TROJANS LIVE: Mike Bohn Provides Updates on USC Athletics
March 24, 2020 | Football, USC Athletics, Men's Basketball, Women's Beach Volleyball, USC Ripsit Blog, Features
In this edition of Trojans Live, USC athletic director Mike Bohn appeared on the show to share how the athletic department is adjusting to the worldwide social distancing period.
Bohn said each of his days start with a call that includes all Pac-12 athletic directors and commissioner Larry Scott. He is also involved in virtual meetings with USC Athletics' senior leadership, the Trojan Athletic Senate and USC President Carol L. Folt's university leadership committee. Ongoing issues that Bohn discusses in those meetings include NCAA updates, eligibility, recruiting, practices, training and student-athlete services.
"Obviously all of these elements are a challenge, but our head coaches and staff have really responded in a big way, and I'm inspired by that," Bohn said. "I could tell our student-athletes [from the Trojan Athletic Senate] really understand our commitment to their success."
Later in the show, head men's basketball coach Andy Enfield recalled the moments between USC's thrilling home victory over UCLA and the Pac-12 and NCAA Tournaments being canceled.
"I give our guys a ton of credit," Enfield said. "As disappointed and as heartbroken as they were, they handled it with a lot of class and a lot of maturity."
Clay Helton, whose football team had its spring football practices cut short after just one session, discussed how he prepared his players and coaches to operate from home.
"What an amazing product Zoom is," Helton said. "It's been a tremendous tool for us."
Beach volleyball player Joy Dennis shared her reaction and perspective as one of USC's many seniors whose spring campaigns ended abruptly. Although the NCAA's plan for eligibility is still being discussed, Dennis expressed her desire to return for another season.
"I'd love another year to represent the school," Dennis said. "I definitely would. I've had a great time with the program. Everyone's been great."
Head strength and conditioning coach Aaron Ausmus already found an effective way to remain connected with the football players by creating a private Instagram account to share workout videos and motivational messages with the team. He revealed how the strength coaches deal with other challenges, such as athletes going through rehabilitation and designing workouts for different at-home environments.
"Over the last 24 hours, we've really tried to reach out to each player — and maybe even get them on a FaceTime — to try and find out their situation [at home] the best we can," Ausmus said. "Hopefully we've provided them 2-3 different templates to cover the situation they're in."
