The just-concluded NBA Finals are a good reminder that neither Kawhi Leonard nor Klay Thompson played at USC.
But they easily could have been Trojans.
Leonard, who played at King High School in Riverside, was considered a “mid-major post” player by the USC coaching staff and never offered a scholarship. UCLA, Arizona, Washington and Arizona State also neglected to offer Leonard and he signed with San Diego State.
Thompson, who played at Santa Margarita, actually wanted to play at USC. But USC coach Tim Floyd had a commitment from Malik Story, who could not get admitted and went to Indiana and then Nevada. USC coaches actually wanted to sign Thompson but by the time Floyd agreed after he went and saw Thompson play, Thompson had already signed with Washington State.
It’s hardly a USC thing. Leonard was only offered by San Diego State while Thompson was only offered by Washington State before signing. Imagine the team the Trojans could have had with those players.
- USC is supposed to announce Jason Gill of Loyola Marymount as its new baseball coach today. The coaching search had a couple benefits: It got Grand Canyon coach Andy Stankiewicz an extra year on his contract and probably got UC Santa Barbara coach Andrew Checketts a nice raise to remain with the Gauchos.
- Is the fact former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer was sentenced to only one day in prison a good sign for ex-USC women’s water polo Jovan Vavic?
Maybe not. The judge was lenient on Vandemoer because the government struggled to identify a “gain” or “victim.” No fake student-athletes were admitted and he didn’t pocket any money. The federal indictment named Vavic in the case of falsified athletic credentials for two individuals. It also said Vavic used some of the money for personal expenses, including tuition at Loyola High School.
- McKinnley Jackson is one of the top defensive tackles in the nation. But when the George County, Miss., prospect showed up at the USC Elite Camp this week, something unthinkable occurred. Most of the coaching staff had no idea who he was. This is hard to believe given that Rivals lists him as the No. 6 defensive tackle in the country.
“He weighs over 300 pounds and comes to the camp and the USC coaches are saying, `Who is this big kid?’ “ said a high school coach who was at the camp Monday and Tuesday. “They were genuinely excited because they said they never heard of him.”
USC coaches might not have known about Jackson but they saw enough to offer him a scholarship this week. Hey, at least they didn’t treat like Kawhi Leonard and never offer him.
- And finally . . . I said last week I would tell a story I’ve heard regarding the famous George Atkinson hit of Lynn Swann in 1976, which can be viewed here. A former NFL player from that era swears to me that one of Swann’s teammates in Pittsburgh offered $1,000 if a Raider took out Swann and Atkinson obliged.
This incident would sound outlandish but I’ve previously mentioned Swann isn’t exactly popular with many of his USC teammates either.
InsideUSC with Scott Wolf 
When I seen Leonard play a summer league game in Palm Springs I thought he was gonna play for a Pac12 school. He was just the smartest player and out played every kid by far.
But when he beat THE WEAR TWINS WHO WERE BOTH 5-STAR RECRUITS GOING TO U…..C…..L…..A……in the CIF Title game I was certain that USC fu**ed up and he’s gonna make them look stupid with SDSU.
I mean he completely put Riverside King on his back and rocked Mater Dei like they’ve never felt.
Congrats to Leonard for making the Inland Empire look respectable!
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Gosh, Sammy, I remember when you went nuts over Charles O’Bannon Jr. signing with the bozos instead of UCLA. Crap, Auld Andyain’twinning out recruited UCLA for Jr.!!
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I was dead wrong. I should have known he might crumble like Uncle Ed did in the NBA. But he still has some time left. We have bad luck with Powder Blue blood. Tracy Murray’s brother was a bomb. Bibby thought he was Bobby Knight but with some of the “Wizard’s” bball i.q. in his coaching but he was just too old school for a program like ours that had no kind of identity playing scared and nervous because of him.
But I can always count on Ken Norton Jr to remind me why we should never close our doors to a bruin. Haaaaa!
