2005 USC Trojans Basketball Preview

2005 USC Trojans Team Preview

The USC Trojans finished dead last in the PAC-10 in 2004-05 and they lost their starting center and forwards, and their key subs. Tim Floyd, who has spent 12 years as an NCAA coach and scored a 243-130 record, is in his first year at USC. When he arrived at USC Floyd found that he had a lot of work to do and not a lot of raw material with which to do it.

This past spring as Floyd started to coach his new team he discovered he a total of four players. He’d lost six seniors plus two underclassmen who transferred. Floyd did the only thing he could do; he started recruiting.

Sophomores Nick Young and Gabriel Pruitt did return and they brought back all of their talent and a year of college ball experience. Both were exceptionally impressive in their freshmen years, with guard/forward Young averaging 11.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest and Pruitt, at guard, hitting for 12.3 points per game and dumping in 45.0% of his 3-pointers. Junior Lodrick Stewart, also at guard, was good for an average of 12.1 points each night.

Seven new players, two of whom were found at community colleges, will join these three reliable teammates. Floyd will have two first year guys starting at the forward positions—Jeremy Barr and RouSean Cromwell. Barr can shoot, averaging 19 points a game at his Houston prep school, and Cromwell, who was highly recruited by first-rate programs, offers a large frame (6’ 10” and 215 pounds) and can play the boards and score.

Backing up this starting five will be a slew of frosh and transfers, all ably providing the Trojans with versatility and energy. The fact that Floyd has so few veterans on his squad can be seen as both a negative and a positive. The negative is the obvious lack of experience this team has. The positive is that Floyd has quickly been able to assemble a team that reflects his philosophy and style of play. When all is said and done, whether this team finishes in the PAC-10 with a record of 5-13 again or ends up 13-5, it will be a team of first year coach Tim Floyd’s own making.

For more info on the 2005 Trojans check out the official USC athletic site.