LOS ANGELES — For the better part of a week, USC men’s basketball program has been embroiled in uncertainty.
After rumors of Andy Enfield’s departure were sealed with SMU announcing Monday he’d been named their new head coach, there’s little infrastructure remaining on the roster, with assistants’ futures uncertain and few returning players.
On Tuesday, top commit Trent Perry – a local Harvard-Westlake product – announced he’d re-opened his recruitment in the wake of Enfield’s departure. And later in the day, social media exploded with an incorrect report that freshman Bronny James had entered the transfer portal; a source familiar with the situation told the Southern California News Group that James was more likely to hit the NBA draft than the portal, which still would leave USC without a returning piece.
It all places a heaping importance on filling Enfield’s vacancy, in a program that’s never quite drawn consistent buzz even as it’s ascended to national prominence. For athletic director Jen Cohen, who announced a national search Monday, it will be her first coaching hire since she was named USC’s athletic director.
With that in mind, here are five coaches who are likely in the mix for the USC job – sorted in order of the hottest names to fringe candidates.
Eric Musselman, Arkansas
All signs are pointing towards Musselman as USC’s man. Multiple reports as of Wednesday have pinpointed the Arkansas coach as USC’s top choice; several more reports have indicated Musselman interviewed with USC on Wednesday.
The Arkansas coach carries a track record of NCAA Tournament success at the highest level, with two straight Elite Eight appearances in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Musselman also brings extensive NBA pedigree, with multiple assistant-coaching stints and a former head-coaching job with the Golden State Warriors in the early 2000s. He wouldn’t come in with the highest stock, after a disappointing 16-17 season at Arkansas and some controversy over a staffer throwing a student journalist’s phone after one loss. But he’d be undoubtedly one of the best options available for USC, also bringing a background as a strong recruiter in the South, minting three five-stars and future NBA prospects in Nick Smith, Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh in Arkansas’ 2022 class.
Musselman would likely come with a hefty price tag, however. Enfield’s salary in 2021 was $3.749 million, according to USC’s Form 990 for 2022, their most recently available data. Musselman is the 12th-highest-paid coach in the country at Arkansas, at $4.246 million, according to USA Today’s coaching-salaries database. For USC to land him, they’d likely need to make an offer that could make him one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball.
Sean Miller, Xavier
From a sheer recruiting standpoint, Miller might be USC’s top choice, and is certainly a sleeper if there’s mutual interest. Formerly the head coach at Arizona for 12 years before a now-two-year stint with Xavier, Miller drew top prospects across the Western United States – including Los Angeles (Sierra Canyon’s Christian Koloko in 2019) – in addition to nationally and even internationally. Several of his recruits have ascended to NBA prominence (Lauri Markannen, DeAndre Ayton, Bennedict Mathurin), and Miller’s pedigree would translate well in a Los Angeles market.
But Miller just inked a contract extension with Xavier last fall that runs through 2028-29, and was the subject of an FBI investigation involving discussions of payment in inducing recruits to come to Arizona, including Ayton. There may be too many red flags on the landscape for USC to seriously pursue Miller.
Jamie Dixon, TCU
A fairly steady option who wouldn’t be a home-run hire but far from a swing and miss, Dixon has coached TCU to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and became a hot commodity across a previously lengthy tenure at Pittsburgh. Dixon’s background also makes him a natural fit for USC, born in Burbank and playing high school ball at Notre Dame Sherman Oaks; he’d be a slightly more affordable option, as well, his salary at $3.8 million.
But Dixon hasn’t quite been able to get TCU over the hump in eight seasons as head coach, advancing past the NCAA Tournament’s first round just twice and never reaching an Elite Eight. It’s likely USC would want a figure in place who’s drawn more recent buzz.
Jason Hart, last with the G-League Ignite
Well, landing Hart would come with little resistance, as the former G-League Ignite head coach is suddenly without a job after the NBA announced it’d shut down the struggling development program. Hart’s stock isn’t exactly flaming at the moment, as the Ignite collapsed miserably with a 2-32 season in 2023-24, an undoubtedly failed experiment. As far as a coach with local ties, though, Hart’s name has inspired some buzz, as he was an assistant on USC’s staff under Enfield for a number of years before heading to the G-League.
Related Articles
With a hungry JuJu Watkins, USC women’s basketball has a bright future
UCLA’s DeShaun Foster ‘excited’ about early progress on offense
USC RB coach Anthony Jones Jr. already making his presence felt
UCLA women’s basketball can pick up where it left off
With Andy Enfield gone, USC could see major roster turnover entering Big Ten
Few options would know the world of Los Angeles hoops as well as Hart, an Inglewood High product. But he’s never much as held a head-coaching job of a Division I program, and it’s likely USC turns to a more established option.
Kevin Ollie, Nets
Highly unlikely, but Ollie combines both collegiate-coaching experience (UConn) with NBA pedigree (now the interim coach for the Brooklyn Nets) and a Los Angeles background (a graduate of Crenshaw High).
Ollie was fired at UConn, however, after an NCAA investigation, and engaged in a lengthy court battle with the NCAA that followed; it’s likely his collegiate-coaching days are behind him.
