USC Trojans

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1 USC Trojans MEN S BASKETBALL NEWS RELEASE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE TIM TESSALONE, DIRECTOR (MEN S BASKETBALL SID: PAUL GOLDBERG pgoldber@usc.edu) HERITAGE HALL 103, L.A., CA TELEPHONE: (213) FAX: (213) Nov. 28, 2001 Trojans Head East To Bradley Schedule DATE OPPONENT RESULT/TIME 11/13! Wyoming (ESPN) W /15! Fresno State L /26 UCSB (FSN2) W /1 at Bradley 7 p.m. (CST) 12/4 & Rhode Island 7:30 p.m. 12/6 % Pepperdine (FSW2) 9 p.m. 12/12 at Long Beach State (FSW) 7:35 p.m. 12/16 Miami (Ohio)(FSW) 3 p.m. 12/20 at San Diego 7 p.m. 12/22 at Loyola Marymount (FSW) 7:30 p.m. 12/27 at Washington 7:30 p.m. 12/29 at Washington St. (FS NET) 4 p.m. 1/4 * Washington St. 7:30 p.m. 1/6 * Washington (FSN2) 6 p.m. 1/10 * UCLA (FS NET) 7:30 p.m. 1/17 * at Arizona (FS NET) 8:30 p.m. (MST) 1/19 * at Arizona State(ABC) 4 p.m. (MST) 1/24 * California (FSN2 delay) 7:30 p.m. 1/26 * Stanford (ABC) 3 p.m. 1/31 * at Oregon State 7 p.m. 2/2 * at Oregon (FS NET) 3 p.m. 2/6 * at UCLA (FSN2) 7:30 p.m. 2/14 * Arizona State 7:30 p.m. 2/16 * Arizona (ABC) 3 p.m. 2/21 * at Stanford (FS NET) 7:30 p.m. 2/23 * at California (FS NET) 3 p.m. 2/28 * Oregon (FSN2 delay) 7:30 p.m. 3/2 * Oregon State (FS NET) 5 p.m Pacific-10 Conference Tournament 3/7 1st Staples Center (FS NET) TBA 3/8 Staples Center (FS NET) TBA 3/9 Staples Center (CBS) TBA 3/14-17 NCAA 1st and 2nd Rounds TBA 3/21-24 NCAA Regionals TBA 3/30, 4/1NCAA Final Four and Finals TBA Home games in bold * Pacific-10 Conference game! Preseason NIT & Doubleheader with USC women, which plays Cal State Northridge at 5 p.m. % Fab 4 Tourn. Fresno State-Gonzaga at 6:30 p.m., followed by USC-Pepperdine USC Quick Facts LOCATION: Los Angeles, Calif. ENROLLMENT: 28,600 NICKNAME: Trojans HEAD COACH: Henry Bibby ASSISTANTS: Kurtis Townsend, Damon Archibald, Eric Brown LOS ANGELES The USC men s basketball team (2-1), which reached the Elite Eight in 2001 for the first time ever in the NCAA Tournament s current format, makes its first lengthy trip of the season, travelling to Illinois to play at Bradley (2-1) in Peoria on Saturday (Dec. 1) at 7 p.m. (CST). The Trojans are coming off of a win over UC Santa Barbara on Monday (Nov. 26). It will be a deeper USC team that takes on the Braves now that junior center Kostas Charissis is eligible. He has served his three-game suspension for a violation of NCAA amateurism rules and will be available on Saturday. It is USC s first game at Bradley since Under sixthyear Coach Henry Bibby, the Trojans return three senior starters and seven lettermen from the team that tied a school mark for wins with a record last year. Senior forwards Sam Clancy and David Bluthenthal, both 2002 Preseason Top 50 Wooden Award candidates, and fourthyear starting guard Brandon Granville return to lead this year s squad. GAME #4 USC (2-1) at Bradley (2-1) on Saturday (Dec. 1). Tip off is set for 7 p.m. (CST) The game will be broadcast live on KMPC-AM There is no Southern California television coverage (the game will air on WEEK-TV, NBC 25 in Peoria). The Braves, under 11th-year coach Jim Molinari, are a young squad with only two seniors and one junior. Sophomore guard Phillip Gilbert is Bradley s leading returning scorer (12.5). Through three games, he s also the current leading scorer (18.7). Freshman forward Danny Granger is second in scoring (9.7) and leads the team in rebounding (10.0). They opened the season with a win over Louisiana- Lafayette on Nov. 19 and defeated Western Illinois, 84-69, on Nov. 24. They suffered their first loss of the season at Alabama-Birmingham on Tue. (Nov. 27), falling A year ago, the Braves were 13-2 on their home court, Carver Arena, and their average crowd of 9,012 was the best in the Missouri Valley Conference. ONCE IN A GENERATION USC has held its first three opponents to 65 OF NOTE or less points for the first time since the season. That season, Bob Boyd s Trojans held their opponents to 65 or fewer points in their first six games, which was good enough for a 5-1 start. That team finished TROJANS PROBABLE STARTERS NO. NAME POS. HT. WT. YR. HOMETOWN (LAST SCHOOL) 5 Brandon Granville G Sr. Los Angeles, CA (Westchester HS) 33 Desmon Farmer G So. Flint, MI (Northwestern HS) 21 Rory O Neil C Fr. Ridgecrest, CA (Burroughs HS) 34 David Bluthenthal F Sr. Los Angeles, CA (Westchester HS) 50 Sam Clancy F Sr. Fairview, OH (St. Edward HS) Col. of So. Idaho/San Bernardino Valley Col.) RESERVES 2 Nick Curtis F Fr. Oxnard, CA (Oxnard HS) 3 Anthony Saadey # G * Fr. Canfield, OH (Canfield HS) 4 Robert Hutchinson G *Jr. Albany, GA (Westover HS/Okaloosa-Walton Col.) 11 Peter McCaslin # G Fr. Palos Verdes, CA (Chadwick HS) 14 Gennaro Busterna G Sr. Denver, CO (Manual HS/McCook College) 15 Kostas Charissis C Jr. Athens, Greece (Bachlitzanaki HS) 22 Errick Craven G Fr. Carson, CA (Bishop Montgomery HS) 24 Derrick Craven G Fr. Carson, CA (Bishop Montgomery HS) 30 Eze Burts # G * Fr. Los Angeles, CA (St. Bernard HS) 31 Jerry Dupree F *So. Moreno Valley, CA (Valley View HS/ 32 Joe Buck # F Fr. Redondo Beach, CA (Redondo Untion HS) * Utilized redshirt year # walk-on

