This week marks the end of Andy Enfield’s 11-year tenure at the University of Southern California as the men’s basketball head coach. He will soon assume the mantle of head coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas.
“Honestly, I’m sad to see Coach Enfield go,” Riley Haine, a sophomore majoring in business administration, said. “I feel like he put USC basketball back on the map. He was able to recruit big names, but also win big games.”
Along with Coach Enfield’s decision to go to SMU, a number of key Trojan players have entered their names into the NCAA Transfer Portal, including sophomore shooting guard Oziyah Sellers, sophomore forward Kijani Wright, and junior guard Kobe Johnson who announced Thursday he was committing to cross-town rival UCLA.
And while there has not been a formal announcement, speculation around freshman guard Bronny James has also begun to circulate, with his father Lakers forward LeBron James fielding questions after Tuesday’s win over the Toronto Raptors.
“I don’t know where it came from, but at the end of the day, Bronny is his own man and he has some tough decisions to make and when he’s ready to make those decisions, he’ll let us all know,” the L.A. Times reported he said in a post-game interview. “But as his family, we’re going to support whatever he does.”
During his time coaching for the Trojans, Enfield had six players drafted in the NBA draft, three of them in the first round with two in the Top 10. Enfield also led the Trojans to five March Madness Tournament selections and one Sweet Sixteen run, but after a disappointing year with a top-three recruiting class, Enfield and the university decided to part ways.
“It looked like he could recruit pretty well and develop the players pretty well, but every time they would go into a game, the offense looked stagnant and their sets didn’t look great,” Jaden Frazier, a freshman engineering major, said. “But, I am excited for the new coaching coming in.”
The new coach is former Arkansas men’s basketball Head Coach, Eric Musselman, whose California roots date back to the 1980s when he played for the University of San Diego. During his tenure at Arkansas, Musselman led the Razorbacks to back-to-back Elite 8 performances in 2021 and 2022, along with a handful of Sweet Sixteen appearances.
With this big announcement, many Trojans have been given a newfound sense of hope regarding our men’s basketball program.
“Looking at our offense this year, there were too many dead plays. Boogie would have to come up with something and do everything last second,” Zaid Ahmed, a sophomore computer science/business administration major, said. “I do think it was time for him to leave, and I’m happy that we brought in a new coach.”
A formal press conference introducing Musselman to the wider UCS community is set for Friday morning at 10:30 in the Galen Center. Along with having to recruit players to make up for transfer portal losses, Musselman will also be the first head coach to lead the Trojans into the Big-10 Conference.