Through the first 10 games of the 2011 season, the USC basketball team (4-6) has endured its fair share of tough losses and growing pains.
However, one of the main bright spots in their up-and-down campaign has been the play of forward Aaron Fuller, who in 2010 transferred to USC from Iowa (9.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game during the 2009-10 season).
Despite playing with a small tear in his shoulder, Fuller, who currently is second on the team in points (11.7 per game) and first in rebounds (6.3 per game), has been a model of consistency and effort at both ends of the floor throughout non-conference play.
As Baxter Holmes of the LA Times detailed in his Friday feature on Fuller, the native of Mesa, AZ made a bold move to leave the Hawkeyes without a sure bet he would land on his feet at another big-time Division 1 program.
But in the end, Kevin O'Neill's straight-forward manner and unabashed interest in the redshirt junior was enough to convince the 6-foot-6 forward that USC was the right place for him. It's an agreement that the program has surely benefited from, as Fuller has more than lived up to his end of the deal.
"He holds us together," O'Neill told Holmes. "He has had a really great year for us. And he really hasn't gotten the rust from sitting out last year."
(Photo Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
