Will a year make a Difference?

Sporting News, The, Jan 1, 2001 by Luciana Chavez

Southern California got its top 20 ranking because of what Ute Trojans did last season. Now, if they can avoid repealing last season ...

Somewhere on Southern California's campus, senior Jeff Trepagnier wanders around an empty practice facility in street clothes, not eligible to play. Somewhere in Hawaii, where the Trojans are playing one of those holiday tournaments, senior Jarvis Turner sits on the bench while his knee recuperates after arthroscopic surgery. Meanwhile, four USC starters are averaging 30 to 35 minutes each game.

The fates again are twisting these talented Trojans into knots. They fell to Mississippi in OT of the semis of the Yahoo! Invitational in Hawaii alter blowing a 5-point lead with 46 seconds left in regulation. That loss came just days after edging Pepperdine by three and walloping UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge by an 11-point total.

This smells familiar. Injuries, questionable depth, close calls-are we refrying the Trojans' dismal finish to last season or what?

Not necessarily.

This team is ranked 16th in the country. It could be the best team in school history. USC hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1997, but with Brian Scalabrine, Brandon Granville, Sam Clancy, David Bluthenthal and Trepagnier, the Trojans could be dominant in March--if they can get there in one piece.

Clancy and Turner remember the blur that night. Their teammates were playing with Arizona, a team USC had beaten just four of its last 28 tries.

Clancy, the starting center, and Turner, the top reserve behind what began as a thin lineup, were watching from the bench with injuries.

Beating Arizona shorthanded?

You've got to be kidding.

But USC knocked off the Wildcats, boosting its record to 5-0 in the Pac-10 and 12-5 overall. Injuries to Clancy and Turner two days earlier in a game against Arizona State had weighed heavily on the team, but the upset threw light on the doom and gloom--if only for a moment.

"I was shocked to see us come out with so much emotion," Turner remembers. "Sam and I see that from the sidelines, and we're thinking, `We can do that every game.' "The euphoria of beating the Wildcats carried the Trojans for another two games, after which they stood 13-6 and 6-1 with a share of the Pac-10 lead.

Then the wheels fell off quickly and convincingly. USC lost five straight and eight of nine-five by a heart-breaking total of 19 points-and went on to finish 16-14, out of the running for the NCAA Tournament and the NIT

With the remaining starters going hard core, the Trojans simply ran out of gas. Granville was running the point 3 6 minutes a game and during his rare moments on the bench, he would be white-knuckling it, gripping the edge of his seat-eager to get back in, but desperately needing the rest.

"When we were watching those guys playing their hearts out, then at the end to kind of lose it, that was hard to watch," says Clancy, who didn't play again until the season was lost "But those guys showed a lot of character. They persevered. We think those things happened for a reason."

That great January run and the maim of all the key players from that run paved the way for the Trojans' lofty top 25 preseason ranking.

There's Scalabrine, a Wooden and Naismith candidate who leads the team in scoring, and Clancy, who leads in blocks. Together they create a front line that puts up 33 points a night.

There's Bluthenthal, a 6-7 junior who posted tour double-doubles in the team's first seven wins and is just shy of averaging a double-double.

Granville has scored in double digits every game this season and is averaging two steals and nearly seven assists a game.

Trepagnier, a high-flyer who can score and defend, started the season on an indefinite suspension for accepting a free trip to Las Vegas in September, but he should return soon.

So should Turner, usually the first forward off the bench. That completes the heart of a lineup that is working on its third year playing together.

Another advantage for this group is coach Henry Bibby, one of the least-loved but most knowledgeable game coaches in Division I. People who know praise Bibby for his smart use of NBA sets. He does a great job of building game plans, which shows up in the number of times the Trojans can isolate Scalabrine or Bluthenthal for shots.

And Bibby has an imagination. He switched Rodrick Rhodes from a forward to the point and helped him go from a flameout at Kentucky to a first-round NBA draft pick in 1997. Bibby allows Scalabrine to handle the ball as much as an NBA forward would. The only reason Trepagnier, a raw talent and a fantastic leaper when he arrived, is now more of a basketball star than a track star is because Bibby dared to play him.

It may be tough competing for a job every day in his system, but players see how he lets guys play and gets the most out of them when they do. Bibby trusts his own instincts, and these players have bought into it.

Bibby also has worked to solve chemistry problems that plagued the team early last season, in part by requiring players to live on campus. They hang out. They go to movies together. Some attend church together. They all survive Bibby's mental and physical tests during practices and games.