LOS ANGELES — The program’s future was already murky, USC in desperate need of a talent influx and stability with widespread roster turnover, an exodus underway after a disappointing season.
Now, they’ll need a new head coach for the first time in a decade, too.
After a tumultuous final season at USC, a promising recruiting class and star-studded roster derailed by injuries and cohesion issues, men’s basketball head coach Andy Enfield is departing to take the head-coaching job at SMU, the school announced Monday morning.
Shortly after SMU’s announcement, USC put out a statement from athletic director Jen Cohen thanking Enfield for his tenure and for elevating the program to national prominence.
“Our national search for a new head coach is underway and I am confident that we will find the right person to lead our program,” Cohen’s statement read. “We have a track record of competitiveness, passionate supporters and fans, a robust donor collective, and are about to compete in the nation’s premier athletic conference. There is no ceiling to what our program can achieve and I look forward to introducing our next head coach.”
Enfield finishes with a 219-146 record in 11 seasons at USC, with a 105-100 mark in the Pac-12 and five NCAA Tournament appearances.
The departure finalizes a career helming the Trojans, on the heels of a NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 run at Florida Gulf Coast, and revitalizing the program after years of futility. Enfield helped improve USC through acute roster-building and a free-flowing offense, but only once was he able to lead the Trojans past the second round in March.
By 2020-21 and the glory days of Evan and Isaiah Mobley, Enfield had turned USC into a national power in bringing in some of the top recruiting classes in the nation. They made a run to the Elite Eight, and a year later, Enfield earned a massive contract extension after the winningest regular season in school history.
But USC was bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the first round in 2022 and 2023, and then fell short entirely this season, which began with lofty expectations after Enfield landed Georgia guard Isaiah Collier, the top-ranked guard in the class of 2023. USC coalesced late – winning five of its last seven games of the season – but was bounced resoundingly by Arizona in the second round of the Pac-12 Tournament, eliminating their March hopes.
Seasons like this were an “anomaly,” Enfield told the Southern California News Group in late January, referring to USC’s slew of injuries. Indeed, Collier and captain Boogie Ellis had missed extended stretches. But USC’s problems stretched deeper, often struggling with late-game execution and rebounding. In what will stand as his final public address as USC’s head coach, Enfield said he wasn’t “disappointed at all” in the program’s season after the loss to Arizona.
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“Was it challenging? Very, very challenging,” Enfield said then. “Disappointing? Absolutely not.”
The vacancy leaves USC in a difficult position, faced with the start of Big Ten play in 2024. There are few sure things on the roster, with Boogie Ellis, DJ Rodman and Joshua Morgan’s eligibility exhausted and Kobe Johnson, Oziyah Sellers and Kijani Wright all headed for the transfer portal. Freshman guards Collier and Bronny James could head for the NBA draft. Massive transfer-portal adds are needed, with just three players incoming in USC’s 2024-25 class.
ENFIELD NAMED HEAD MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH AT SMU #PonyUpDallashttps://t.co/b5Uw6k90ks pic.twitter.com/OiHwGEHgJv
— SMU Basketball (@SMUBasketball) April 1, 2024
