Why is USC Trojans Basketball Always Overlooked?

UCLA Bruins has always been a basketball school while on the other side USC Trojans has been the football school.

At least, that is the perspective of many Los Angeles collegiate sports observers. Though simplistic, it also represents a reality. UCLA has rafters full of championship banners while the Trojans have a robust history on the gridiron.

The USC Basketball team, in its third season under high-profile hire Andy Enfield, is starting to change some minds. They recently reappeared in the Top 25, their first appearance in the poll since 2008. The last appearance was also last year under Enfield.

This iteration of the could Trojans be laying the groundwork for USC to muscle their way into the intra-city conversation. They are undefeated in nine contests, and appear to be headed into conference play with a spotless resume with three eminently winnable games ahead (Troy, Cornell, Missouri State).

After losing three of their five leading scorers from a tournament-bound team, the team figured to start the season with a few hiccups. Under Enfield’s guidance, that has yet to occur.

Behind Elijah Stewart (17.1 points per game, 5.8 rebounds) and Jordan McLaughlin (12.6 ppg, 5 assists), the Trojans feature five players in double figures in a rotation that runs ten-deep. Though the team plays at a great pace, averaging 82.7 points per game, the defense has been the impetus for the recent great play. They are 18th in the nation in blocks and winning games by an average of 15.9 points.

So why, exactly, can’t the Trojans fill the Galen Center? The lens of history is not too kind to the Trojans. They reached the NCAA Tournament only eight times in the past 25 seasons. And the Galen Center, the $147 million arena, is less than a decade old but is often nearly empty. The Trojans still averaged 4,606 fans in the 10,258-seat building in 2016.

The Tim Floyd Era showed promise, as the Trojans made three consecutive tournament appearances. Floyd, however, left for the NBA and the USC program floundered under Kevin O’Neill and Bob Cantu. Enfield’s hiring from the energetic and upset-minded Florida Gulf Coast University has injected competitiveness and fast pace into the Trojan mindset, and seems to be paying dividends.

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The undefeated Trojans are primed for a breakthrough this year, but to compete in a city where UCLA Basketball is King, they need to make major headway in the tournament to gain the attention they crave.