Rising to the Top of the Pac-12

[Myles Nelson]

End of the Year

Carl Baxter of Georgia Tech took home his second straight Norton Award and Player of the Year honors, after an impressive season with averages of 31 points and 6 rebounds. Steve Howard took home Freshman of the Year honors with averages of 17/11/2.5. Another SF took home Defensive Player of the Year honors, this time Henry Lynch of Iowa and his 5 steals per game. No Pac-12 players earned All-American Honors.

John Johnson of Arizona State took home PoY, Jason West of Arizona received the FoY award, Mike Epps of UCLA got DPoY, and I was named Coach of the Year for the second time! Woooohoooo!

Ben Read and Carvell Jackson were both All Pac-12 2nd Teamers.

No coach hirings, though Illinois and Pittsburgh contacted me about head coach availability. I told them I wasn't interested. USC till I die baby!

I achieved all 5 goals, but again, no budget increase. This is starting to bug me.

Graduating
SF Darrell Ramage (2.6 GPA) 7.1 ppg 0.8 apg 2.1 rpg 0.5 spg 0.1 bpg (101 games, 19 starts)
PF Rowland Laws (3.6 GPA) 3.8 ppg 0.6 apg 2.4 rpg 0.4 spg 0.1 bpg (104 games, 30 starts)
SF Marquis Paben (2.5 GPA) 10.9 ppg 0.9 apg 3.0 rpg 0.8 spg 0.5 bpg (60 games, 52 starts)
PG Marques Wheeler (3.8 GPA) 7.5 ppg 4.0 apg 1.6 rpg 0.5 spg 0.1 bpg (96 games, 92 starts)

By far the best class I've ever had. Ramage was the glue guy for three years, counted on to hit shots and play tough defense. He's off to work as a district supervisor for Sports Authority. Laws spent his first two seasons as the injury insurance guy, but his junior and senior years were fantastic. He's assistant coach at Orange Coast Community College. Paben was a nice two-year starter, playing and scoring well. He's playing pro-am right now in LA. Wheeler was a great floor general, and is off to work for a manufacturing company based in San Diego now.

[Myles Nelson]

[SIZE="6"]Season 8
(2018-19)[/SIZE]

Coach Information
Name: Myles Nelson (44)
Experience: 142-82 (.634)
Contract: $446,000 / 6 years
Reputation: 67% (+3)
Offense: 95% (0)
Defense: 88% (0)
Recruiting: 72% (0)
Scouting: 47% (+1)
Development: 95% (0)
Job Security: Very Secure

School Information
Name: University of Southern California
Mascot: Trojans
Location: Los Angeles, California
Arena: Galen Center (seats 10,200)
Facilities: B-
Academics: A
Conference: Pac-12
Conference Prestige: 81% (-3)
Team Prestige: 63% (+5)
Minimum SAT: 1000
Starting Budget: $227,000
Asst. Salaries: $163,670
Remaining Budget: $63,330

Administration Goals
1. Qualify for NCAA Tournament.
2. Finish in the top 3 of the conference.
3. Win 20+ Games.
4. No academic ineligibility.
5. Improve school prestige.

My Assistants
1st Assistant: Jon Larson (67, $72,000 / 3 years) - Practice
2nd Assistant: Austin Mickens (56, $56,650 / 1 years) - Recruiting
3rd Assistant: Samaki Muhammad (47, $35,020 / 1 years) – Scouting

We have 3 scholarships to fill, and I'm going to focus on the West Coast only, so I'll be getting just the Western Gold Report, and traveling to the Las Vegas Revue. After all this I'm left with 29,630.

[Myles Nelson]

September 18th, 2018

Marquis Paben was drafted! He went 51st to the Spurs, so hopefully he turns out well!

We got our recruits this year. Solid crop, IMO.

SF Shon Reyes - 930th nationally, 55th regionally, 10th best SF in the region - Reyes is a fantastic man to man defender with good athleticism. He's a solid passer and can create his own shot, but he is a pretty poor finisher. His coach said that Shon likes to attack the basket, and that he's a great worker.

SG Mike Dobbins - 558th nationally, 53rd regionally, 14th best SG in the region - Dobbins has a sick outside jumper, coupled with a great ability to create for himself. His athleticism is unmatched and he plays great defense. His coach told me that he never missed practice and always put in extra work. My kind of guy.

C TJ Dunleavy - 333rd nationally, 37th regionally, 3rd best C in the region - Dunleavy is a bruising, back to the basket big man. He is a great post scorer, and has got good hands and vision as well. He can pass the ball decently, is a solid athlete, but most importantly, is a great fundamental defender and grabs rebounds like none other.

Here's our schedule.