2 Game 4 Bradley December 1, 2001 Carver Arena (11,300) Los Angeles, CA 7 p.m. (CST) On the Air The USC-Bradley game will be carried live on KMPC- AM (1540). Rory Markas handles the radio play-byplay, while ex-usc assistant coach Jim Hefner adds the color commentary. All of USC s radio broadcasts feature short pre- and post-game shows immediately before and after the game. Series The Trojans trail the series with the Braves, 4-2, but have won the last two meetings, most recently the season opener last year, a win. Prior to that, USC won in overtime win in the Commissioner s Conference Playoffs in the season. The teams first met in the season as Bradley won, The Braves won twice in the season, 79-64, and 74-72, the latter coming in the national semifinal game, knocking the Trojans out of the title game. The Braves last win came in a game in the season. Last Game Sam Clancy scored a career-high 31 points and David Bluthenthal posted a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds as USC opened the season with a rout. The Trojans actually trailed at the half, 49-48, but outscored the Braves, 59-43, in the second half, turning the game into a runaway. USC s 107 points were its most since scoring 117 at the end of the 1998 season. The Braves 60.0% field goal percentage (30-of-50) was an opponent high last season. Coach Jim Molinari is in his 11th season as the head coach of Bradley. He is in his first 10 seasons with the Braves and is overall, which includes two seasons with Northern Illinois. The dean of Missouri Valley current head coaches, Molinari is fifth in conference history in wins (105). He has led the Braves to six postseason tournaments ( , 1999, 2001) in his stint in Peoria, including an NCAA appearance in Probable Starters Ht. Yr. pts. reb. G 12 James Gillingham 6-4 So G 22 Phillip Gilbert 6-3 So C 55 Brandon Heemskerk 7-0 Fr F 21 Reggie Hall 6-6 Sr F 34 Jason Faulknor 6-7 So RANKINGS USC has fallen out of both polls released Nov. 26. USC has received the 28th most votes in the AP poll and the 29th most in the ESPN/USA Today poll. UC SANTA BARBARA RECAP It took more than five halves of basketball, but the Trojans finally found their range from beyond the three-point stripe. And when they did, the Trojans kept on shooting. Propelled by five three-pointers and 19 points from David Bluthenthal, 18 points and 11 rebounds from Sam Clancy and 12 points and 10 assists from Brandon Granville, USC came back twice erasing deficits in both halves to defeat UC Santa Barbara, 73-62, on Monday (Nov. 26). USC entered the game having made only 3-of-27 three-point attempts and made only 1-of-11 attempts in the first half. But the Trojans caught fire in the second half, canning 8-of-14 three-point attempts. It was the Gauchos, led by Mark Hull s 17 points, who were doing the sharpshooting in the first half. Up 13-10, UCSB made three consecutive threes to take its biggest lead of the game at with 11:33 left in the first half. The Gauchos still led with 8:00 to go when the Trojans, still cold from outside, turned up the defensive pressure. USC closed the half by outscoring UCSB 12-2 and took a lead into the break. Half of USC s points in the run came from freshman Rory O Neil, who made his first career start on the night and finished with eight points and two blocks. Santa Barbara rebuilt much of its lead in the second half, going up with 11:48 to play. That s when Bluthenthal found his stroke. He made his first three-pointer of the season with 11:39 to go, his second less than a minute later and his third put USC ahead for good at with 8:47 remaining. The Gauchos held firm, though, and were within two points at with 4:05 left. Still smoking, Bluthenthal sank back-to-back bombs to give USC a edge with 2:55 to go. From there, USC made 6-of-8 foul shots and held UCSB to only one more basket the rest of the way to secure its second win of the season. LAST GAME NOTES USC is now 11-0 against UC Santa Barbara... Sam Clancy recorded his 21 st career double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. It s his third straight double-double and sixth in his last seven games. It is the third time he s had three consecutive doubledoubles, doing it once as a sophomore and a junior... Clancy had three blocks on the night -- the 24 th time in his career that he s had at least three blocks in a game... For the third consecutive game, USC held its opponent to under 39% shooting in the first half and under 40% for the game... David Bluthenthal had a game-high five three pointers -- the 19 th time in his career that he s had at least three three-pointers in a game and the fifth time he s had at least five in a game... Bluthenthal is now tied for 10 th on the USC career three-point chart with Duane Cooper (114)... Brandon Granville s 10 assists were his most since getting 10 at California last year. He now has 617 for his career -- 8 th on the all-time Pac-10 list... USC s nine three-pointers was its most since making 10 last year against Oregon State on Jan. 27. BIBBY VS. THE BRAVES Henry Bibby played against Bradley once during his UCLA career. He scored 14 points but was not credited with any of UCLA s five assists as the No. 1 Bruins downed the Braves, 61-56, Jan. 16, 1970 in Chicago. The game was played at the old Chicago Stadium. A DOUBLE-DOUBLE PLEASE Sam Clancy has strung together three consecutive double-doubles for the third time in his career, but has never had four in a row. The last Trojan to accomplish that was David Bluthenthal, who turned the trick last year in December. The last Trojan before that to get four in a row was Brandon Granville as a sophomore in The last USC player to string five in a row was forward Jaha Wilson, who did it twice in 1995 (including five in a row to end the season). LIKE LAST SEASON For the second consecutive season, USC has kept its turnovers to a minimum in its first three games. The Trojans are averaging only 11.0 turnovers an outing, the same figure as last year after three games.

