.

Here's an excerpt from the LA Times on Floyd's decision to stay in Los Angeles.

"I listened, I heard what they had to say," Floyd said. "But there is something really special about building your own traditions and your own history."

He acknowledged that in addition to meeting with Arizona, he had also talked to Memphis, saying, "At the end of the day I have a great situation here."

Tim Floyd To Stay At USC

Tim Floyd Swept Up In The College Coaching Carousel

This off-season figured to be an active one for college athletic directors. Several good coaching jobs were set to be available, and with a few schools recently making new hires, the coaching carousel is currently spinning out of control.

John Calipari going to Kentucky was the big news Wednesday, but later that evening came the news that Tim Floyd was in Tucson interviewing for the Arizona job. A position that became available following the retirement of Lute Olson. Russ Pennell, who was supposed to be an assistant for Olson this season, served as Arizona’s interim coach but was told quite early that he would not be retained on a permanent basis—despite getting the Wildcats to the Sweet 16.

Floyd’s interest in Arizona was quite peculiar to some. It’s not that often you see a coach move from one job to the next within the same conference. Tubby Smith did it by going from Georgia to Kentucky. But certain programs, such as UK, UNC, KU and UCLA, are on a different level. Any coach would want to take that job. Arizona, however, is not exactly one of those schools.

One obvious reason Floyd would leave the beach for the desert would be money. Arizona will always pays its basketball coach more than USC. But even beyond that, Floyd is not exactly a big city guy. He grew up in the Hattiesburg, Mississippi and went to school at Southern Miss and Louisana Tech. Both of those campuses couldn’t fill up LA’s Memorial Coliseum. As much as money is a motivation for any coach, lifestyle is sometimes even more important.

So with Floyd reportedly going to Arizona, two prime jobs are now available—Memphis & USC. Calipari had tried to get Memphis Athletic Director RC Johnson to hire UTEP Head Coach Tony Barbee, who had served on Calipari’s staff with the Tigers. However, Johnson made it perfectly clear Wednesday that he has much higher aspirations.

Missouri’s Mike Anderson would have been a great choice for Memphis, but Anderson—the last coach to hand Memphis a Conference USA loss when he was at UAB—just re-upped with Missouri for another 7 years.

I think Johnson should make a serious pitch at Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel. He’s done a tremendous job in just three seasons leading the Sooners. Of course, having future number one draft pick Blake Griffin certainly helped. But Capel has also shown his recruiting skills are no joke. He currently has commitments from two McDonald’s All-Americans for next season.

Some might wonder why he would leave the Big 12 for Conference USA. Excuse me, but didn’t John Calipari just prove what you can do at Memphis even if you play in C-USA? Final Fours are Final Fours regardless of the conference in which you play.

Sean Miller is another hot commodity on the coaching circuit. Since moving from his assistant role at Xavier to replacing his boss, Thad Matta, Miller has turned Butler into a mid-major powerhouse. But the question is can he recruit the “best of the best” as Calipari said he did while at Memphis—something Tigers fans would certainly expect the new coach to do.

But even if he falls short of Calipari’s recruiting acumen—which he will—Memphis is a hotbed of athletic talent. A coach could recruit nothing but kids from the Mid-South and keep his program perennially in the Top 25.

With coaches and athletic directors all converging on Detroit this week for the Final Four, expect even more coaching news to start spilling out over the next few days.

Ford and Horn Are Not The Right Choices For UK Right Now

Having been born and raised in Kentucky and a proud UK grad, I can understand why so many people think getting a person with Kentucky ties would be good for the program. And while there may be some merits to that idea, it doesn't mean that a Kentucky person would be the right choice right now.

The program needs a person who would make a splash nationally to put the program back in the minds of every top recruit in the country.

I have known Travis since I was 10 years old, and I covered Darrin's high school games in Lexington. But with all due respect to both of them, neither would make blue chippers take notice if they were hired at UK--at least not right now.

Kentucky needs someone to come in like Rick Pitino did back in 1989-- a coach who had success in the college ranks and also had NBA experience. That's why I think Lon Kruger from UNLV or Tim Floyd from USC would be great choices.

However, if you can't find someone with NBA experience, then someone like Jamie Dixon would be a good choice. I have also previously mentioned Lorenzo Romar at Washington and Jeff Capel at Oklahoma because both coaches come from winning programs in their past (Romar was an assistant on UCLA's national title team in 1995 and Capel of course played at Duke) and both have recruited some of the top players in the nation, who have moved or are going to move on to be all-stars in the pros (Brandon Roy at Washington and Blake Griffin at Oklahoma).

Travis and Darrin do not have the overall appeal of any of those coaches.

At times like these, UK fans have to get out of their Kentucky/SEC bubble. UK should be a national program not a regional one.

I think Mitch Barnhart, who came from a very regional program in Oregon State, either lost sight of that fact or never understood it in the first place.

USC Men's Basketball Upcoming Events

TIP OFF WITH THE MEN OF TROY

- USC To Host Fundraiser For The Ryan Francis Endowed Scholarship -

LOS ANGELES – The USC Athletic Department will be hosting a “Tip Off With The Men Of Troy” event on Oct. 21 at the Galen Center to introduce the 2008-09 men’s basketball team and raise funds for the Ryan Francis Endowed Scholarship.

This academic year Ryan Francis would have graduated from USC and the Trojans are committed to raising the remaining funds needed to complete the scholarship which will ensure the memory of this extraordinary young man lives on in the minds of all future Trojans.

