With Daniel Hackett leaving USC to play professional ball, the Trojans could use more depth at point guard. On Sunday they filled that glaring need. Oak Hill Academy star Lamont Jones signed a letter of intent to play at USC. Jones is ranked as the 11th best prep point guard in the nation by Rivals.com.

USC lands point guard Lamont Jones [LA Times]

Freshman DeMar DeRozan told the Orange County Register that he has declared for the draft and sent his paperwork to the NBA. DeRozan has not signed with an agent yet.

Nothing official has been reported about Taj Gibson. Many media outlets are speculating that he will enter the draft but not sign with an agent.

Arizona forward Jordan Hill will skip his senior season to enter the draft. His teammate, junior point guard Nic Wise, says he will also declare for the draft but will not hire an agent.

UCLA freshman guard Jrue Holiday is declaring for the 2009 NBA Draft according to ESPN.com.

USC junior guard Daniel Hackett will declare for the draft and sign with ASM sports, agent Andrew Vye told ESPN.com on Wednesday night.

Hackett is the second USC player to officially enter the draft Wednesday. Freshman DeMar DeRozan told the Orange County Register that he declared. He said that he was 50-50 on whether to sign with an agent and stay in the draft. USC junior Taj Gibson is also considering entering but hasn't made a public decision yet.

What is odd here is that even though its early yet, Hackett's projection in the draft is a bit of a question mark. On the one hand the conventional wisdom seems to be that Hackett is a combo guard where on the other he isn't an NBA caliber player. The other thought is that because of his Italian roots Hackett would probably end up playing in Europe.

The one thing to keep in mind is that there is a bit of a numbers crunch in regards to available schollies. Hackett is taking a non-scholarship roster spot but if Tim Floyd wants to land all of the players he wants for next season he needs to come up with the roster spots and playing time for the new recruits.

One thing is for sure...its going to be an interesting off-season.

What a weekend! If you picked most of the top seeds for your March madness brackets you are probably doing very well. The next round of the tournament starts on Thursday, but the most important story in the upcoming weeks is whether or not Daniel Hackett, DeMar DeRozan and Taj Gibson will return for another year. Here are the players answers to that question after the tough loss to Michigan State.

Taj Gibson:

"I don't know. Right now I just want to be around my teammates. It's still up in the air."

Daniel Hackett:

"I haven't started to think about that. I'm very disappointed about this game. I'm very emotional."

DeMar DeRozan:

DeRozan said will meet with his family and Coach Floyd and “just look at everything."

If the players do enter the draft, experts speculate that DeRozan could be a mid to high first rounder, Gibson a late first rounder or early second rounder and Hackett sometime in the second round.

Who returns for USC next season? [ocregister]

Demar Derozan celebrates USC's 79-75 victory over Cal. The Trojans were big on the boards and got four critical free throws from Daniel Hackett in final 3.8 seconds.

Next up: FUCLA tonight (3/13) at 8:30pm (Staples Center). Student tickets are only $10.

Pac-10 coaches selected Taj Gibson as the Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Gibson and Daniel Hacket were also selected to the All-Conference Second team and Pac-10 All-Defensive team. DeMar DeRozan was selected to the Pac-10 All-Freshman team.

Tonight the Trojans (18-12, 9-9) face the California Golden Bears (22-9, 11-7) at the Staples Center at 6 p.m. in the Pacific Life Pac-10 tournament. The Bears 43.8% three-point field goal percentage currently ranks first in the nation.

USC and Cal split their two previous games this year with each team winning on their own home court. The winner of this game plays the winner of UCLA vs. Washington St. on Friday. The Trojans will need a strong showing in the tournament if they hope to make March Madness.

A Complete list of All-Conference Teams after the jump.

2008-09 Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Honors [pac10.org]

Taj Gibson’s response was far and away the best: “Maturity, heart and courage.”

It was such a “Wizard of Oz” thing to say, I had to ask Gibson where he came up with it. Alas, Gibson didn’t credit the Wiz, but assistant coaches Rudy Hackett, Dwayne Polee and Phil Johnson.