3 HOW MANY TIMES HAS... Sam Clancy had a double-double... (21) Sam Clancy scored 20+ points... (16) Sam Clancy had 10+ rebounds... (23) Sam Clancy had 3+ blocks... (24) Sam Clancy played 40+ minutes... (6) Brandon Granville had a double-double... (11) Brandon Granville had 10+ assists... (16) Brandon Granville had 3+ steals... (28) Brandon Granville had 4+ steals... (14) Brandon Granville had 5+ steals... (8) Brandon Granville had 3+ three-pointers... (24) Brandon Granville had 4+ three-pointers... (13) Brandon Granville had 5+ three-pointers... (6) Brandon Granville played 40+ minutes... (10) Brandon Granville scored 20+ points... (13) David Bluthenthal had a double-double... (15) David Bluthenthal played 40+ minutes... (11) David Bluthenthal had 3+ three-pointers... (19) David Bluthenthal had 4+ three-pointers... (9) David Bluthenthal had 5+ three-pointers... (5) David Bluthenthal scored 20+ points... (12) David Bluthenthal had 10+ rebounds... (18) NOT LIKE LAST SEASON USC has yet to shoot better than 41.5% from the field this season. Last year, the Trojans didn t shoot worse than that until their ninth game (and first loss) against Mississippi, when they shot 41.1% from the floor. In fact, USC shot worse than 41.5% last year only six times. TRENDS Thus far, USC s first three opponents have taken a combined 43.5% of their overall field goal attempts from three-point range, as compared to 32.5% last season. By comparison, the Trojans have attempted just 25.6% of their field goals from beyond the arc compared to 30.5% last year... Through three games, USC has totalled just 199 points (66.3 points per game). USC averaged 77.1 points per game last season. The last time the Trojans failed to score 200 points in their first three games was in , when the Trojans scored 184 points (though they did go 2-1 in that span). DERRICK CRAVEN OUT Freshman guard Derrick Craven will be out four to six weeks, recovering from a stress fracture in his right leg. He is expected back in mid-to-late December. He did not see any action in USC s first two games before the injury announcement, but played in both exhibition games. DEFENSIVE PRESSURE USC has held its first three opponents to below 40.0% shooting. USC kept its first two opponents, Wyoming and Fresno State, to less than 29.0% shooting overall, both below the Trojan opponent low from last year (30.4% by Boston College). In fact, Fresno State s 28.1% shooting was the worst for a USC opponent since the Trojans held Loyola Marymount to 23.7% on Dec. 11, The Cowboys and Bulldogs shot less than 18.0% shooting in the second half of both games, also worse than any second-half opponent outing from last year. In the third game, the Trojans held UC Santa Barbara to 39.3%. On the season, USC has limited opponents to a combined.318 from the field. SAM CLANCY AND DAVID BLUTHENTHAL NAMED TO WOODEN AWARD PRESEASON LIST USC senior forwards Sam Clancy and David Bluthenthal are among 50 preseason candidates selected for the Wooden Award All-American Team. The top 50 candidates were selected based on last year s individual HENRY BIBBY MEDIA LUNCHEON SCHEDULE USC Coach Henry Bibby will hold media luncheons in the Varsity Lounge of Heritage Hall on the following dates (all meetings begin at 1 p.m. unless otherwise noted): Please check with the Sports Information Office to confirm schedule. Nov. 12 Nov. 19 Nov. 28 Dec. 3 Dec. 10 Dec. 18 Jan. 2 Jan. 8 (Monday) (Monday) (Wednesday) (Monday) (Monday) (Tuesday) (Wednesday) (Tuesday) Jan. 15 Jan. 22 Jan. 29 Feb. 5 Feb. 12 Feb. 19 Feb. 26 March 5 (Tuesday) (Tuesday) (Tuesday) (Tuesday) (Tuesday) (Tuesday) (Tuesday) (Tuesday) performance and team records. The award is announced on March 26. Clancy was a mid-season Wooden Award nominee last year, but did not make the list of finalists. SAM CLANCY NAMED TO PRESEASON NAISMITH CANDI- DATE LIST Sam Clancy was included among 30 preseason candidates for the 2002 Naismith Player of the Year Award, announced Oct. 16. TROJAN SENIOR TRIO PEPPER RECORD SECTION USC seniors Brandon Granville, Sam Clancy and David Bluthenthal are quite prevalent in the Trojan record books. Look no farther than the career scoring chart. Clancy is 20th with 1,099 points while Granville is 23rd with 1,061 points. If both play a full season, they should be firmly entrenched in USC s Top 10. Bluthenthal is not far behind the 1,000- point club with 949 points and should become USC s 26th player with a four-digit point total early in the season. Granville already is USC s alltime leader in assists with 617. He is second on the three-point chart (167), needing 10 to become the school s all-time leader. He is also third in steals (182) needing 27 to top that list. With 3,135 minutes, Granville is also in reach of Wayne Carlander s USC record for career minutes played (3,978). As it stands, he s already third on the all-time USC minutes list. Clancy is USC s all-time leader in blocks with 152. Bluthenthal is tied for 10th in three-pointers (114). As far as game records are concerned, Granville owns the USC record for assists (15) while Bluthenthal is tied for the mark in rebounds (28). For a season, Granville owns the assists mark (248) and Clancy owns it for blocks (81). GRANVILLE CLIMBING THE PAC-10 CAREER ASSISTS CHART Brandon Granville is the Pac-10 s active leader in assists with 617 and is eighth on the all-time list. Seventh is UCLA s Darrick Martin (636) and sixth is UCLA s Tyus Edney (652). Oregon State s Gary Payton holds the Pac-10 record for assists (938). FOURTH RANDOM NOTE OF THE YEAR USC is alltime against universities that begin with the letter 'B'. That includes Baptist College (1-0), Baylor (1-1), Boston College (1-0), Bradley (2-4), BYU (4-2), BYU-Hawaii (1-0), Brooklyn (1-0) and Butler (2-2). NOTE ARCHIVE USC s 53 rebounds at Fresno State was its most in more than two seasons. The last time USC had that many was in the 1999 season finale, when the Trojans grabbed 53 boards in a losing effort at Wyoming on March 10, 1999, in the first round of the NIT. The last time USC had more than 53 was earlier in that season when the Trojans had 57 rebounds in a win over Loyola Marymount on Dec. 9, 1998.

