University Southern California Trojans
A Coach, A Friend
March 01, 2018 | Women's Basketball, USC Ripsit Blog, Features
It's not often that you get a shot at your dream job. It's even more rare to get two chances. But that's the case for USC women's basketball head coach Mark Trakh, who is heading down the stretch of his first season back at USC after previously coaching the team from 2005-09.
Trakh has 22 years of coaching experience under his belt and clearly brings a lot of experience to the court, but what's even more important is how he motivates his players and helps them grow off the court.
"I love the process of school and I love learning, but the constant getting up, going to practice, going to class, I'm not a big fan of it," said junior guard Aliyah Mazyck. "He tells me knowledge is power and this education can be taken a long way. He has instilled all the little things in me to help me understand myself better and just grow as a woman."
Earlier this season, the Trojans toughed out a double overtime game against Oregon, and they were understandably tired afterwards. Instead of holding an intense practice the next day, Trakh decided to do something a little more fun. Mazyck suggested the team go see the new movie Black Panther and made sure Trakh went along, despite claiming he didn't have the attention span to sit through the movie.
"I actually really enjoyed it and it was a great team bonding activity," Trakh said.
"And afterwards we did something that I didn't understand that had to do with the movie," said Trakh, referring to crossing your arms over your chest like Wakandans in the film. "I didn't quite know how we did that, but it was cool. It was funny, [the team] is doing it right and you see this 62-year-old guy in the back going, 'Am I doing this right?'"
Movie matinee in Corvallis! Trojans in battle mode! #BlackPanther #StayGold #WhyNotUSC ?? pic.twitter.com/fAM0WmClXj
— USC Women's Basketball (@USCWBB) February 18, 2018
Though Trakh might not be in the loop on the latest pop culture phenomena, the women's basketball team appreciates how much he cares about their happiness and well-being.
"He is very pro- the athletes," said senior guard Jordan Adams. "The players get what they want to eat, what they want to watch. That's the one thing that has been awesome, because when you see someone bending over backwards for you, you will run through a wall for them."
Trakh, who earned a degree in journalism and a teaching credential from Long Beach State, often uses few words to get his point across.
"He doesn't say much, but the little that he does say is so powerful," Mazyck said. "There is so much meaning behind it. When he is talking, it is intense. Everything he says is super positive. Sometimes I think he's not real because he never says negative stuff."
However, his way with words sometimes causes confusion for the team.
"He uses all these big words and stuff so you're like, 'Oh yeah, I got you,' and then you have to go to the dictionary to figure out what it means," said Mazyck.
"Coach Trakh always likes to give us a nice pep talk before practices or games, especially when he knows we're tired," said Adams. "He just started off practice the other day by rapping the first verse of Eminem's song, Lose Yourself."
Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted
One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?
"Everyone started laughing," Adams said. "We were like, 'He listens to rap music?'"
Tonight, Trakh leads the seventh-seeded Trojans into their first game of the Pac-12 Tournament against 10-seed Washington State. USC is making a case for its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2014, and ESPN's Bracketology currently has the Trojans projected as a 10-seed.
However long the season continues on for, it's clear that Trakh's leadership has the Women of Troy heading in the right direction.