(That shouldn’t discourage Tim Floyd from splicing the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion into the Cal scouting tape. Phil Jackson totally would do it!)

Here were Daniel Hackett and Floyd’s answers:

Hackett: “This conference is wide open. Once you’re at Staples (Center), it’s a neutral court. Anything can happen. Whichever team plays the best basketball in three days is going to have a shot. If we practice hard and come in focused, we’ve got a shot.”

Floyd: “You have to do all the little things. You have to get easy baskets off of inbounds plays, in transition, on the offensive board and at the foul line. You’ve got to make your free throws. You’ve got to do little things on the other end. You’ve got to help on screens, you’ve got to get back defensively, you’ve got to rebound it at a high level on the defensive board and stay out of foul trouble. I think all those things are critical.”

Related link:

• USC needs Lewis to rediscover the ‘Dwight stuff’

More from the USC blog:

• NFL draft: How Rey Maualuga can rebound
• USC basketball: ‘Academic issues’ threaten key big man
• NFL draft: Did Taylor Mays do the right thing?
• NFL draft: David Buehler is No. 1
• USC football: 1978 champs take on ALS
• USC basketball: 5 reasons for postseason hope
• USC basketball: Gibson selected Pac-10’s defensive POY
• USC basketball: 10 reasons why DeRozan should say no to the NBA
• USC basketball: Is DeMar DeRozan ‘one-and-done’?
• NFL draft: Is Fili Moala overrated?
• USC basketball: Remembering Ryan Francis

The Trojans (18-12, 9-9) finished their regular season by defeating Oregon State (13-16, 7-11) 68-52 at the Galen Center on Saturday.

Daniel Hackett had 17 points and Demar DeRozan scored 16. Taj Gibson had five blocked shots and finished the regular season with 86 breaking his own USC record for most blocks in season. He set the record last year with 84.

With the win USC earned the sixth seed for the Pacific Life Pac-10 tournament. They play CAL (22-9, 11-7) in the quarterfinals Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Staples center.

It only took seven games, but last night the Trojans (17-12, 8-9) finally won. USC defeated Oregon (8-20, 2-15) 80-66 at the Galen Center. The Trojans are now tied with Arizona and Washington State for fifth place in the Pac-10 with only one conference game remaining.

DeMar DeRozan led the Trojans with 19 points. Daniel Hackett finished with 17 points, six assists and five rebounds. Taj Gaibson scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had four blocked shots.

On Saturday USC faces a revitalized Oregon State team. A victory will impact the Trojans seeding for the upcoming Pac-10 tournament. If USC has any chance at March Madness, they will have to win the Pac-10 tournament.

The Dance Team also had a strong showing.

Q: Harpoon Harry said:
Did the producers of Hot Girls in Scary Places choose the song girls to spend the night in a crumbling hospital due to their familiarity from all the time they've spent at the Coliseum?

A: Yes, years performing at the Mausoleum was a perfect choice. Actually, I heard the producers first choice for the locale was the Sports Arena during a rave.

Q: Trojan in Redondo said:
Are you able to confirm the rumors circulating that the fight between Daniel Hackett and Dwight Lewis was over which one of them had the correct theory over why Keli Snyder was cut?

A: Well, Keligate certainly seems more interesting than the basketball season, I'll give you that.

Q: JamesUSC99 said:
Daniel Hackett versus the rogue and lawless USC Song Girls of the 2000s in a fight and a battle over whose bodies are covered with more tattoos?

A: Perhaps we should wait until Swim With Mike to answer this question.

Daniel Hackett and Tim Floyd will not face reprimand from the Pac-10 conference for their desert tirade, according to an LA-Times source. Let's take it back: Under a minute left in the game, the momentum is in USC's favor. Hackett masterfully banks in a shot while colliding with ASU's McMillian. The ref calls for the ASU block and signals Hackett to the free throw line, for a possibility to bring the game within three-points. Then it all goes to hell. At the same time another referee calls a charge on Hackett, overruling the Arizona State foul and bringing Floyd's blood to a steady boil.

Follow the jump for Tim Floyd's post ejection interview.