Kevin O’Neill Looks to Continue Building the 2010 Recruiting Class

After a summer’s worth of traveling throughout the country trying to sell recruits on the idea of coming to Los Angeles to play for a possibly sanctioned USC basketball program, it finally appears as if all the hard work may be starting to pay off for new head coach Kevin O’Neill. According to ESPNU’s class of 2010 team basketball recruiting rankings, the Trojans are ranked 13th nationally – higher than crosstown rival UCLA. It’s a remarkable feat for O’Neill and his staff, considering that the program was in near shambles when Tim Floyd abruptly resigned last June.

Since then, O’Neill has maintained the commitment of Westchester product Dwayne Polee, one of the top small forwards in the class, and has additionally gained commitments from Bryce Jones (Woodland Hills, Calif./Taft), Garrett Jackson (Portland, Ore./Westview), and Curtis Washington (Elizabethtown, Ky.).

But while it’s easy to sit back and admire what has already been accomplished in a tumultuous offseason, such behavior is not in O’Neill’s DNA.

Instead of standing pat, O’Neill continues to march on the recruiting trail, actively seeking a fifth player for the class of 2010 with point guard being the team’s highest priority. Former commit Mater Dei’s Gary Franklin, who reopened his recruitment when Floyd left town, appears to be the most logical fit, but it’s unknown at this point whether the Monarchs point guard will indeed head up the I-5 to play at ‘SC.

So in the meanwhile, O’Neill has traveled to Michigan, where he offered 5’7″ Saginaw point guard Maurice Jones a scholarship to play for the Trojans next season.  Jones, who will take an official visit this weekend to USC, could very well committ in the coming weeks, as USC became the first major program to give him an offer. Previously, his lone options were St. Bonaventure and Duquense. But don’t be fooled by the lack of interest regarding Jones in the recruiting ranks. According to Best of the Best Prep Scouting services, Jones is the second best point guard in the state of Michigan, and a Top 5 player in Michigan’s 2010 class.