Fanhouse NCAA Basketball Blog - usc-basketball

UCLA Stops USC, Now Faces Stanford

Michelle Smith — 2010-03-14T00:08:00 00:00

Filed under: Stanford, UCLA, USC, Pac-10, Women's Basketball

LOS ANGELES -- It all started here at the Galen Center, back on January 17 when USC beat UCLA and Trojans coach Michael Cooper opened his post-game press conference with a very, very bad word directed at the rival Bruins.

Since then, UCLA has been very, very good.

UCLA earned its first spot in the Pac-10 Championship game since 2006 Saturday on USC's home floor, defeating the Women of Troy 59-53. The Bruins, the No. 2 seed, will take on top-seeded Stanford Sunday at 3 p.m., looking to put an exclamation point on an impressive run.

Since that loss at USC back in mid-January and the after-moments that had everybody talking, UCLA has reeled off 14 wins in 15 games, the only loss at Stanford (74-53) on Feb. 4.

But this is a program with all upside right now, not to mention a good dose of momentum.

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Notebook: Teresa Weatherspoon Weathering the Rebuild at Louisiana Tech

Michelle Smith — 2010-02-15T23:46:00 00:00

by Michelle Smith

Filed under: Arizona State, Boston College, Connecticut, Iowa State, UCLA, USC, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10, WAC, Women's Basketball

You can't help but think that Teresa Weatherspoon sounds a little like a preacher when she talks about the Louisiana Tech women's basketball program.

She is preaching the gospel of Ruston, trying to spread a little good news about her team.

Weatherspoon is in her first full year as a head coach. But she's been a Techster for more than 25 years and her sense of ownership is unmistakable.

Weatherspoon expects her players to know the tradition. Nine NCAA Final Fours. Eight appearances in the national title game. Three national titles.

And now, a different era. The powerhouse mantle is gone. The program hasn't made the NCAA field since 2006, when it ended a run of 25 straight appearances. There have been no FInal Four appearances since 1999, no national ranking since the last weeks of the 2007 season.

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It's Finally Game Time for USC's Gemelos

Michelle Smith — 2010-02-03T20:15:00 00:00

by Michelle Smith

Filed under: USC, Pac-10, Women's Basketball

There are plenty of comeback stories in sports -- inspiring tales of athletes returning from some kind of adversity or injury.

But there aren't many stories like that of Jacki Gemelos.

The USC guard is on track to take the floor for the first time in her college career Thursday night in Berkeley against Cal.

For three and a half seasons she has been on the sidelines. A total of five surgeries on four ACL injuries to both knees have delayed what was expected to be an All-American basketball career.

She was the No. 1 recruit in the nation in 2006 when she was first injured as a high school senior at St. Mary's High in Stockton, Calif. She was averaging 39.2 points per game at the time.

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USC's Michael Cooper Apologizes to UCLA for Expletive

Michelle Smith — 2010-01-20T20:23:00 00:00

by Michelle Smith

Filed under: UCLA, USC, Pac-10, Women's Basketball

Michael Cooper had made a great first impression as the new USC women's basketball coach.

His second impression needs some work.

Cooper, the former NBA star who won five championships in the "Showtime" era with the Los Angeles Lakers, issued a public apology Wednesday to UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell after directing an expletive at the Bruins on Sunday.

Cooper came into the interview room following USC's 70-63 win over UCLA at the Galen Center and said, "My opening statement is [expletive] UCLA."

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Michael Cooper Makes Right Turn at USC

Michelle Smith — 2010-01-06T11:14:00 00:00

by Michelle Smith

Filed under: Arizona State, Stanford, USC, Pac-10, Women's Basketball

Michael Cooper has played professional basketball and won championships. He has coached professional basketball and won championships.

When he talks to the young women he coaches now at USC, they stop, look and listen.

"We are like sponges," said guard Heather Oliver. "When he says something, you take it in."

Cooper has been at USC a little over three months now, arriving in September after the Los Angeles Sparks were eliminated from the WNBA playoffs, ending his eight-year reign (over two stints) as the Sparks' head coach.

It didn't take long for the man who has never coached college basketball to adapt, to teach and to get comfortable in a new setting.

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USC Penalizes Itself Over Mayo Mess

FanHouse Newswire — 2010-01-03T16:54:00 00:00

by FanHouse Newswire

Filed under: USC

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Southern California is imposing sanctions on its basketball program for violating NCAA rules involving former player O.J. Mayo.

The university's investigation found rules were violated during Mayo's one season with the Trojans in 2007-08 under former coach Tim Floyd. Mayo currently plays for the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies.

The sanctions announced Sunday call for a one-year ban on postseason play following the current regular season, including the Pac-10 Conference tournament; a loss of one scholarship for this season and the 2010-2011 season; a loss of one coach permitted to engage in off-campus recruiting during the summer of 2010; and 20 less recruiting days (from 130 to 110) allowed for the 2010-2011 academic year.