4 USC AT THE SPORTS ARENA USC s 12 home wins last year were its most since winning 12 in Dating back to , the Trojans are (.725) in their last 69 games at the Sports Arena and USC is (.715) at the Sports Arena since the beginning of the 1991 season, including a 16-game winning streak over a span of the 1992 and 1993 seasons, a 12-game streak between the 2000 and 2001 seasons and two nine-game winning streaks that spanned the and seasons and the and seasons. USC s 10-game home win streak to open the 2001 season was its biggest home win streak to start a season since KOSTAS CHARISSIS NOW ELIGIBLE Junior center Kostas Charissis has served his three-game NCAA suspension for a violation of NCAA amateurism rules and is now eligible to play, starting with the Bradley game. He was originally suspended by the NCAA for 15 games in August, but had his penalty reduced to three games after the NCAA Division I Board of Directors sustained a motion to lessen the punishment for all players affected on Nov. 1. Before he attended USC, Charissis played on a club team in Greece, which included professional players. Even though he played as an amateur, it was an NCAA violation. The NCAA Board sustained the Management Council s policy decision made that the reinstatement condition would be to withhold a student-athlete from a maximum of 20 percent of the number of professional contests played or eight games, whichever is less. TWO NEW ASSISTANTS Henry Bibby welcomed two new assistant coaches to his staff to join second-year assistant coach Damon Archibald. Bibby first hired veteran coach Kurtis Townsend, 42, who was previously an assistant coach at Michigan ( ), California ( ) and Eastern Kentucky (1998). Bibby then hired Eric Brown, 27, who spent the past three seasons ( ) as an assistant at Northridge, where he helped lead the Matadors to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history last season. Townsend and Brown replace Silvey Dominguez and Dave Miller, both of whom left the team after five-year stints on the Trojan staff. PRODUCTION FUNCTION Despite losing Brian Scalabrine and Jeff Trepagnier to the NBA, USC still has the lion s share of its production back in Not only do three senior starters return in Brandon Granville, Sam Clancy and David Bluthenthal, but sophomore Desmon Farmer brings 16 starts to the table and junior center Kostas Charissis has 14 starts to his credit. Overall, USC has 66.2% of its scoring back, 56.6% of its rebounding, 76.4% of its three-pointers, 58.9% of its blocks and 66.0% of its steals. USC CAREER SCORING CHART 1. 2,048 Harold Miner (87 games) ,727 Ronnie Coleman (116) ,524 Wayne Carlander (116) ,484 John Rudometkin (81) ,483 Derrick Dowell (119) ,441 Brian Scalabrine (92) ,423 John Block (79) ,341 Lorenzo Orr (114) ,318 Gus Williams (82) ,248 Stais Boseman (105) ,247 Purvis Miller (90) ,211 Ron Holmes (111) ,204 Maurice Williams (111) ,168 Allen Young (77) ,128 Jeff Trepagnier (106) ,127 Don Carfino (101) ,116 Jaha Wilson (111) ,107 Bill Sharman (82) ,107 Ron Riley (78) ,099 Sam Clancy (84) ,085 Paul Westphal (66) ,073 Roy Irvin (84) ,061 Brandon Granville (95) ,020 Dan Anderson (83) ,007 Joe Mackey (77) Bill Hewitt (51) Gordon Martin (78) David Bluthenthal (87) THIRD S A CHARM (AGAIN) For the second consecutive year, the Trojans were picked to finish third in the Pacific-10 Conference men s basketball race, according to a poll of media members who cover Pac-10 men s basketball. UCLA, which received 24 of the 27 possible first-place votes, was tabbed as the favorite for the season (267 points). Stanford (222) was picked second and received one first-place vote. USC (208) was third without receiving any first-place votes. Arizona (200) was fourth and received two first-place votes. California (161) was fifth, followed by Oregon (117), Arizona State (111), Oregon State (95), Washington State (57) and Washington (47). PAC-10 HALL OF HONOR The conference announced that it will honor 10 former basketball coaches and student-athletes with their induction into the Pac-10 Hall of Honor during the 2002 Pac-10 Tournament. Trojan All-American Bill Sharman is USC s inductee. The others are Sean Elliott (Arizona), Byron Scott (Arizona State), Pete Newell (California), John Dick (Oregon), Gary Payton (Oregon State), Hank Luisetti (Stanford), John Wooden (UCLA), Bob Houbregs (Washington) and Craig Ehlo (Washington State). Sharman was an eight-time NBA All-Star and played on four NBA championship teams with the Boston Celtics. As a coach, he was the only one to ever have led teams to titles in three professional leagues: the ABL (Cleveland Pipers, 1962), ABA (Utah Stars, 1970) and NBA (Los Angeles Lakers, 1972). As general manager and president of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1970s and 1980s, he helped them to five more NBA titles. As a player, he turned free throw shooting into an art and never shot worse than.800 from the line in any NBA season Pac-10 Standings (as of ) Pac-10 Overall W L W L Arizona California Stanford Oregon Washington USC UCLA Wash. State Oregon State Arizona State Rankings ESPN/USA Today (Nov. 26) 1. Duke 2. Illinois 3. Arizona 4. Maryland 5. Missouri 6. Florida 7. Kansas 8. Virginia 9. Stanford 10. Syracuse 11. UCLA 12. Oklahoma State 13. Iowa 14. Kentucky 15. Boston College 16. Georgetown 17. Michigan State 18. Western Kentucky 19. Memphis 20. Fresno State 21. St. Joseph s 22. Alabama 23. Wake Forest 24. Indiana 25. Ball State AP (Nov. 26) 1. Duke 2. Illinois 3. Missouri 4. Arizona 5. Maryland 6. Florida 7. Iowa 8. Kansas 9. Virginia 10. UCLA 11. Stanford 12. Syracuse 13. Kentucky 14. Oklahoma State 15. Boston College 16. Ball State 17. Western Ky. 18. Georgetown 19. St. Joseph s 20. Memphis 21. Alabama 22. Michigan State 23. Marquette 24. Fresno State 25. Wake Forest USC Ranking by Week ESPN/ AP USA Today Preseason Nov Nov (28) Nov (28) - (29) Consecutive weeks ranked by (in ): AP - (season-high was 14) ESPN/ USA Today - (season-high was 15) TROJANS VS TOURNAMENT TEAMS The Trojans are guaranteed to face only five teams from the 2001 NCAA Tournament and four are from the Pac-10: UCLA, Arizona, California and Stanford. The other is Fresno State. USC faced one NIT team from last year already in Wyoming and has another one down the road in Pepperdine. In fact, those two teams squared off in the first round of the NIT last year with the Waves prevailing.

