Only a few days away from the NBA Draft, Pac-10 Division I men’s basketball stalwarts USC and UCLA are staggering. Both are about to have their starting lineups damaged for the second season in a row. Combined, USC and UCLA were the sources of three lottery picks in 2008 and are going to lose three more lottery pick players in 2009.
Last year, UCLA lost All-American freshman center Kevin Love and starting NBA guard Russell Westbrook to the draft, along with defensive specialist forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. The NBA draft cost USC freshman guard sensation O.J. Mayo and freshman forward Davon Jefferson in 2008.
As if that was not bad enough, UCLA senior All-American guard Darren Collison, Pac-10 All-Freshman Team guard Jrue Holiday, and USC’s Pac-10 All-Freshman Team forward DeMar DeRozan have hired agents, which locks them into the 2009 NBA Draft.
Aren’t These Losses Bad Enough? Apparently Not
Adding insult to injury, USC’s men’s basketball coach Tim Floyd resigned under a cloud this past week. Floyd had been the only USC men’s basketball coach to take his team to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament three consecutive years. The coach responsible for bringing O.J. Mayo to campus has been accused of paying off Mayo’s AAU coach, Rodney Guillory.
An NCAA investigation into the USC sports program regarding Mayo and NFL running back and USC alumnus Reggie Bush is ongoing. It appears that this investigation will result in some sort of disciplinary action for the USC basketball program.
Without its tournament-familiar head coach and with the potential for a ban, recruits are reversing Letters of Intent, and players are declaring for the 2009 NBA Draft.
Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and Second Team All-Pac-10 junior forward Taj Gibson, who has not signed an agent, is leaving early for the draft. Likewise, Second Team All-Pac-10 junior guard Daniel Hackett has entered the draft.
Forward Marcus Johnson, who averaged 3.1 ppg and 1.9 rpg over 12.3 mpg, also informed USC two weeks ago that he would be turning pro. Johnson, who missed games in 2008 because he changed schools, is turning pro despite receiving an extra year of eligibility late in May.
6′7″ forward recruit Derrick Williams from La Mirada has been released from his Letter of Intent, along with guard recruits Noel Johnson and Lamont Jones. For the 2009 recruiting class, only 6′6″ Oaks Christian High School forward Evan Smith remains. …
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