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Hindsight is for losers and complaining. Which are you? When you look at sheer numbers of athletes in Southern California in high schools it’s not hard to miss one or two greats.
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Unfortunately USC mens basketball has been missing greats for 112 years.
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LOL!
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McKinley Jackson is at USC’s elite camp because he was invited to it. Invited by the USC coaching staff. So much for the never heard of him theory.
I call shenanigans upon you and your household.
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Just to clarify a bit, they invited 60 kids to the elite camp, specifically to have the kids work with their staff and to evaluate them. To say they never heard of him is just a lie.
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Not only that, he had pics taken in uniform the day BEFORE camp. Either scottie or his source (probably tbone or krappa) were untruthful.
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Here is a pic of McKinley from the day PRIOR to the camp…
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Dated, captioned photo proof that McKinley was on USC’s radar. Is that all ya got, Pudly?
#I’mGoingWith”UnknownSourcesSayUSCNeverHeardOfMcKinley”…..
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What high school coach would go to an event like this and dis the coaches?? Most came with kids looking for attention/recognition.
Slow news days shouldn’t mean fake news days. Just sayin
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Pudly, my philosophical friend —- I suppose you know that your directive contradicts the Ultimate Rule of 21st Century Journalism……
#ExistToDenigrateTheTruth….
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Why would Clay Helton know who the #6 ranked defensive lineman, McKinnley Jackson is ? He recruits like USC plays in a 7 on 7 flag football league, and has a total disregard for line of scrimmage play, since he’s been the head coach
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The Lynn Swann story sounds a bit contrived. Are we supposed to equate people like you personally and people happy that you are a stud on the field? So I don’t like you personally I am not going to cheer when you catch the ball in the end zone. I don’t know too many football players, but the ones I know (or knew) wanted to win more than anything. To take away a chance to win because you don’t like a guy outside of work doesn’t make sense.
But hey it’s your story-stick to it.
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Agreed – I believe the truer version of this is in the NFL Films retrospectives for each Super Bowl championship team…a certain implied dislike does come across (particularly from Jack Lambert), but it’s hard to miss the even greater implicit appreciation for having had the good fortune to have a game-changer on their side (and regardless of one’s attitude towards him as AD – and I’m with almost all of you in not being thrilled on that account – or sports journalist…or candidate for governor in PA…he was an amazing wide receiver on a team loaded with HOFers).
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Clay Helton steers clear of linemen ever since E.J. Price slapped him down.
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tebow says something funny two days in a row….
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LMAO!!!!!!
Scott, Scott, Scott, Scott, Scott, Scott, Scotttttttt!!!……… USC doesn’t just allow any kid even if they were invited to show up. They know well ahead of time who’s made the reservation to be on the list. And……………They go over the list up and down. Where do u get this info from?
Please tell us something concrete. When you graduated from SC did you vow not to drink any alcohol because you didn’t want to give any positive vibes out towards USC?
Take a break from the BS.
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Can somebody please tell that Cock Sucker, Pudly 76, that Scott Wolf has never been wrong with his assessments of the USC program, and their coaches in seven years. He’s spent years trying to prove Wolf wrong , but after three coaching firings, Puds76 comes out looking like the Dumb Fuck, that he is 😂
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Dear Pusley, the large, professional AH.
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Mule,
Eyeroll.
#JHCcan’tYouDoAnyBetter
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thanks for the Swannie back story, wolfman!! it rings true because of the obvious contempt the Stealers had for Swannie….if there’s one thing pro footballers hate, it’s a phony, and Swannie was the phoniest of all in his quest to get an on-camera career!!
but to think a FELLOW PLAYER actually put a bounty on Swannie says volumes…..as you KNOW, wolfman, it’s normally a coach, owner or bookie who normally puts a bounty on a player….it’s NEVER another player. now that’s pure HATE!
Swannie’s a phony and is horrible at his job as AD, but at LEAST he never stole money from poor kids, like Paddy Boy O’Hadden.
#USCWriteACheckMakeItRight
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