5 PAC-10 CAREER ASSIST LEADERS Gary Payton (OSU) Pooh Richardson (UCLA) Russell Brown (Arizona) Brevin Knight (Stanford) Damon Stoudamire (Ariz.) Tyus Edney (UCLA) Darrick Martin (UCLA) Brandon Granville (USC) Kenya Wilkins (Oregon) Earl Watson (UCLA) TROJANS VS. PRESEASON TOP 25 TEAMS Only a handful of teams in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Preseason Top 25 polls loom ahead for the Trojans. In fact, the only preseason ranked teams on USC s schedule are UCLA, Stanford and Fresno State. Arizona, left off of both polls, returned quickly to the rankings however after the first week and should be added to the slate. Wyoming, USC s first opponent, chimed in at No. 35 on the ESPN/ USA Today Poll to start the year. A (BRIEF) LOOK BACK AT LAST YEAR The new millennium was good to USC basketball. The Trojans reached their first Elite Eight since 1954 and enjoyed their first 20-win season since They opened in the preseason Top 25 for the first time since the season, reached as high as No. 12 in the polls for the first time since hitting No. 8 in 1992 and had four players (Brian Scalabrine, Jeff Trepagnier, Sam Clancy and Brandon Granville) crack the 1,000-point barrier. USC s 10 home wins to open this year were its most in a row to start a season since The Trojans, who played the first 12 games of the season without Trepagnier because of injuries and suspensions, still won their first eight games, including a win over No. 18 Utah that propelled USC to a season-best No. 12 in the rankings. USC s first defeat came in a one-point overtime loss to Top-25 Mississippi in the Yahoo! Sports Invitational in Laie, Hawaii. The next game, however, the Trojans made up for the loss by erasing an 18-point halftime deficit against BYU. USC finished the non-conference slate 10-2 and opened the Pac-10 with a pair of home wins against the Washington schools. The Trojans were brought down to earth a bit after falling at UCLA and losing a hard-fought battle at Arizona. But USC then won three in a row, defeating Arizona State on the road and taking care of the Oregon schools at home. The Trojans next travelled to top-ranked Stanford and trailed by three with a minute to go, but fell by six. USC responded to the loss with a convincing win at Cal two days later. The momentum slowed at that point as the Trojans lost three of their next four games, falling to UCLA, defeating Arizona State at home before losing consecutively to Arizona at home and Oregon State on the road. The Trojans then found themselves in Eugene where, down by 12 with five minutes to play, they stormed back to force overtime in an eventual win. USC once again played No. 1 Stanford to the final buzzer (losing by two when Granville 2002 USC Double-Doubles (4) PTS REB AST OPP Sam Clancy (3) Wyoming at Fresno St UCSB Brandon Granville (1) UCSB was unable to get a shot off as time expired) and then completed a season sweep of Cal two days later. USC finished off the regular season with trouncings at Washington and Washington State. It opened the 2001 NCAA Tournament with an win over Oklahoma State and followed it with a win over Boston College to earn a trip to the Sweet 16. The Trojans then defeated Kentucky, 80-76, setting up their final game of the year vs. Duke in the East Regional Final. USC fell to the Blue Devils, 79-69, losing to the eventual national champions. A LOOK BACK AT LAST YEAR S NCAA TOURNAMENT USC s appearance in the East Regional Final of the 2001 NCAA Tournament against Duke marked the first team Troy had reached the round of eight since The only other time USC was among the final eight teams was The No. 6-seed Trojans used wins over No. 11-seed Oklahoma State and No. 3-seed Boston College in Long Island, N.Y., to advance to the Sweet 16. Then, in Philadelphia, USC downed No. 2-seed Kentucky to reach the East Regional Final, where it fell to top-seed and eventual NCAA Champion Duke. Sam Clancy, David Bluthenthal and Brian Scalabrine all earned East Regional All-NCAA Tournament Team honors. SCALABRINE AND TREPAGNIER GO TO THE NBA Among the components that will need to be replaced from last year s squad are forward/center Brian Scalabrine and guard Jeff Trepagnier. Scalabrine, USC s sixth-leading scorer ever, and Trepagnier, the Trojans 15th-top scorer in school history, were both drafted in the second round of the NBA draft. Scalabrine, USC s second-leading scorer last year (14.7), went 35th to the New Jersey Nets and Trepagnier went 36th to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Also gone from last year s team was top reserve Jarvis Turner, who signed a contract to play overseas. USC is also without graduated guard Tyler Murphy as well as center Luke Minor (academics) and Nate Hair (left team). USC INFORMATION OUTLETS TROJANS ON THE WEB Current and historical USC men s basketball information as well as news and features can be found on the internet at: The Pacific-10 Conference web site address is: TROJANS ON TELEVISION Date Opponent Outlet Time 11/13 Wyoming ESPN 6 p.m. 11/26 UCSB FSN2 7:30 p.m. 12/6 Pepperdine FSW2 9 p.m. 12/12 at Long Beach St. FSW 7:35 p.m. 12/16 Miami (Ohio) FSW 3 p.m. 12/22 at LMU FSW 7:30 p.m. 12/29 at Wash. St. FS NET 4 p.m. 1/6 Washington FSN2 6 p.m. 1/10 UCLA FS NET 7:30 p.m. 1/17 at Arizona FS NET 8:30 p.m. 1/19 at Arizona State ABC 4 p.m. 1/24 * California FSN2 7:30 p.m. delayed to 9:30 1/26 * Stanford ABC 3 p.m. 2/2 * at Oregon FS NET 3 p.m. 2/6 * at UCLA FSN2 7:30 p.m. 2/16 * Arizona ABC 3 p.m. 2/21 * at Stanford FS NET 7:30 p.m. 2/23 * at California FS NET 3 p.m. 2/28 * Oregon FSN2 7:30 p.m. delayed to 9:30 3/2 * Oregon State FS NET 5 p.m. All times local to site. TROJANS ON THE RADIO All of USC s games will be broadcast by KMPC- AM Sports USC affiliates carrying Trojan basketball include KPLS-AM 830 in Orange and KRLV-AM 1340 in Las Vegas. TROJAN BROADCASTS ON THE WEB Fans can listen to USC games live on the internet as a cybercast (www. usctrojans.com). Click on the men s hoops page to access the live feeds. PAC-10 MEDIA TELECONFERENCES The Pac-10 media teleconferences will begin on Thursday, Dec. 13. Starting Tuesday, Jan. 8 through Feb. 26, the Pac-10 will conduct the remaining nine calls. Media can call the Pac-10 at for the call-in number. To listen to the taped replay, call (402) The men s coaches begin at 10:35 a.m. and Henry Bibby s time slot begins at 11:31 a.m. PRONUNCIATION GUIDE David Bluthenthal... blooth-in-thall Gennaro Busterna. JUH-nair-oh Buh-STIR-nuh Konstantinos Charissis...HA-riss-iss Jerry Dupree... doo-pree

