Beginning Monday, June 21st, 2004 CHN began unveiling 144 Team previews in 144 Days. CHN ranked the nations top 144 teams, and is unveiling one per day leading up until the opening day of the 2004-05 Season.

Bookmark the 144 Teams in 144 Days home page, and check back each day to see which team is previewed next.

#64 Southern California Trojans
Pac 10
2003-04: 13-15, 8-10, 6th
2003-04 postseason: none

By Joel Welser

Missing the post season entirely is never acceptable in Southern California.  The Trojans will have to depend on a large group of talented seniors in order to go dancing this year.  The team should improve on their 13-15 record, but going far in the Pac 10 will be more difficult than last year, with the conference improving overall.

Who’s Out: Desmon Farmer is the only major loss for the Trojans.  The 6-5 shooting guard led the team in points averaging 19.4, while managing to grab 4.6 boards per outing.  It won’t be easy replacing the senior leader, but a large group of new seniors shouldn’t have a problem leading the team.  Roydell Smiley was injured last year and is injured again this year.  He missed all of the 2003-2004 season with knee and leg injuries and suffered an ACL injury that should sideline him for the entire 2004-2005 campaign.  There is a large group of little used players that have either run out of eligibility or are not on the roster for the 2004-2005 season.  Jonathan Oliver is the only one who saw significant minutes last year playing in 18 games.  The others include Quinton Day, Joe Buck, Edward Chang, Greg Gaudino and Andrew Moore.

Who’s In: Henry Bibby’s class took a hit when Robert Swift went to the NBA and Bienvenu Songondo who backed out of his commitment to the men of Troy.  Swift would have made this a great class, but it is still a good one as it is.  Point guard Gabriel Pruitt is a great talent.  At 6-4, he can play the point, two-guard or even small forward.  His versatility should give him the chance to see a lot of minutes.  Another point guard in Dwayne Shackleford should see some significant minutes right away.  The junior college transfer averaged 21.4 points per game at Allegany College in Maryland last year.  More backcourt help is on the way in Nick Young.  The 6-6 swingman has a great range and is a sturdy defender.  In his senior year of high school, Young had 48 steals and 41 blocks.  Emanuel Willis is a big, strong power forward.  He is agile for a 6-8, 220 pound guy and should help provide another dominating rebounding force under the basket for USC.

Who to Watch: With a team full of senior leadership; with Errick Craven and Derrick Craven in the backcourt and Jeff McMillan, Gregg Guenther, Nick Curtis and Rory O’Neil in the frontcourt, it is tough to figure out who will step up and be the go to guy.  Any or all of them could, and all will, have an impact on the Trojan’s season.  It could be Jeff McMillan who is asked to do the most though.  The 6-8, 260-pounder sat out the 2002-2003 season after transferring from Fordham and had a great debut year in the Pac 10, racking up 11.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last year.  McMillan battled for ten double-doubles on the season, including five in the last seven games of the year.  If there was an adjustment period after transferring, it was gone by the end of the season.  McMillan will be a huge force in the Pac 10 if he continues where he left off last year.

Projected Conference Rank: Losing Desmon Farmer hurts, but this team is experienced.  They will find a way to make it back to the post season.  Finishing 6th in the conference again isn’t bad and USC could be a bubble team down the stretch before having to settle for the NIT.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT

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