November
14 - vs. #18 Wake Forest (Pre-Season NIT) ****
21 - @ Western Carolina **
24 - vs. Ohio **
27 - vs. Alabama ***
28 - vs. Notre Dame ****

December
1 - @ NC-Greensboro ***
5 - vs. St. John's ***
8 - vs. North Carolina State ***
12 - vs. Nevada-Reno ***
15 - @ #23 LSU ****
19 - @ #17 Georgetown ****
29 - vs. Utah

January
2 - @ #4 Arizona
5 - vs. Washington State
9- vs. Washington
12 - @ #5 UCLA
16 - vs. Stanford
19 - vs. Arizona State
23 - @ California
26 - @ Colorado
30 - vs. Oregon

February
2- @ Oregon State
6 - @ Utah
9 - vs. #4 Arizona
13 - @ Washington State
16 - @ Washington
20 - vs. #5 UCLA

One thing to note is that we are ranked this preseason! We come into the year with a #25 ranking, something that I don't think has ever happened before. We also have a semi-easy non-conference schedule, but we can't slip up. We need to dominate this year.

One more note, our recruiting class from last year ranked in the top 20 recruiting classes nationally!

[Myles Nelson]

2018-2019 USC Trojans

PG JR Williams - SO - Williams showed everyone that he's a bona fide star last year, averaging 9.5 points and 4.8 assists off the bench. This year he's got the starting PG slot and he'll be playing 30+ minutes a game, hopefully showing off his All-American talents. He'll be an integral part of our team this year.

SG Ben Read - JR - Read came out of nowhere last year to start beasting it up, scoring 13 points per game. He'll start again this year and hopefully build on his numbers from last year, possibly getting up above 15 points per game. His percentages could use some work, as he shot only 41% last year, but he's definitely a solid two-way player.

SF Michael Jolly - FR - Jolly is nothing like his last name. An intimidating pitbull, he plays tough defense and doesn't take BS from anyone. He can score inside or out, but prides himself in not letting his man score. He is tenacious and tough, and will be quite the player.

PF Clyde Collins - JR - After coming off the bench two years straight, Collins has earned a starting role this year. He's a tough inside scorer, dropping 8 points per game last year on 56% shooting, and hopefully with a minutes increase we'll see a rebounds increase from just 4.6 rebounds per game.

C Carvell Jackson - SR - Jackson has had quite the career here at USC, earning Pac-12 All Conference honors every single year. He's perhaps the best post defender in college basketball, and he is also a fantastic inside scorer. He shot a career high 49.5% last year and also hit on 92.5% of his free throws.

SG/PG Ray Wilcox - FR - Wilcox is taking the exact role that Williams held last year. A point guard by nature, he'll be counted on to play a more combo-guard role off the bench. We want him to score off the bench and get a fair amount of assists. While he'll have to earn his minutes, he certainly has the talent to.

PF/C Ian Gunder - FR - Gunder is a good inside scorer with great defensive instincts, good rebounding skills, and a knack for drawing fouls. He is exactly the kind of player I like in the post, and he'll get a good amount of minutes backing up Collins and Jackson.

PG Marquis Lee - SR - Lee has only gone downhill since his freshman year, but he'll get a few minutes giving Williams a breather. Hopefully he can at least be a veteran presence on this young team.

SF/SG Brent Simmons - SR - Simmons is a top-notch defender with a wet jumpshot. He can't create his own shot, but he'll use his skills to play a Bruce Bowen type of role.

SG Justin Hahn - SR - Hahn is a fantastic outside shooter. That's about it.

SF Louis Benton - SO - Benton has a great amount of potential as a scorer, but he has a lot of work to do before he gets there.

PF Brandon Harriman - SO - Harriman could easily turn himself into a Lamar Odom type player, but right now he's still struggling adjusting to the college game. He's got a lot of potential though.

PG Chris Varley - FR - He's redshirting this year as he'll see no court time. Varley has a TON of potential to be a great pass first PG with a great outside shot and defensive skills, but he's nowhere close to it yet.

[Myles Nelson]

Again, we're predicted to finish 3rd in our conference behind Arizona and UCLA (yeah right), and this year we are supposedly going to finish as the 18th best team. Experts stay sleeping on us.