6 HENRY BIBBY Henry Bibby, a coach with 19 years of college and professional experience and the only player to ever play for an NCAA, NBA and CBA championship team, is in his sixth full season in as the head coach of the USC men s basketball program. This past year he guided the Trojans to their first ever NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearance under the tournament s current format and led USC to its fourth winning season and third postseason berth (two NCAA, one NIT) under his watch... With the Trojans on the rise, Bibby was rewarded with a three-year contract extension on Aug. 4, 2000, which will take him through the season... In 2001, Bibby led USC to perhaps its greatest season ever. In their second NCAA Tournament appearance under Bibby, the No. 6-seeded Trojans reached the East Regional Final before losing to Duke. USC s three NCAA Tournament wins (against No. 11 seed Oklahoma State, No. 2 seed Boston College and No. 3 seed Kentucky) were its most ever in one tourney and the Trojans final record of matched the most wins ever in one season at USC. The Trojans finished 11-7 in the Pac-10 (tied for fourth place)... The Trojans landmark team that Bibby guided featured a pair of NBA draft picks in forward/center Brian Scalabrine and guard Jeff Trepagnier. The pair was taken back-to-back in the second round of the 2001 draft, Scalabrine going to New Jersey with the 35th pick while Trepagnier went 36th to Cleveland. They were the second and third Trojans taken in the NBA draft since Bibby has been at USC (the first was Rodrick Rhodes in 1997)... In his five years as head coach, Bibby has been instrumental in player development and has guided seven players to a combined nine All- Pac-10 honors and four players to All-Pac-10 Freshman honors. Two Trojans (Rhodes and Scalabrine) have also earned the Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year award and another (Elias Ayuso) earned Pac-10 All-Newcomer first team notice. Six of USC s top 25 scorers of all time have played under Bibby. SAM CLANCY Senior forward 6-foot pounds Sam Clancy, an All-American, Wooden and Naismith Award candidate in 2002, is one of the Pac-10 s top offensive and defensive threats and is equally adept from the post, the wing or the top of the key. A major shot-blocking and rebounding presence in the paint, Clancy is in his fourth year as a starting forward. Clancy is USC s all-time leading shotblocker (152). He has started 74 of his 84 games at USC. He is 20th on USC s career scoring chart with 1,099 career points and was the 25th Trojan ever to reach the millennium milestone. Clancy leads USC is scoring (17.7) and rebounding (11.7) and has a team-high five blocks. He has opened the 2002 season with three consecutive double-doubles: 22 points and 12 rebounds against Wyoming, 13 points and 12 rebounds against Fresno State and 18 points and 11 rebounds against UC Santa Barbara. He has 21 for his career. Clancy earned 2001 Pacific-10 Conference, Sporting News Pac-10, NABC District 15 and USBWA District 9 first-team honors as a junior forward, leading USC in scoring (17.3), rebounding (7.5), field goal percentage (.501) and blocked shots (81). He set a school season record for rejections (81) last year. His 588 points on the season were the fifth-most in school history and his 255 rebounds were the 14th most ever at USC. He had a team-high nine double-doubles on the season and scored at least 20 points a team-high 11 times. Clancy earned 2001 East Regional All- NCAA Tournament Team honors as he led USC in scoring (18.0), rebounding (10.8) and blocks (4.0) in the Trojans four NCAA Tournament games. He had 22 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks against Oklahoma State, 14 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks vs. Boston College, 17 points and seven rebounds vs. Kentucky and 19 points and 11 boards vs. Duke. He posted career highs of 31 points twice, once in the season-opener vs. Bradley and again at UCLA (to go with 13 rebounds). Clancy was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 25-Jan. 1. He averaged 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.5 blocks and 2.5 steals in USC s loss at Northwestern and win over Long Beach State. After the 2001 season, Clancy declared for the NBA draft, but did not sign with an agent, allowing him the option to return to school. Before he removed his name from the draft list, he participated in a three-day NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago, where he was the leading scorer (42 points) and rebounder (28). (J.A. Adande of the Los Angeles Times): (Sam) can score inside or deftly pass to (former teammate Brian) Scalabrine from the high post. He makes the 18-foot jump shot from the baseline or beyond the free throw line. He snatches rebounds at rim level and blocks shots inside or on the perimeter. (Joe Juliano of the Philadelphia Inquirer): Sam Clancy resembles a tight end on the basketball court. At 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds, he s not someone who s easy to hide. (Trojan teammate David Bluthenthal): Teams will try to trash-talk him, but you can t really get to Sam. When I guard him in practice, I talk at him and he talks back to me, but it doesn t affect the way he plays. You can t really faze him. The Trojans When At the Sports Arena On the Road At a Neutral Site Scoring First Leading at Halftime Trailing at Halftime Tied at Halftime Leading or Tied with 5:00 Left Trailing with 5:00 Left In Overtime In Double Overtime Scoring Less Than 70 Points Scoring Between Points Scoring Between Points Scoring Between Points Scoring More Than 100 Points Trojans in Double Figures Trojans in Double Figures Trojans in Double Figures Trojans in Double Figures Trojans or less in Double Figures USC 50% or Better from Field USC Under 50% from Field USC Outrebounds Opponent Opponent Outrebounds USC (or tied) USC Has More Turnovers Opponent Has More Turnovers (or tied) USC Has More Assists Opponent Has More Assists (or tied) The Last Time A Trojan... Scored 40 or More Points... Harold Miner (43), 11/25/91 Scored 30 or More Points...Sam Clancy (31), 1/11/01 Got 15 or More Rebounds...Brian Scalabrine (15), 3/8/01 Had 10 or More Assists...Brandon Granville (10), 11/26/01 Had a 20-Point, 20-Rebound Game... Derrick Dowell (24, 21), 2/1/85 The Last Time the Trojans... Scored 100 or More Points...vs. Bradley (107), 11/18/00 Allowed 100 or More Points... vs. Arizona (105), 2/17/01 Had 50 or More Rebounds... at Fresno State (53), 11/15/01 Allowed 50 or More Rebounds... vs. Stanford (#2) (50), 2/5/00 Had 25 or More Assists... vs. Memphis (25), 11/23/99 Made 15 or More Steals... at Washington (15), 1/8/00 5 or More Score in Double Figures... vs. UCLA (5), 2/8/01 Beat an Opponent by 20 or More... at Washington (29), 3/8/01 Beat a Ranked Opponent... vs. Kentucky (AP #9) 80-76, 3/22/01 Beat a Top-10 Ranked Opponent... vs. Kentucky (AP #9) 80-76, 3/22/01 Beat a Top-5 Ranked Opponent... vs. Arizona (AP #2) 80-72, 1/22/00

