Jeff Trepagnier Looking To Steal Win vs. UCLA
January 12, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2000
LOS ANGELES - Jeff Trepagnier has a 40-inch vertical leap and some of the quickest hands in college basketball.
He and his Southern California teammates would like nothing better than to steal a victory from UCLA when the crosstown rivals play tonight at the Sports Arena.
Fueling their desire is the fact that the Trojans have lost 10 consecutive games in the series, with their last win six years ago.
"If the time is right, it is now," said senior Sam Clancy, USC's leading scorer. "This would be a good opportunity for us to get one."
That's because the Trojans (9-5) opened Pac-10 Conference play last weekend with a sweep of the Washington schools, leaving them tied for first place with Arizona at 2-0. They're riding a four-game winning streak.
The Bruins (9-3) didn't fare as well, losing 63-62 at Washington and then winning 86-64 at Washington State. The defeat dropped UCLA out of The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in almost two years.
UCLA won its final three non-conference games in squeakers, beating South Florida in overtime and escaping with two-point wins over Pepperdine and Purdue.
The Trojans also want to win for Henry Bibby, who is 0-6 against his alma mater in four seasons as coach.
"He deserves to beat them," Trepagnier said. "He wouldn't admit it, but I think it'll be a bigger win than just another game. We want to have bragging rights to L.A."
Trepagnier certainly does in his hometown of Compton. He's a bright light in an impoverished city with a national reputation for its street gangs and hard-core rap music.
"All the kids know who I am. They look up to me," Trepagnier said. "A lot of adults in the community are proud of me. They tell me good job, keep doing what I'm doing, keep my head on straight and stay focused."
Steered down the straight and narrow by his self-described "good parents," Trepagnier managed to stay out of the gangs at Compton High, where he was a standout player who averaged 19 points as a senior.
"I could have gone the other way every day," he said. "I had a lot of friends that are gang members, but I felt that wasn't the right direction, so I just stayed in school and played basketball."
The pressure to do anything but good lessened as Trepagnier blossomed playing basketball and football. His friends in gangs came out to games to support him.
Now the biggest pressure on Trepagnier is requests for tickets and shoes.
"I tell them just wait a little while and maybe if I get to the NBA, I'll hook them up, but not right now," he said.
Trepagnier, a 6-foot-4 junior guard, leads the Pac-10 in steals and is second in the nation with 4.4 a game. He's six short of breaking the school season record of 62.
"When he plays defense, he can get bored doing it, so that's why he goes for the steal," center Brian Scalabrine said.
When his quick hands aren't stealing the ball, Trepagnier is often unleashing spectacular dunks, punctuated by jubilant shouts to the crowd. USC tracks Trepagnier on a dunk-o-meter that has registered 27 so far.
"If I get a dunk, it lifts the team and gets us going," he said. "I try to get a little feedback from the crowd and get them going."
Bibby would like to see more defense out of Trepagnier, and has tagged him as USC's defensive stopper.
"He's an aggressive player and to put him with that label, that gives him something else to work towards," Bibby said. "We need a guy to go out and play defense and he can do that with his quick feet, quick hands. He never gets tired. He could play 50 minutes and play another game after that."
Trepagnier's athleticism impressed Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who called him as good an athlete as the Blue Devils have played against. Trepagnier had 15 points and 12 rebounds in an 81-68 loss to the Blue Devils in the Wooden Classic on Nov. 27.
"That made me work harder," he said of Krzyzewski's praise.
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
