University Southern California Trojans
Men's Hoops To Begin Practice Saturday
October 15, 1999 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 15, 1999
The 1999-2000 USC men's basketball team, coming off its second postseason appearance in the last three years and returning four starters in addition to two key reserves, will open practice on Saturday (Oct. 16) to kick off the final season of the millennium.
The Trojans, under fourth-year coach Henry Bibby, feature 1999-2000 John R. Wooden Award Top 50 candidate Brian Scalabrine (junior forward/center) as well as All-Pac-10 candidates Jeff Trepagnier (junior guard), Brandon Granville (sophomore guard) and Sam Clancy (sophomore forward). Senior forward Jarvis Turner and sophomore forward David Bluthenthal will also play valuable roles, not to mention five newcomers who could contribute quality minutes.
USC opens exhibition play on Nov. 5 against the California All-Stars and follows it up with a Nov. 13 meeting against the Double Pump All-Stars. Both games are at 7:30 p.m. at the Lyon Center on the USC campus.
The Trojans have one of the toughest schedules in the country this season. After opening against Cal State Northridge at the Sports Arena on Nov. 19, the team travels to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational (Nov. 22-24) where it opens against North Carolina in the first contest of a three-game, eight-team tournament.
When USC returns to the mainland, it faces 1999 NCAA Tournament finalist Duke as part of the Wooden Classic at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, Calif., on Nov. 27. (Stanford and Auburn play before the USC-Duke game.)
Seven more non-conference games follow before USC opens the Pac-10 schedule on Jan. 6 against Washington State in Spokane.
Overall, the Trojans will face six teams that reached the 1999 NCAA Tournament and another three that played in the 1999 NIT for a combined 15 games. Those numbers could go up depending on the outcome of the Maui Invitational, with three other postseason teams looming in the bracket.
USC will be quite visible throughout the year. Currently, USC has 16 games that will be televised live in Los Angeles. Two of those games (against North Carolina and at Long Beach State) will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and five other games will be aired nationally on FOX Sports Net (FOX Sports Net West locally). Eight other games will be televised by FOX Sports Net West 2 and the Duke game will air on KCAL Channel 9 (and may be picked up regionally). Second- and third-round games at the Maui Invitational may also be televised by ESPN and ESPN2.