Francis was a 2005-06 Pac-10 honorable mention All-Freshman team member, who was senselessly gunned down while visiting his mother, Paula, back in Louisiana. Francis averaged 7.1 points and 3.7 assists for the Trojans in his one season, but whose spirit and attitude forever touched the lives of the Trojan family.

This exclusive event will allow fans a chance to watch the Trojans practice from 4-5 p.m., participate in a silent auction, meet the players, hear from USC head basketball coach Tim Floyd and attend a VIP reception in the Founders Club.

To purchase tickets or to make a donation, please call the USC Development Office at (213) 740-4155. E-mail questions can be directed to athdev@usc.edu.


USC MEN’S BASKETBALL TO HOST “DRIBBLE FOR THE CURE” AND ANNUAL CARDINAL &GOLD SCRIMMAGE ON OCT. 26

LOS ANGELES – The USC men’s basketball program has partnered with the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF) and the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) for the third annual “Dribble For The Cure” charity event to be held at the Galen Center on Sunday (Oct. 26) beginning at 11 a.m. Following the fund-raising festivities, the 2008-09 men’s basketball team will be on display for the annual Cardinal and Gold scrimmage to be held at 2 p.m.

The third annual “Dribble For The Cure” will feature a festival of games, activities, food and entertainment, as well as a meet and greet with the USC men’s basketball team and head coach Tim Floyd. Each participant, asked to collect pledges to earn prizes on the day of the event, will join the USC basketball team and dribble a basketball through a course winding across the USC campus, beginning and ending at the Galen Center. In addition, each participant will receive an official “Dribble For The Cure” T-shirt.

Immediately following the “Dribble For The Cure,” all fans are invited to attend the free Cardinal and Gold intrasquad scrimmage at 2 p.m. and get their first look at the 2008-09 Trojans in a game-like situation.

The USC men’s basketball team is coming off its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 20-win season, going 21-12 last year. Juniors Taj Gibson (All-Pac-10, Third Team), Daniel Hackett and Dwight Lewis along with senior Keith Wilkinson return to anchor the Trojans’ squad. They will be joined by the No. 7 ranked recruiting class according to HoopScoop.com, featuring McDonald’s All-American DeMar DeRozan, a consensus top five recruit. Despite the departure of O.J. Mayo to the NBA as the third player taken overall, early season rankings list this Trojan squad as a top 25 team with The Sporting News ranking USC No. 11.

This promises to be an exciting season of Trojan basketball and it all begins on Oct. 26. Come out to have some fun, check out the Trojans and help generate proceeds for pediatric cancer research and the treatment of children with cancer at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

USC ANNOUNCES 2008-09 MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

The post-OJ Mayo era tips off this fall for USC, but the Trojans may not suffer quite the relapse that some are predicting. Tim Floyd has been working the recruiting trail and his class of newcomers may be enough to keep USC near the top of the PAC-10.

Trojans could play 23 games against teams off .500 or better seasons

LOS ANGELES – A trip to San Juan, PR for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, a game at Oklahoma in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series, a home game against perennial ACC power Georgia Tech and the always challenging slate of Pac-10 games highlight the 2008-09 USC men’s basketball schedule announced today (Aug. 19) by head coach Tim Floyd.

“We think we have put together a great schedule for the USC fans,” said Floyd. “At the same time, as challenging as our schedule was last season with Kansas, Memphis and Oklahoma, if you look at the RPI from a year ago this non-conference slate is even tougher.”

USC’s schedule features a potential 23 games against teams that fi nished .500 or better in 2007-08, including 14 that won 20 or more games. Also, nine of the teams that USC is set to face in 2008-09 were in last year’s tournament, including two games each with the five other Pac-10 teams which were in the NCAA Tournament.

USC is trying to register its third consecutive season of 20 or more wins and make the NCAA Tournament three straight times - both never accomplished before in school history.

USC will open the season with home games against UC Irvine on Nov. 15 and New Mexico State coached by former USC assistant coach Marvin Menzies on Nov. 18.

The Trojans will then take part in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico with an eight-team fi eld featuring NCAA runner-up Memphis, Elite Eight team Xavier, Virginia Tech, Missouri, Seton Hall, Fairfi eld, Chattanooga and USC. The Trojans will play Seton Hall in the first round on Nov. 20 and then face either Memphis or Chattanooga the next night. USC’s opponent is still to be determined for its fi nal game in the tournament on Nov. 23.

Following a home game on Nov. 28 vs. Tennessee-Martin, USC will make its fi rst basketball trip to Norman, Okla. since 1984 where they will take on a powerful Oklahoma team and its Player of the Year candidate Blake Griffin. USC defeated Oklahoma 66-55 at the Galen Center last season as part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.

The Trojans final five games before Pac-10 play begins are at home against San Francisco on Dec. 13, vs. Pepperdine on Dec. 15, vs. North Dakota State on Dec. 20, vs. Georgia Tech on Dec. 22 and 2007-08 NCAA Tournament team Oral Roberts on Dec. 28.

USC will open conference play on the road at Oregon on Jan. 2 and Oregon State on Jan. 4 before returning home to host defending Pac-10 Champion UCLA on Jan. 11, Arizona State on Jan 15 and Arizona on Jan. 17. USC’s other conference home games are on Jan. 29 vs. Stanford, Jan. 31 vs. California, Feb. 19 vs. Washington State, Feb. 21 vs. Washington, March 5 vs. Oregon and March 7 vs. Oregon State.

The Pac-10 Conference Tournament will take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles, March 11-14.