Enfield’s success silences his critics
The timing of USC men’s basketball’s rather quick ascent back to the top of the Pac-12 standings and national polls doesn’t come as a complete surprise.
Two and a half years ago, I had the chance to sit down with former assistant coach Dieter Horton to discuss the future of USC basketball just a few months after a gap-toothed coach on the rise out of Fort Myers, Florida, was tapped on the shoulder to take on the intricate task of leading Trojans hoops back to regional and national relevancy.
At the time, Horton, who was about to enter his fourth season at USC as a special assistant, said that it would likely take three years to rebuild the program.
“No program is transformed overnight and it could take a few years before we get to where we want to be, which is ultimately the Elite Eight or Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament,” Horton said in August 2013. The Trojans haven’t accomplished either of those feats in just shy of a decade, and given that the team finished a subpar 14-18 under the combined direction of Kevin O’Neill and Bob Cantu the season prior, that benchmark seemed somewhat unrealistic.
Horton is now the head coach at Cal State Los Angeles, but he was actually right on cue about where the program would be at this point in juncture — back on the national forefront.
Enter stage right Andy Enfield, who in year three, just as Horton predicted, has USC basketball back in the Top 25 for the first time since 2008, ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll earlier this week.
It still hasn’t really set in that after a couple of 20-plus loss seasons and last place Pac-12 finishes, the Trojans now sit atop the conference. In the process, they’ve boasted impressive wins over ranked teams in Arizona and Wichita State, in addition to on the road over crosstown rival UCLA.
Finally, USC is being crowned as a basketball school, but let’s not forget that a lot of fans began to doubt Enfield’s ability to lead the Trojans toward the end of last season, some calling him a “fraud” or “Flunk City.”
At a time, the team had lost nine consecutive games in conference, and meanwhile, hundreds of comments flooded USC sports blogs, calling for Enfield’s job and Athletic Director Pat Haden’s as well for hiring him.
“Of course, no sane person would have hired a totally undistinguished coach of what was basically a high school team to head a major D-I program with a top recruiting budget, $40 million new arena, in the middle of [a] basketball recruiting hotbed. But Haden did it anyway,” one comment read.
But look who’s laughing now…
For one, after all of the criticism Haden has taken over the years for his hiring (and firing) of head football coaches, Enfield’s success has to be seen, for the time being, as a tremendous victory for him.
When Haden and I met in October, he described the hiring of Enfield as a “venture capital bet” — a suitable double entendre funny because Enfield also used to be a very successful businessman and financier.
“I felt that in basketball, we could really take a venture capital risk with a guy who was on the rise and I think it, ultimately, will play off,” Haden said.
It took some time, but surely, it has. Most importantly, through thick and thin, Enfield has stayed true to his word and coaching philosophy.
In a sit-down interview with USC professor Jeff Fellenzer back in September 2013, Enfield told students that his team was going to play fun and play fast.
“We will spread the floor in a San Antonio Spurs-like half-court offense and just try to put up 70 plus points a game,” Enfield said. “We will also be pushing the ball in the open court a lot because not enough teams across the country are doing so.”
Fast forward three seasons and USC leads the Pac-12 in scoring offense, averaging over 84 points per game. The team also possesses one of the deadliest transition games in the nation, hurting its opponents in the air with its aerial athleticism at the rim, as well as on the ground via the three-point shot.
Just as good as advertised? I think most USC fans would have to agree based on the product Enfield has put out on the court this season. It’s a team that is not only exciting to watch but one that is also able to pull out victories in close games over durable opponents like it did in the quadruple-overtime thriller against Arizona.
Enfield deserves credit for the improved maturity and development of his players as well. With the exception of standout freshmen Bennie Boatwright and Chimezie Metu, who have played a significant role in taking the Trojans to the next level, the team returned all of its key contributors from last season. Perimeter players like co-captains Julian Jacobs and Jordan McLaughlin and Nevada transfer Katin Reinhardt have all demonstrated tremendous growth and improvement on both ends of the court.
Horton called this aspect of Enfield’s coaching arsenal, too.
“Andy is very offensive-minded, and there is a heavy emphasis placed on player development and one-on-one breakdowns, which is something we hadn’t done in the past,” Horton said back in August 2013.
The advancement of just about every USC role player, in turn, has produced a talented and team-oriented bunch that provides matchup nightmares for its opponents on a regular basis.
When Haden hired Enfield in April 2013, he did so hoping that Enfield could turn this program around. Enfield’s former assistant in Horton certainly believed that he eventually would, and now that he has … well, we will just have to wait and see.
Darian Nourian is a senior majoring in print and digital journalism. His column, “Persian Persuasion,” runs Thursdays.