Football

• Dennis Dodd wrapped up his series of position coach evaluations by naming Pete Carroll top head coach in the land. [CBS Sports]
• The Matt Barkley hype is up to another unprecedented level. USC's future quarterback is the first junior ever to be named high school athlete of the year -- out of all male sports. No pressure, kid! [LA Times]
• Thomas Williams inked his first NFL contract. [AP]
• Chilo Rachal signed as well. [RF365]
• Hey ladies! Taylor Mays is a football star, funny, and apparently single. Check out this interview. [Video on USCFootball.com]
• USC is an early 18 point favorite over Virginia. [Vegas Insider]

Hoops

• DeMar DeRozan is good to go. [LA Times]
• O.J. Mayo made the US Select team to prep for international competition. [AP]
• SI dubbed O.J. Mayo the #8 breakout freshman of 2007-08. [Sports Illustrated]
• Davon Jefferson says he has no regrets. [Riverside Press-Enterprise]

Elsewhere

• Another publication tried to re-rank the top school in all sports from last year. USC was seventh. [Sports Illustrated]
• A trio of Trojans made Sports Illustrated's gallery of best college photos from 2007-08: Desmond Reed, Vidal Hazelton, and Janessa Currier.

"Yes, I am cleared," DeRozan said in a text message.

DeRozan is the Trojans' greatest hope for recouping from the losses left from OJ Mayo and the ill-conceived departure of Davon Jefferson. DeRozan is a multi-talented player, putting up sick numbers across the board: 30.6 points per game, 8.9 rebounds and 4 steals. He should provide Daniel Hackett and Dwight Lewis with a go-to shooter not afraid to move into the paint, and add a formidable defensive punch to complement the mighty Taj Gibson.

Davon Jefferson is another story.

Pruitt hasn't received any playing time in the NBA Finals against the Lakers (nor has fellow Trojan-Celtic Brian Scalabrine), but his name did come up yesterday.

UCLA basketball Coach Ben Howland was addressing the early departure of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute when reporters brought up Pruitt. Howland replied, "Would it have been better for Gabe Pruitt to come back one more year, in retrospect? Probably, 'cause he would have been a definite first-rounder had he come back. As always, hindsight is 20-20."

Clearly a cautionary tale that Davon Jefferson paid no attention to.

Last month word was Davon Jefferson would stay at USC for his sophomore season. Now it seems he's changed his mind. As reported on Fox Sports:

Jefferson will turn pro and sign with agent Arn Tellem, sources close to the situation confirmed...The athletic 6-foot-8 freshman forward, who initially said he wasn't going to declare for the NBA Draft, has decided to not only to declare but has hired an agent, meaning he can't return to the college game.

Jefferson started 25 games, had 12.1 and 6.3 rebounds per game.

• Martin Coleman was interviewed this weekend on SCPlaybook. You may remember that he's the artistic one on the team.
• Last but not least, Mitch Mustain had his chance to get miked up by Mark Haas at TrojanTV.
• How fast is USC commit Randall Carroll? He ran 100 meters in 10.49 seconds.

USC Basketball

• Davon Jefferson may declare for the draft and not hire an agent, giving him more time to make a real decision.
• Taylor King skipped his USC visit and will attend Villanova.
• It's a few days old, but CBS' Gary Parrish wins the award for highest opinion of USC ... he has the Trojans at No. 4 in his preseason rankings.

Other USC News

• The baseball team took two of three from No. 5 Cal this weekend, including a 17-1 drubbing that was the most lopsided in the history of the series.
• USC is No. 9 on the Princeton Review's list of "Dream Colleges."

From Rivals.com:

2. USC

Star of the class: O.J. Mayo. After a much bally-hooed high school career that was played under the national microscope, the former five-star prospect moved from a small pond in Huntington, West Virginia to the bright lights of Los Angeles. He helped the Trojans return to the NCAA tournament and raised the program's reputation on a national level. Mayo was a first-team All-Pac-10 performer after scoring 20.7 points per game. His next move is likely to the NBA.