7 DAVID BLUTHENTHAL Senior forward 6-foot pounds David Bluthenthal, among 50 Preseason Wooden Award candidates, returns for his third year as a starting small forward in 2002 and is one of the top all-around threats in the Pac-10. One of the league s premier three-point shooters, he s also an aggressive rebounder who led the Trojans in that category as a sophomore. Bluthenthal has started 62 of his 87 games at USC. He is tied for 10th on USC s career three-point chart (114). He also shares the Trojan record for most rebounds in a game (28). Bluthenthal broke out of his shooting slump against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 26. Midway through the second half, he was still 0-for-10 on the season, but got hot quickly and made five three-pointers in the final 12 minutes and finished with a game-high 19 points. He is tied for second on the team in scoring (10.3) and is second in rebounding (8.0). Bluthenthal was USC s second-leading rebounder (6.8) and third-leading scorer (13.5) as a junior in He led the Trojans in threepoint percentage (65-of-159,.409) and total three-pointers and was second on the team in steals (50). His 65 three-pointers was the sixth-most ever in a season at USC. He earned 2001 East Regional All-NCAA Tournament Team honors by averaging 16.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in the postseason. After going scoreless in the tourney opener against Oklahoma State, Bluthenthal came back to score 20 points vs. Boston College, 27 points vs. Kentucky (including 5-of-6 free throws in the final 30 seconds) and had 17 points and 13 rebounds vs. Duke. Bluthenthal, named to the 2001 Jewish Sports Review All-America first team, tied a career- and season-high with 29 points at Oregon. He also had five three-pointers and set a career high with five steals. He led USC in rebounding (or tied for teamhigh honors) 15 times last year and had four consecutive double-doubles against Utah, Cal State Northridge, UC Santa Barbara and Pepperdine. Bluthenthal earned his second career Pac- 10 Player of the Week honor after the doubles vs. UCSB and CSUN. Including a streak of 33 free throws in a row continued from his sophomore year, Bluthenthal set USC and Pac-10 record for consecutive free throws at 41. Bluthenthal also owned the Pac-10 record for consecutive in-league free throws at 42. Both Pac-10 marks, however, were broken by Stanford s Ryan Mendez... Bluthenthal was named to the 2001 U.S. team for the World Maccabiah Games, but did not play. What a fan told his dad, Ralph, following Bluthenthal s Dennis Rodman-esque 28 rebounds vs. Arizona State in 2000: He said he was expecting to see a big guy with green hair and they saw me instead. (Todd Harmonson, of the Orange County Register): He has become USC s most dependable starter and made the transformation from the player no one knew to the one no one dares to ignore. BRANDON GRANVILLE Senior guard 5-foot pounds Brandon Granville is USC s all-time leader in assists (the Pac-10 s active leader, tied for ninth in league history) and is starting at point guard for the Trojans for his fourth season in One of the most effective playmakers in Pac-10 history, Granville is also one of USC s all-time three-point threats and one of two 1,000- point scorers on the team. Granville is USC s first four-year starting point guard since Jacque Hill ( ). He has started 92 of his 95 games at USC. He is first on USC s career chart in assists (617), second in three-pointers (167) and is third in steals (182). He has 1,061 career points, 23rd most ever at USC. He was the 24th player in school history to eclipse 1,000 points. He is one of only four Trojans ever to have at least 150 career threepointers. Had his first double-double of the season with 10 assists and 12 points vs. UCSB. In the 2002 opener, he had 11 points, five assists and three steals in 31 minutes. At Fresno State, he had eight points, seven assists and six rebounds. Last season, Granville led the Pac-10 in assists (6.1) for the second consecutive year and finished as USC fourth-leading scorer (12.4). Granville s 207 assists last year were the second-most ever in a season at USC, behind only his school season record of 248 set as a sophomore. His 2001 NCAA Tournament highlights included 14 points, four steals and five assists against Oklahoma State and nine points and six assists versus Boston College. He also had eight assists vs. Kentucky and seven against Duke. Granville s 64 three-pointers on the season were the seventh-most in school history. He scored a season-high 22 points at Arizona State, going 4-of-6 on three-pointers and making 8-of-8 from the foul line. He matched the effort vs. Cal, scoring 22 points, making four three-pointers and going 6-of-6 from the charity stripe As a sophomore in 2000, Granville dished out more assists than any USC guard in school history (and the third most ever in the Pac-10) when he had 248 en route to All-Pac-10 honorable mention honors. He led the Pac-10 in assists (8.3, fourth nationally), was fourth in steals (2.1) and 10th in free throw percentage (.786). Granville set a USC single-game record with 15 assists against Memphis in the Maui Invitational (tied for sixth-best in Pac-10 history). (Former teammate Brian Scalabrine): Everything happens for us when Brandon is in control of the basketball. And we re out of sync without him. In this league, everything begins, offensively and defensively, with your point guard. USC CAREER BLOCKED SHOTS CHART Sam Clancy Lorenzo Orr Rod Keller Jeff Trepagnier Avondre Jones , Chris Munk Brian Scalabrine David Crouse , Charlie Simpson Ronnie Coleman Derrick Dowell USC CAREER STEALS CHART Stais Boseman Jeff Trepagnier Brandon Granville Derrick Dowell Mark Boyd Ronnie Coleman Rich Grande Larry Friend Harold Miner Elias Ayuso USC CAREER ASSISTS CHART Brandon Granville Larry Friend Duane Cooper , Jacque Hill Gus Williams USC CAREER 3-POINT FG CHART Harold Miner Brandon Granville Elias Ayuso Phil Glenn Stais Boseman Anthony Pendleton Dwayne Hackett Burt Harris Adam Spanich t.114 David Bluthenthal t. 114 Duane Cooper , Rodney Chatman Brandon Martin Andy Olivarez Jeff Trepagnier Cameron Murray Brad Winslow Rich Grande

