BREAKING: SMU hiring USC Basketball coach Andy Enfield
SMU is expected to hire USC head basketball coach Andy Enfield to replace Rob Lanier, sources told On The Pony Express. After five NCAA Tournament appearances in 11 seasons in Los Angeles, Enfield is leaving to become the coach of the Mustangs.
Enfield won 21 games or more in seven of his 11 seasons leading the Trojans. The 2020-21 Pac-12 Coach of the Year guided the Trojans into the NCAA Tournament in 2021, 2022 and 2023 as well into the postseason from 2016-18 (2016-17 NCAA, 2018 NIT). He finishes third all-time in wins at USC with a 220-147 record.
The 2023-24 season for Andy Enfield and USC was an adventure as injuries to Isaiah Collier, Boogie Ellis, Joshua Morgan and Bronny James at various points scuttled all sorts of hype and excitement around the program. After a six-game slide in Pac-12 play, the preseason Top 25 Trojans got healthy and won five of their last seven, including an upset over Top 5 Arizona. Still, it wasn’t enough to rebound from a tough schedule that included matchups against Oklahoma, Seton Hall, Gonzaga, Auburn and others. The Trojans were 15-18 overall and 8-12 in league play.
The 2020-21 Trojans went 25-8 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, winning the most conference games and games overall in the regular season among Pac-12 teams. The 2019-20 Trojans went 22-9, finished tied for 3rd in the Pac-12 and were getting better as the season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
One of Andy Enfield’s wins in the NCAA Tournament was over SMU in 2017, beating the Mustangs in the final seconds, 66-65.
On the recruiting trail, Enfield has brought in some elite talent. He’s signed five-stars like Isaiah Collier, Charles O’Bannon, Evan Mobley and Isaiah Mobley. His tenure in Los Angeles includes numerous Top 100 signees, including Bronny James, the son of future NBA Hall of Famer LeBron James.
Over the last six seasons, USC has had six players selected in the NBA Draft, tied for the 13th-most by any program in the country, with Evan Mobley being selected No. 3 overall in the 2021 NCAA Draft a year after Onyeka Okongwu was selected No. 6 in the 2020 NBA Draft. USC is one of seven teams to have had at least one player selected in five of the last six NBA Drafts.
SMU tabs Andy Enfield to replace Rob Lanier
Enfield replaces Rob Lanier, who was fired after a two-year stint on the Hilltop. Lanier went 30-35 overall at SMU and 16-20 in American Athletic Conference play.
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Moving into the ACC, SMU coveted a proven winner that could lead the program to new heights as it makes its move into a Power Four conference. With Andy Enfield, SMU landed a coach who is well-known commodity as a recruiter and producing winning teams.
Andy Enfield arrived at USC after a two-year stint at Florida-Gulf Coast, where he led FGCU to the 2013 Sweet Sixteen. “Dunk City” beat No. 2 seed Georgetown and No. 7 seed San Diego State on its run in the NCAA Tournament. He won 41 games over the two-year stretch in the Sunshine State.
Prior to going to FGCU, the Johns Hopkins grad spent the previous five years as an assistant coach at Florida State. He also spent time in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics.
USC’s 95 wins from 2019 to 2023 was tied for the sixth-most among the six basketball power conferences.
Now Andy Enfield begins assembling his staff and building SMU’s roster for the 2024-25 season, the program’s first in the ACC.