November 14th, #25 USC (0-0) vs. #18 Wake Forest (0-0)
First game of the year is always exciting, especially when we play in a tournament! I'm excited, even though we have the 11th seed in this tournament, though we all know pre-season rankings and seedings don't mean much. Things can always change. This game was a struggle from the get-go, and no one has their shot falling. Jolly is our only double-digit scorer, as we drop the first game of the year.
USC 58 Wake Forest 68

November 21st, USC (0-1) @ Western Carolina (3-2)
Western Carolina has two guards scoring in double figures and a PF capable of scoring but hasn't done so yet. We'll just stick to our man-to-man and try to beat them in each matchup. Carvell Jackson made sure we won this game, scoring 22 points and pulling down 12 boards, but home court advantage kept them in the game, as we committed 25 fouls to their 15. Luckily, they missed a lot of free throws (16-27) and we capitalized on it.
USC 85 Western Carolina 80

November 24th, Ohio (1-2) @ USC (1-1)
The Bobcats are led by their SF, Alex Small, who's averaging 18 points per game. Michael Jolly knows it's his job to shut this guy down. If we can stop Small, they have no chance of winning this game. Small scored 22, but we forced him to shoot 7/18. Williams came through big, scoring 14 and getting 5 assists, Wilcox scored 13 off the bench, and we barely pulled this one out.
Ohio 52 USC 59

November 27th, #22 Alabama (4-0) @ USC (2-1)
Boy am I glad this game is at home. Alabama has shown that they are a force to be reckoned with, winning their first four games. They have a pretty balanced attack, but hopefully our team can finally show some talent. Each game has been a struggle so far. This game was too. Both Jackson and Williams fouled out, but we forced them into 29% shooting and we scored 78 points to cruise to this victory.
Alabama 65 USC 78

November 28th, Notre Dame (3-1) @ USC (3-1)
Notre Dame is led by SG Brad Dersch, who scores 22 points per game. Notably, they beat Arizona. Hopefully if we beat Notre Dame we can get into Arizona's heads. We don't just beat the Fighting Irish, we blow them out! Williams scores 20 and Read drops 16 in our big home win. Jackson only scored 10 but he also grabbed 9 rebounds, and though Dersch scored 22, he shot 6/15 from the floor.
Notre Dame 57 USC 73

[Myles Nelson]

December 1st, USC (4-1) @ UNC-Greensboro (4-2)
Greensboro has a pretty well rounded team. SG Pete Fuller leads the team in scoring but they get good passing from their PG and some good rebounding and defense down low. They just don't have the star power to match up with us. Of course, if I've learned anything, homecourt advantage plays a big role. They made as many free throws (29) as we shot. Read and Jackson carried us but they both fouled out.
USC 82 UNC-Greensboro 86

December 5th, St John's (4-3) @ USC (4-2)
We have the 12th best RPI but aren't ranked, mostly cause we lost to UNC-Greensboro. St. John's struggles to score but their defense is top notch. Their defense couldn't hold us this game though, as Read goes off for 26, and we blow them out from the get-go, leading by 15 at the half.
St. John's 71 USC 86

December 8th, NC State (5-2) @ USC (5-2)
The Wolfpack play exactly the way you'd expect a wolfpack too, very much as a team. Their balanced attack includes 31 points off the bench, and four starters averaging 7 points per game or more. They like to push the tempo as well. However, apparently their defense isn't great as they allowed Jackson and Read to each score 24 points, and we blow them out big at home.
NC State 69 USC 89

December 12th, Nevada-Reno (4-6) @ #25 USC (6-2)
Again we play a wolfpack team, but unlike NC State, this wolfpack is not very good. They have some talent but nowhere near the level of NC State, and so at our house it should be the same outcome. Plus, this time around we'll defend our top 25 ranking. They scored a lot more this game, but so did we. We got a whopping 39 points from our bench, and by scoring 57 points in the second half, we put them away quickly.
Nevada 77 USC 93

December 15th, #25 USC (7-2) @ LSU (7-2)
We have a two game road trip, and this will really show us what we're made of. If we're championship material, we'll take these games. If not... well let's not think about that. LSU has got a good record, but I feel like they are a bit of a paper tiger, their players don't seem too top-notch. We blow a big lead and let them take this game in the end though. Really disappointing.
USC 55 LSU 58

December 19th, USC (7-3) @ #17 Georgetown (8-2)
This could be a huge game for us. To beat a top 25 ranked team on the road, it'd do wonders for us. We have an RPI of 11, so this would put us over the top and get us ranked again. We just need to focus on their SF, Andrew Raines. He's dropping 27 points per game. He's the only player on their team who really scores. We frustrate the hell out of him, forcing him into shooting 4/17 from the field, and as a team we shot 49% from the floor to get the big win on the road!
USC 74 Georgetown 55

[Myles Nelson]

Player Evaluation and Conference Preview

Guards
PG JR Williams: 8.9 ppg 5.6 apg 3.8 topg 45.9% FG 36.4% 3PT 94.6% STOP
SG Ben Read: 16.7 ppg 2.3 apg 1.1 spg 42.8% FG 34.8% 3PT 95.1% STOP
PG Ray Wilcox: 7.5 ppg 2.1 apg 1.4 topg 45.8% FG 40% 3PT 81.8% STOP
SG Brent Simmons: 2.6 ppg 2.3 rpg 34.4% FG 30% 3PT 95.2% STOP
PG Marquis Lee: 2.1 ppg 1.4 apg 58.8% FG 57.1% STOP

