Some USC Basketball News & Notes

While the football team at USC is of course getting a lot of preseason buzz, there is actually a lot of news coming out of the basketball department with Kevin O’Neill trying to make some waves in recruiting circles and to assemble a half-way decent squad for next season.

Another player leaves

According to Scott Wolf of the Daily News, sophomore center Mamadou Diarra will not be back with the team next season and will instead try to play professionally in France. Diarra’s decision has little to do with the Tim Floyd resignation and the NCAA investigation, as he had been going back and forth before the recent allegations from Yahoo! emerged. I don’t see this as a big problem for O’Neill, as Diarra had never been a factor in his two seasons at USC. He may have had some potential, but under Floyd, he never really developed as a player. 

O’Neill working hard

Despite arriving at USC with little to no fanfare, I’ve really been impressed with O’Neill’s work ethic so far. He’s been out recruiting nearly every single day and he has made efforts to reach out to some of the current players as well. According to an Los Angeles Times story yesterday, O’Neill has been meeting personally with each Trojan player and has arranged visits with all of their parents. Last week, heeven traveled overseas to Montenegro and to the island of Rhodes to visit with Nikola Vucevic and his family. You can question his people skills and his coaching methods all you want, but O’Neill deserves some credit for giving this job his best shot. 

Franklin back in the fold

A few weeks ago, Trojan fans receiving some disappointing news when Santa Ana Mater Dei High School point guard Gary Franklin, a four-star recruit according to Rivals.com, “de-committed” from USC and would begin to solicit offers from other schools. But on Wednesday, Franklin told the LA Times that he was back to considering the Trojans. “I talked to O’Neill,” Franklin told the Times, “I liked what he said.” I have a hard time imagining that Franklin ends up playing for USC, but if the NCAA sanctions don’t end up being too harsh, than there is a chance the 6’2″ point guard could enroll at USC in the near future.