Trojans rehire Mark Trakh as women’s basketball coach


USC’s long search for a new women’s basketball head coach ended on Friday, as Athletic Director Lynn Swann announced Mark Trakh would return to lead the Trojans after an eight-year absence.

Trakh, 61, previously coached USC for five seasons, from 2005 to 2009, guiding the Trojans to two NCAA Tournament berths and four Pac-12 Tournament semifinals and one
Pac-12 final. The NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005, Trakh’s first season, was the program’s first in seven years, and USC progressed past the first round, losing on a last-second basket against top-seeded Michigan State in the Round of 32.

“I’m excited to once again be a part of the great tradition at USC,” Trakh said. “I feel that there is a ton of potential in this team, and I look forward to start working with them.”

USC finished with a 15-14 record in Trakh’s final season, falling to Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship in the Trojans’ first-ever tournament final.

Trakh’s arrival brings an end to an extended coaching search during which multiple candidates linked to USC took positions at different programs — some at rival Pac-12 schools.

“Mark is a great teacher of the game,” Swann said. “Players enjoy playing for him.  He is a very effective recruiter. And he has a knack for taking teams to the NCAA Tournament, which we look for him to continue doing.”

2 replies
  1. Steve B.
    Steve B. says:

    Always liked Coach Trakh when he coached at USC previously. You could talk to him easily. Got a raw deal from Garrett
    at the time. The joke is an extended coaching search with only one outsider from Florida Gulf Coast who turned them down.
    Hopefully new coach will get the program back on Trakh to make the ncaa tournament on a yearly basis.

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