USC received a commitment this weekend according to a tweet from Lincoln Riley. It makes sense because USC is hosting a lot of recruits this weekend and has a camp today. USC has just three commitments for the Class of 2024 but that number should pick up considerably during the summer as recruits visit the campus. In college baseball, Arizona lost to Santa Clara, 12-4, and was eliminated after two games at the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats’ showing didn’t make the NCAA selection committee look good after taking the Pac-12’s eighth-place team over the fourth-place team (USC). Yesterday was T ..read more

This is what a USC rally a looked like on Sept. 19, 1952, the day before the Trojans faced Washington State College (it wasn’t yet a university). The 12 p.m. event at Bovard Auditorium was highlighted by the debut of George Tirebiter II. And when I say highlighted, I’m not kidding. Unless you wanted to hear a speech from Coach Jess Hill, who was known for his less than magnetic personality. The yell king performed new and traditional yells. Song sheets were passed out for students to learn the yells. Sportscaster Frank Bull, who was a radio announcer for USC games and followed games for more t ..read more

If we need another example of how Mike Bohn shirked job duties, here’s one that bugged me throughout his tenure. USC has not inducted a Hall of Fame class since 2018. Bohn clearly had no interest in the matter as he did nothing while athletic director. I asked a USC official back in 2021 about the Hall of Fame and got the usual excuses: “Mike was busy with COVID issues, football problems, etc.” It really wasn’t a valid alibi because the athletic director doesn’t do much with the Hall of Fame class, he just makes sure there is one. He could have told Mini-Me Sosna to take care of it. Why does i ..read more

What happens first? Mike Bohn speaks to the media or puts his South Bay home on the market? USC has received a commitment from 6-7 forward Brandon Gardner of Brooklyn, N.Y. He originally committed to St. John’s but new coach Rick Pitino did not want to keep him after getting hired. Five USC women’s water polo players — Paige Hauschild, Tilly Kearns, Bayley Weber, Carolyne Stern and Grace Tehaney — were named All-Americans for the second straight season by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches ..read more

As we like to say, if it’s Friday, it’s time for a USC notes column. USC pitching coach Seth Etherton, a former Trojan player, deserves kudos this season. The pitching staff had a 4.39 ERA, which was first in the Pac-12 and 30th nationally. The team ERA improved by 1.08 runs. USC basketball will play KK Mega Basket (the former team of Nikola Jokic) in Greece on August 9th and 11th. How many fans will go just to see Bronny James? Two USC women’s volleyball players — outside hitters Jordan Wilson and Kalen Owes — have transferred to Arizona. And now for some history: Wide receiver Dway ..read more

I’ve seen 20-30 names already mentioned for the USC athletic director’s job in media reports. One candidate is Tennessee’s Danny White. But he makes $2.31 million a year to live in Knoxville. What would he need to make at USC? I know Carol Folt just wants it all to go away and hire an uncontroversial athletic director. But how much money will Folt (and Rick Caruso) be willing to spend? One candidate I would take seriously is Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke. Why? Pitt has employed Huron Consulting Group, which is heavily involved at USC right now, supplying two members of the interim leader ..read more

USC (read Bronny James) will open the basketball season vs. Kansas State at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Nov. 6th, according to Jon Rothstein. It will be a doubleheader as Oregon plays Georgia in the other game. Now the first reaction is “USC vs. Kansas State. Good game. K-State had a great run in the NCAA Tournament.” But . . . Kansas State isn’t listed in any Top 25 polls for next season that I’ve seen. And Rothstein, the ace self-promoter, doesn’t even have Kansas State in his Top 45! So now I know why Andy Enfield took the game ..read more

This is a typical Pac-12 story. The Holiday Bowl has filed a lawsuit agains the conference and UC Regents seeking more than $3 million in damages after UCLA elected not to play the 2021 game hours before kickoff, according to Brett McMurphy. Here is a twist I never heard before: “Because the Pac-12 didn’t compensate the Holiday Bowl for the 2021 cancellation, the Holiday Bowl, to offset those losses, did not pay the Pac-12 for providing a participating team (Oregon) in the 2022 bowl.” The Pac-12 told the Holiday Bowl two weeks ago it would file a lawsuit if it did not pay the conference for th ..read more

The Pac-12 announced some kick off times today and it’s the usual bad news: The San Jose State game on August 26 and Nevada game on Sept. 2 will be on the dreaded Pac-12 Network. The San Jose State game will kick off at 5 p.m. while the Nevada game will be at 3:30 p.m. I wonder what the temperature will be at 3:30 on Sept. 2? And if you don’t get the Pac-12 Network, you will scramble to see the first two games of the season. USC will play Stanford on Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m. PT on Fox. The other game known had been previously announced: Notre Dame will start at 4:30 p.m. PT ..read more

Brandon Baker of Mater Dei High School is ranked the No. 1 offensive tackle in the nation by some recruiting services and it doesn’t appear USC is going to make the cut. I’m tempted to write that 10 times because it’s almost hard to believe. Oregon is the leader and Baker also has Texas, Ohio State, Georgia, Miami, Florida State and Tennessee atop his list. For USC to truly be back among the nation’s elite, it needs to get the best linemen in the country, obviously. But it really needs to get that lineman when they go to Mater Dei. It’s really shocking Baker doesn’t have USC as a finalist righ ..read more