Forwards
SF Michael Jolly: 7.0 ppg 5.0 rpg 1.5 spg 44.8% FG 79.2% STOP
PF Clyde Collins: 7.5 ppg 3.9 rpg 1.8 spg 47.3% FG 0.9 PA/SF
PF Ian Gunder: 5.5 ppg 3.8 rpg 40% FG 0.6 PA/SF

Centers
C Carvell Jackson: 14.2 ppg 4.1 rpg 1.1 spg 2.0 bpg 45.5% FG 0.6 PA/SF
C Kenny Tyler: 3.1 ppg 2.1 rpg 52.2% FG 0.7 PA/SF

Our field goal percentages are way down, as both Jackson and Collins are under 50% and Gunder is way down at 40%. I'm also very surprised by Simmons' low FG%. Lee is shooting well but his defense is horrific, and Williams can't take care of the ball. Luckily, though, we still play well as a team and win games.

Pac-12 Standings
#5 UCLA (9-2)
Utah (9-2)
USC (8-3)
Oregon (8-3)
#11 Arizona (8-3)
Washington (8-4)
Washington State (6-5)
Arizona State (5-6)
Colorado (5-7)
Oregon State (4-7)
Stanford (4-7)
California (3-8)

How a) UCLA and Arizona are the only ranked teams and b) how UCLA is doing so well is beyond me. They've been on freaking sanctions for two seasons now, they have seven players on scholarship! Of those seven, four are seniors, which means they will be down to three scholarship players next year. The Pac-12 as a whole looks to be doing well. 7 teams with winning record, six with at least 8 wins. Pretty solid.

[Myles Nelson]

December 29th, Utah (9-2) @ USC (8-3)
Utah is led by their PG Don Davis, who's averaging 16 points per game. Their PF, Clyde Stokes, is also one to watch out for, as he averages 9 points and 4 steals per game. Luckily, though, their 6th man and 3rd best scorer is now academically ineligible, so that gives us a nice boost. We held Don Davis to 3/15 shooting, and Read scored 16, Jolly scored 12, and Williams and Tyler each pitched in 10 as we cruised to a huge win.
Utah 59 USC 88

January 2nd, #24 USC (9-3) @ #8 Arizona (9-3)
All three of our losses have been on the road, but with a win at Arizona we can get our road game back on track. Then again, Arizona is a very talented team. They have the reigning freshman of the year for the Pac-12 in Jason West, and talented players elsewhere too. I have faith in my players though. Unfortunately, my faith can only do so much. Ian Gunder is the only player that came to play, scoring 12 points. The final story though? We were 6/15 from the line, they were 19/29. Homecourt advantage strikes again...
USC 49 Arizona 65

[Jabez54]

Tough road trip!!!

[Myles Nelson]

January 5th, Washington State (6-7, 0-2) @ #24 USC (9-4, 1-1)
Nothing is better than coming home for a game against a fairly weak team. The Cougars have a hard time winning on the road, and they only have two real threats on offense: PG Steve Stone and C Bernard Whitehead. Carvell Jackson and Michael Jolly pop off in this game, scoring 14 each, and JR Williams got 7 assists to 1 turnover to add to it. We outscored them 47-26 in the first half, and from there it was easy sailing. Steve Stone was the only guy who had consistent scoring for them, scoring 17 on 7/13 shooting. Everyone else shot poorly for the Cougars, giving us the blowout win.
Washington State 55 USC 79

January 9th, Washington (8-7, 0-3) @ #24 USC (10-4, 2-1)
Donald Cardinal, the SG for the Huskies, and PF Jacobs Waldrop are the guys who lead the team in scoring, but a slump has seen them and the team slow down and drop three straight. They didn't have a tough non-conference schedule, so hopefully we can use that, and our homecourt advantage, against them. One the one hand, we held Cardinal to 7/26 shooting although he scored 20 points. On the other hand, we had no efficient scorers and only shot 37% from the floor. On the bright side, our team was better.
Washington 62 USC 68

January 12th, #24 USC (11-4, 3-1) @ #4 UCLA (12-3, 3-1)
The Bruins have quite a few of their mainstays left, such as perennial All-American Mike Epps, as well as seniors Michael Phillips and Scott Cohen. However, one of their starters is a walk on freshman with little to no defensive skill. The sanctions are finally starting to take their effect. Yet, despite the fact that their C is trash, Carvell Jackson still couldn't take advantage, and only scored 2 points. Ben Read absolutely went off, dropped 29 points with nine 3s. Unfortunately, our turnovers were our kryptonite, JR Williams had 6 on his own.
USC 65 UCLA 66