LOS ANGELES - Kevin O'Neill took over Southern California's troubled basketball program on Monday, promising to try to win next season under the weight of an NCAA investigation and the departures of three starters and several recruits.
"There's nothing here that says you can't win and that's why I like this job," the former Tennessee coach said after being introduced by athletic director Mike Garrett at a campus news conference.
The 52-year-old coach returns to the college ranks after spending last season as an assistant with the Memphis Grizzles.
"My attraction to the job was simple, it's USC, " he said. "They major in graduation and championships here, two pretty good things."
The titles, however, belong to the powerhouse football program and to sports other than basketball, which was on the upswing until Tim Floyd resigned suddenly on June 9 amid allegations that he paid to have O.J. Mayo play for him at USC.
During Floyd's four seasons, the Trojans reached the NCAA tournament the last three seasons and won the school's first Pac-10 tournament title.
O'Neill said he has no qualms about taking over during tough times. He said Garrett told him everything he needs to know.
"I was taking the job no matter what. I wanted the job from the beginning because it's USC," he said.
"The fact that there's an investigation going on never changed my view of the university at all. We're going to deal with whatever comes out of this and be positive and move forward."
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Comments » 5
CoverOrange writes:
What he said: "I wanted the job from the beginning because it's USC"
What he really was thinking: "I took the job because the athletic director is not named Doug Dickey."
stayingorange writes:
No worries about O'Neill ever offering to pay a player to score points - maybe for defense, but definitely not offense.
Slystone writes:
Wonder what the Vegas pool is running on how long he'll be at USC?
FeelVol writes:
What was the deal with O'Neil and I believe it was Isaih Victor? Was he forced to redshirt or was it an issue with his grades? Just wondering.
CoverOrange writes:
Rumor was that Dickey made a deal with the NCAA to clear a football player for Phil that sacrificed Victor to greyshirt. ONeill stormed out of town shortly thereafter. No evidence to the veracity but there was some stories about Victor's eligibility being questioned.
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