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Enter the Trojans USC's rise may lead to changing of the guard in L.A.
USC has finished ahead of UCLA in their conference just once in the last four decades. But history could be made this season. While UCLA has to replace two underclassmen who left for the NBA, the Trojans welcome back all five starters. Center Sam Clancy and forward Jarvis Turner are both healthy again after serious injuries last year, and USC will go into the season with a strong, athletic starting five comprised completely of juniors and seniors. Ironically, USC coach Henry Bibby won three national championships while playing point guard for John Wooden at UCLA, but Bibby is not backing down from predictions that there may be a changing of the guard out west. Inheritng a bare cupboardBill Carmody was part of a lot of wins during his 18 years at Princeton. But as the new coach at Northwestern, Carmody will have a drastically different success rate for the foreseeable future. Former coach Kevin O'Neill was palpably disinterested last season as his Wildcats stumbled to an 0-16 Big Ten record, and when the season was over O'Neill had to scramble to replace four players who decided to transfer. The replacements aren't any better, and Carmody's roster now has no seniors and only two juniors. Carmody told me he still plans to implement some aspects of Princeton's vaunted back-door offense in his new job, but he will stay flexible until he can recruit the athletes who are good enough to run it successfully. Recker finally settling inFew players are more anxious to start the new season than Iowa junior swingman Luke Recker. Recker is the former Indiana high school star who spent two years as a Hoosier before transferring to Arizona. That summer he was involved in a devastating car wreck that left him with a broken wrist and his girlfriend and her brother paralyzed. Midway through last season Recker transferred again to Iowa to be closer to home. Recker gained permission from the NCAA to compete from day one this season and he told me he is currently in the best shape of his career having added 15 pounds of muscle since he last played, and Recker believes coach Steve Alford's up-tempo style will be more tailored to his skills than the system he played in under Bob Knight. "I think people will see I'm a much different player now," Recker told me. "I feel like I have a lot to prove." Sports Illustrated writer-reporter Seth Davis covers the college basketball beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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