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UCLA: In Need of Wins, Wizardry

David Steele — 2009-12-17T13:30:00 00:00

by David Steele

Filed under: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State, Pac-10, Coaches, Oregon State

When programs like UCLA -- and there aren't many programs like UCLA -- go through what the Bruins are going through right now, only time will tell whether they've hit a bump in the road or gone careening off a cliff. Then again, starts like the one UCLA is on -- 3-6 going into a weekend game at Notre Dame -- feel like a trip off the cliff no matter what.

So the only explanation that fits right now is the one that explains right now: UCLA has lost a ton of talent in the years since its run of three straight Final Fours from 2006 to '08, and it has not replaced it. Ben Howland himself can't even deny that, not that he tends toward denial in general.

"It all comes down to recruiting,'' Howland said last week. "The reason we've had success in the past is because we've had good players. We have a very young team right now. I wish there was an easier answer and you could plan better. It is difficult.''

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Michael Cooper Settling in at USC

Michelle Smith — 2009-10-13T22:05:00 00:00

by Michelle Smith

Filed under: USC, Pac-10, Women's Basketball

Michael Cooper was introducing his new staff at USC on Tuesday, the coaches who have been holding down the fort for the past five months as he finished out his term as the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks. Except that he forgot one of their names. Oops.

That's what happens when you are the new guy. Who, in this awkward moment, just happens to be the head guy.

Cooper was hired by USC on May 1 to take over a women's basketball program that has shown promise, the ability to recruit top players, but not results. The Women of Troy are far from their salad days in the mid-1980's when they won NCAA titles with players like Lisa Leslie and Cynthia Cooper.

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Once-Great Gemelos Clawing to Play

Michelle Smith — 2009-09-19T18:08:00 00:00

by Michelle Smith

Filed under: USC, Women's Basketball

The best player you've never seen is rehabbing today, and again tomorrow. Just like she did yesterday and the day before that, and last year, and the year before that.

Jacki Gemelos has been at USC since 2006, recruited as one of the top women's basketball prospects in the nation, a surefire star out of St. Mary's High in Stockton (CA).

Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma knew he wanted Gemelos on his team when she was just 15 years old. She said yes to that offer and then changed her mind, committed to USC and prepared to start a career that seemed destined to end in a WNBA jersey and possibly a couple of Olympic medals.

But Gemelos has yet to play in a single college basketball game.

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Tim Floyd Says Southern Cal Ignored Sidney's Recruiting Red Flags

Chas Rich — 2009-07-30T10:53:00 00:00

by Chas Rich

Filed under: Mississippi State, USC, Pac-10, SEC, Coaches, Recruiting

Former USC Coach Tim Floyd will not do interviews with the national media or the Los Angeles press, but he likes to talk to his hometown paper in Mississippi quite a bit. It was the Clarion-Ledger that broke the news of his resignation before USC even knew.

With the former Southern Cal verbal now a Mississippi State commit, Renardo Sidney, there's more than a little bit of interest in what he has to say on what happened to Sidney and his USC commitment. Especially with the NCAA still trying to get more information from the Sidney family regarding their finances, before clearing him to play. Floyd offered some thoughts on Sidney and USC.

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Kevin O'Neill New USC Basketball Coach

Matt Snyder — 2009-06-20T12:35:00 00:00

by Matt Snyder

Filed under: USC, Pac-10, Coaches

According to a report on ESPN, Kevin O'Neill has been hired as the new head basketball coach at the University of Southern California. USC had been without a head coach since Tim Floyd resigned under fire a few weeks ago. Allegedly, Floyd paid someone $1,000 to convince highly-touted recruit O.J. Mayo to attend USC.

In the wake of Floyd's departure, there is a bit of a mess to be cleaned up for Trojan basketball, and that's the task at hand for new coach O'Neill. Much of the roster who inexplicably made a Sweet 16 run last season is gone, as are three solid recruits Floyd had previously signed. O'Neill will try to pick up the pieces with Dwight Lewis and Leonard Washington as the leaders of his team -- assuming he can convince them to stay aboard.

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It Could Be Worse, USC, Ask a Hoosier

Matt Snyder — 2009-06-16T21:30:00 00:00

by Matt Snyder

Filed under: Indiana, USC, Big Ten, Pac-10

In case you haven't been paying attention to the goings on of college basketball in the last few weeks, USC's 2009-10 basketball season has been already been summarily decimated. Tim Floyd resigned in the face of allegations against the program. In the wake, three incoming recruits have been granted their release from letters of intent to play for the Trojans. Plus, three players from last year's Sweet 16 squad have entered the NBA Draft early and now cannot change their minds. Factor in two graduations, and the team is left with only two players who logged regular, meaningful minutes in 2009, with no recruits of consequence.

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With 'Bama in the Books, Florida State, USC, Memphis Back in NCAA Spotlight

Jim Henry — 2009-06-11T20:00:00 00:00

by Jim Henry

Filed under: Memphis, USC

Like or loathe the NCAA, this much is certain about this unique, voluntary association that houses the largest collegiate athletic organization in the world:

It's good to be the King -- and royalty certainly works at its own pace and plays by its own rules.

