USC Basketball Starting Five Since 2000
Since 2000, the USC basketball program can be split into two groups, pre-Andy Enfield and the Andy Enfield era. Enfield came to USC from Florida Gulf Coast and is going into his 11th season with the Trojans. Between Henry Bibby, Tim Floyd, and Kevin O’Neill, they won 240 total games, an average of 17.1 per year for the first 14 years of the 2000s. Enfield has already won 205 games in his ten seasons, averaging 20.5 wins. The trio that preceded Enfield combined for five 20-win seasons, while Enfield has had seven in his ten seasons.
This group of players was an interesting one because the majority of the best players, or the players who had the best seasons, only did it with the Trojans for one season. With that said, here are the starting five for USC since 2000.
Starting Five
G Nick Young (‘04-’07)
Nick Young spent three seasons at USC and finished two of the on the first-team All-Pac 10. He led the league in scoring (647) in his final year, along with leading the way in shots attempted and shots made while finishing third (52.5%) in field goal percentage. Young joins Drew Peterson and Sam Clancy as the only Trojans during this time period to finish first-team All-League more than once.
G DeMar DeRozan (‘08-’09)
DeMar DeRozan spent only one season with USC, but he made the most out of that year. DeRozan, a top-five recruit, was first-team All-Pac 10, Pac 10 All-Freshman, and the Pac 10 Tournament MVP. DeRozan went No. 9 overall in the 2009 NBA Draft and has scored 21,685 points during his 14 seasons in the league.
F Drew Peterson (‘20-’23)
Drew Peterson joins Nick Young and Sam Clancy as the only USC players during this time frame to earn first-team All-League honors multiple times. After transferring from Rice, Peterson started 97 games in his three seasons with the Trojans. In his final year, Peterson led the Pac-12 in minutes per game. He also finished top five in defensive rebounds (177) and assists per game (4.3).
F Evan Mobley (‘20-’21)
In his one season at USC, Evan Mobley racked up the awards. His 16.4 points finished eighth in the league, while his 8.7 rebounds and 2.9 blocks led the way. Mobley was named Pac 12 Player of the Year, Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Pac 12 Rookie of the Year, first-team All-Pac 12, second-team Consensus All-American, first-team All-Pac 12 Tournament, and NCAA Tournament All-Region. Mobley was taken third in the 2021 NBA Draft. This tied with OJ Mayo for the highest player drafted in school history.
F Sam Clancy (‘98-’02)
This position might have been the toughest to choose from. Along with Sam Clancy, players like Taj Gibson, Brian Scalibrine, Onyeka Okongwu, Bennie Boatwright, and Nikola Vucevic all had some very good moments with the Trojans. However, Clancy’s career was tough to ignore. For starters, he joins Evan Mobley as the only player in this time frame to earn Conference Player of the Year honors. He joins Drew Peterson and Nick Young as the only players in this time frame to be named first-team All-Conference multiple times. In his senior season, Clancy finished fourth in the conference in scoring (19.1), steals (1.8), and blocks (1.5) per game. His 9.4 rebounds per game finished second.
Sixth Man
F OJ Mayo (‘07-’08)
In a vacuum, OJ Mayo would most likely be in the starting five of this group. After all, in his one season at USC, he was first–team All-Pac-10, Pac-12 All-Freshman, and All-Pac-12 Tournament. His 20.2 points finished second in the Pac-10 that season. He finished top 10 in assists and steals per game as well as three-point percentage and free-throw percentage. However, Mayo’s recruitment also left USC with an NCAA investigation and sanctions.
The Bench
G Jordan McLaughlin (‘14-’18), G Boogie Ellis (‘21-present), C Isaiah Mobley (‘19-’22), C Onyeka Okongwu (‘19-’20), C Chimeze Metu (‘15-’18), F Brian Scalabrine (‘98-’01), F Bennie Boatwright (‘15-’19), G Desmon Farmer (‘00-’04), G Gabe Pruitt (‘04-’07), G Daniel Hackett (‘06-’09), C Nikola Vucevic (‘08-’11), Taj Gibson (‘07-’08)