Steal of the class: Davon Jefferson. His road to college took a little longer than he may have wanted, the athletic forward went to work when he finally made it. The former prep schooler's crowning moment this season came in a 72-63 win over UCLA, where he scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds. With Mayo likely leaving for the NBA next season, don't be surprised to see Jefferson have an all-conference type of year next year.

In hindsight: Mayo did what everyone thought he would do, score the ball, raise the profile of the team and make an impact right away. Jefferson should come into his own even more as a sophomore. Outside of Mayo, Jefferson and Angelo Johnson, the other two signees Marcus Simmons and Mamadou Diarra didn't factor too much into the big picture mostly to injury. Johnson should factor more into the plans next season and beyond. He started 11 games and was third on the team in assists.

Grade: A-

Very fair grade for a solid class.  The future will look as bright as can be if O.J. and Davon return next season, but even if they depart, the rest of the class should contribute for many years to come.  Marcus Simmons is a player that will continue to develop and become a Kyle Weaver type of player.  Mamadou Diarra certainly has the skill-set to become an impact big man.  Finally, Angelo stepped it up when needed and looks like a player that can at the very least provide quality minutes at the PG spot.

A source informs InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner that USC guard O.J. Mayo, plans on declaring for the 2008 NBA Draft. Unless he has a sudden change of heart, he may announce his intentions any day now, possibly today. Also, USC's Taj Gibson and Davon Jefferson are also leaning towards going pro.

They have O.J. going 8th to the Charlotte Bobcats in their mock draft.

NBA Mock Draft [InsideHoops.com]

Stewart Mandel of SI.com has SC as a 4th seed in the South bracket facing George Mason in the first round.  I think that's a little high at this point, but it could be a reality if we beat ASU on Thursday.  My bet would still be on a 5th seed at this point.

Tonight USD upset Gonzaga and received an automatic birth into the tournament which will help our SOS and also move the Zags out of the 5-6th range in terms of seeding.  Although I don't think the upset will have a direct effect on our placement, I do think it raises the floor a bit higher. 

SC's season-ending momentum is really starting to grab people's attention, check out this quote from Spencer Hall of SportingNews.com:

No one will claim the Trojans are a dark-horse Final Four team. OK, at least we won't -- but no team wants to see O.J. Mayo and Davon Jefferson in its bracket.

Freshman prodigies with spectacular athleticism, too young to realize they're not supposed to win a game in the NCAA Tournament, are dangerous, dangerous things.

Like I said in a post on Sunday, SC is one SCARY team to face in the tournament.  We have the potential to go deep, but also lose in the 1st/2nd round because of lack of depth in big men. 

Today, Mayo spent at least half an hour after practice shooting baskets. Then he met with reporters.

Q: After the game some people thought you said that you were going to stay for next year. Is there anything definitive at this point or is it still up in the air?
A: Next question. It's up in the air. Just signing up for summer school. Next question.
Q: How do you want us to portray that? Is there any particular wording?
A: I'm going to summer school ... I'm [getting together] classes for summer school. Same thing. Nothing too difficult about that answer.

Glad we cleared that one up! That last one was a little garbled on the tape but you can hear it yourself along with the whole four minute Q&A session:

As you can tell, Mayo likes to have a little fun with the press. Among his Shaq-esque pearls of wisdom:

Q: What happened the last time you guys played [ASU]?
A: They beat us.
Q: How did it happen?
A: They scored more points.

Glad we cleared that one up, too!

Daniel Hackett gave a preview of Thursday's Pac-10 Tournament game against Arizona State:

We're fighting because we want a ring. We feel like we can beat anybody in this conference, and they do too. It'll be an interesting game and a tough matchup.

If you're watching the polls, USC was just out of the Top 25 this week, landing at 27th in the AP and 28th in the ESPN/USA Today rankings.

In other hoops news, Mayo was named to the All Pac-10 Team first team. Taj Gibson made the third team and was also named Pac-10 player of the week for his performance against the NorCal schools. Davon Jefferson was honorable mention for the All Pac-10, and also grabbed All-Freshman honors along with Mayo (honorable mention to Angelo Johnson). Gibson also made the All-Defense team and Mayo got an honorable mention on that list.