Following Thursday's announcement that 16 teams at the University of Alabama have been penalized for their involvement in improperly obtaining free textbooks for other students, three high-profile NCAA investigations are currently on the books for fans to score at their leisure.

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After Floyd, USC's Top 5 Candidates

Gary Washburn — 2009-06-10T09:00:00 00:00

by Gary Washburn

Filed under: USC, Pac-10, Rumors

It's June, a.k.a., a terrible time to find a quality basketball coach. But that will be USC's task after Tim Floyd's sudden resignation Tuesday amid a slew of allegations regarding the recruiting of star guard O.J. Mayo. Athletic director Mike Garrett (right) is used to hiring coaches on the fly. He fired Henry Bibby just four games into the 2004-2005 season, tabbed Jim Saia as interim coach for the season and then nabbed Floyd.

Garrett has time before having to go the interim route and there are some qualified coaches who either are unemployed or at mid-majors and would likely leave their schools and incoming recruiting classes for a job at a major school in a major conference. The USC athletic director has a history for going after tough gets and succeeding, but the question is whether the Trojans basketball program will be severely punished for the Mayo situation? Floyd was accused by former Mayo associate Louis Johnson of giving $1,000 to Rodney Guillory, an alleged street agent representing Mayo.

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Report: USC Coach Tim Floyd Resigns

Michael David Smith — 2009-06-09T19:17:00 00:00

by Michael David Smith

Filed under: USC, Coaches

Update: USC has confirmed Tim Floyd's resignation. "I accept Tim's decision and wish him well," USC athletic director Mike Garrett said in a statement.

University of Southern California men's basketball coach Tim Floyd has reportedly resigned in the wake of an accusation that he gave $1,000 to a man who helped convince O.J. Mayo to enroll at USC.

The Clarion Ledger newspaper in Floyd's home state of Mississippi reports that Floyd sent USC athletic director Mike Garrett this letter:

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Players Rapidly Deserting USC

Chas Rich — 2009-06-03T00:24:00 00:00

by Chas Rich

Filed under: USC, Pac-10, NBA Prospects

Will the last person please turn out the lights at the Galen Center.

USC headed into April as a likely preseason Top 25 team with a strong core coming back and a talented recruiting class coming in. The Trojans enter June with most of the core gone and that recruiting class dwindling. Oh, and a coach that appears to be hanging by a thread while the NCAA circles closer and closer.

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After Defections, Cal, Washington Are Pac-10 Favorites

Gary Washburn — 2009-05-16T21:15:00 00:00

by Gary Washburn

Filed under: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State, Pac-10, NBA Prospects, Oregon State

The upheaval at USC and constant defections at UCLA may have sent conference supremacy north.

The NBA draft's early entries have one month to return to school (June 15), but it doesn't appear any of the Pac-10 entries are coming back. Six underclassmen -- USC's DeMar DeRozan and Taj Gibson, UCLA's Jrue Holiday, the Arizona duo of Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger and Arizona State's James Harden -- will participate in the draft combine beginning May 28 in Chicago, and none are likely to return to their schools. Even Holiday, a projected late first-rounder, is reportedly close to hiring an agent and remaining in the draft.

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Recruiting a Cesspool of Sleaze, Scum

Greg Couch — 2009-05-14T18:45:00 00:00

by Greg Couch

Filed under: USC, Coaches, Recruiting

It just doesn't stop, with these slimeballs. The whole Tim Floyd story just slips and slides right off the page. Floyd, the USC basketball coach, is accused of giving $1,000 to get stud recruit O.J. Mayo a few years ago.

Another coach, another envelope of cash. But did you see the details?

Because we keep getting more examples of dirty coaches, but then we shake our heads and ignore, basically, what went into making that sausage.

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USC Coach Tim Floyd Accused of Paying Mayo's Representative

Chas Rich — 2009-05-13T00:15:00 00:00

by Chas Rich

Filed under: USC, Pac-10, Police Blotter, Recruiting

It was exactly a year ago that all the evidence and information was made public by O.J. Mayo's former entourage member, Louis Johnson. The story was about how Rodney Guillory was giving the money to Mayo both to be attached to Mayo and as a runner for Bill Duffy Associates.

USC and Coach Tim Floyd had maintained the stance that they were clueless fools, not at all complicit. Now Louis Johnson reveals that in his interviews with investigators that he informed them that Floyd gave Guillory an envelope of cash.

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Women's Hoops Gets Serious in Pac-10

Gary Washburn — 2009-05-07T15:43:00 00:00

by Gary Washburn

Filed under: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State, Pac-10, Coaches, Oregon State

Stanford has ruled the Pac-10 Women's basketball landscape for the past 20 years, and California and Arizona State have recently emerged to make the conference a three-team scramble for supremacy. But two recent hires by Oregon and USC have made it apparent that women's basketball is indeed becoming a higher priority on the West Coast.

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