8 USC Starting Lineups Farmer Granville Clancy Dupree Curtis 11/13/01 W Farmer Granville Clancy Dupree Curtis 11/15/01 L Bluthenthal Granville Clancy Dupree Bluthenthal 11/26/01 W DESMON FARMER Sophomore guard 6-foot pounds Desmon Farmer is a 2002 sophomore with a great scoring touch and a fiery defensive presence who looks to start this year. Starting at shooting guard, Farmer had 10 points and five rebounds in the 2002 opener against Wyoming. He also started at Fresno State, but scored only two points in 16 minutes. He had seven points off the bench against UCSB. Farmer started 16 of 32 games as a 2001 freshman guard last year, most of his starts coming in place of Jeff Trepagnier, who was out for the first half of last season. Farmer averaged 6.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in 18.8 minutes per game last year. He started in 15 of his first 16 games, averaging 9.1 points through the first half of the season. When Trepagnier returned, Farmer became a key reserve off the bench. He scored a career-high 24 points and had three assists in USC s Pac-10 opener vs. Washington State. He had 21 points and a career-best nine rebounds against CSUN. He scored 14 points in 26 minutes vs. then-no. 8 Arizona at home and 14 points and seven rebounds vs. Loyola Marymount. KOSTAS CHARISSIS Junior center 6-foot pounds Kostas Charissis, a native of Greece, is a 2002 junior who will look to have an increased role on this year s squad... His full first name is Konstantinos... Originally suspended for the Trojans first 15 regularseason games this season for a violation of NCAA amateurism rules, it was reduced to three games and he is now eligible to play. The original suspension stems from the fact that before he attended USC, Charissis played on a club team in Greece which included professional players. Even though he played as an amateur, this is an NCAA violation. Charissis will suit up for the first time this year at Bradley. Charissis played in 18 games as a sophomore reserve center in He averaged 1.2 points and 1.2 rebounds in 4.7 minutes per game He made his first start of the season vs. Washington. He scored four points in a season-high 12 minutes... He had four points vs. Long Beach State and Oregon State... He scored two points and had two rebounds in three minutes in USC s opener vs. Bradley. Charissis played in 26 of 30 games as a 2000 freshman center and started 13 times after injuries depleted USC s frontcourt, including the last 10 games in a row. He had by far his most productive game of his career as a freshman at No. 4 Arizona, posting career highs in points (nine), rebounds (eight), minutes (33), free throws made and attempted (3 of 4) and assists (four). ROBERT HUTCHINSON (RS) Junior guard 6-foot pounds Robert Hutchinson is back as a junior reserve in 2002 who figures to give the Trojans quality minutes behind starter Brandon Granville. Hutchinson saw his most action of the season against UCSB. Though he didn t attempt a shot, he had two assists and two rebounds in 13 minutes of action. He has three assists and no turnovers in the three games. Hutchinson played in every game as a reserve point guard as a 2001 sophomore, averaging 1.2 points in 7.4 minutes per game. He became a hero, however, with his play against Boston College in the second round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament. Filling in for Brandon Granville, who had fouled out, Hutchinson stepped in admirably, making 5-of-6 free throws in the final 77 seconds to go with two rebounds and a key assist, helping seal the win. He then played 12 minutes vs. Kentucky in the Sweet 16 and six minutes vs. Duke. He started his first game at Northwestern, but went scoreless in 14 minutes. He then started against Washington and scored two points in 19 minutes. Hutchinson had six points vs. then-no. 8 Arizona at home. GENNARO BUSTERNA Senior guard 6-foot pounds Gennaro Busterna is a senior who has a soft perimeter touch and will be looked on to provide offense off the bench in Busterna got in for the final few moments of USC s season opener, but did not attempt a shot. He also played a minute at the end of the Fresno State game, but went 0-for-2. Busterna came to USC as a JUCO transfer as a 2001 junior guard, but saw limited action off the bench Busterna played in eight games, but only averaged 1.9 minutes per contest and missed all seven of his field goal attempts Sidelined much of the season by a toe injury, Busterna began suiting up in the Washington State game, but did not make his debut until playing four minutes off the bench at Arizona, going scoreless... He played one minute at Arizona State and three minutes against Oregon State... He got in late against UCLA at the Sports Arena, but missed both of his threepoint attempts. Busterna spent the previous two seasons at McCook (Neb.) College. As a sophomore, Busterna was the 2000 Nebraska Junior College and Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference Player of the Year and earned 2000 All-Region 9 first team honors while leading McCook to a 25-6 record. JERRY DUPREE (RS) Sophomore forward 6-foot pounds Jerry Dupree, a sophomore forward, is in his first year with the Trojans after a year off from basketball when he was concentrating on academics at San Bernardino College. An extremely athletic player, Dupree figures to challenge for starting time at small forward. Dupree started at small forward in his Trojan debut against Wyoming. He scored 13 points in 37 minutes and added seven rebounds, three blocks and a handful of highlight dunks reminiscent of the graduated Jeff Trepagnier. He also started at Fresno State, scoring 12 points. He started his third game vs. UCSB, but went scoreless in only four minutes. Dupree played in 25 games, all as a reserve, as a 2000 freshman at College of Southern Idaho... He averaged 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 13.2 minutes per game... He shot.538 from the field (78-of-145) and was.647 from the foul line (22-of-34)... He had a season-high of 16 points. Dupree prepped at Valley View High in Moreno Valley, Calif., where he averaged 17.5 point, 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game as a senior in He earned All-CIF Southern Section Division 1-AA second team and All-San Bernardino County and All-Sunbelt League first team honors as a senior.