USC Will Not Play In The Postseason

USC has announced that they will impose punishments on themselves for the OJ Mayo saga, including forfeiting any postseason play this season. This is standard procedure for schools in this situation, because they figure that if they punish themselves then it's less likely that the NCAA will step in and impose their own punishments.

I asked just about a week ago whether I thought that USC was a Tournament team, and we now know the answer: they won't be. It was unlikely that they were going to make the Tournament anyway this season, but it was possible after the great way that they've been playing since Michael Gerrity showed up. You have to feel for Gerrity after all of his transfers, and the amazing way that he's transformed this team, that he now has the letdown that all of this will be for naught since they cannot play in the postseason.

That all said, it's good news for USC that this appears to be mostly over and they can move on. The limits on recruiting will not really affect their ability to start rebuilding the program, and Kevin O'Neill has done well so far. It seems clear that this year will be the nadir of USC basketball, and the future will be brighter.

How much brighter will the near future be? Will they be back to the postseason in 2011? It's too early to tell. Kevin O'Neill is still putting together his 2010 recruiting class, and has to balance the desire to get as many players as possible now with the knowledge that programs can really go off the rails when they get 6 or 7 player recruiting classes. A big key to consistent winning is consistent 4-5 player recruiting classes. O'Neill just has to find the right 4-5 players. But at the very least, it's good for them to finally get the feeling that this saga is behind them, and to finally start moving forward.