Oops: Floyd Stays at USC as ESPN Blushes

It was a typical Wednesday night. I was on Facebook quickly glancing through a wealth of newly changed statuses on my home page. That’s where the typical part ended. Suddenly I am quickly surfing over to a new tab, searching for a specific piece of information and finding exactly what I didn’t want to find. ESPN was reporting on April 2nd (It was still April 1st on the West Coast) that Tim Floyd was expected to be leaving USC for Arizona. As quickly as the Trojan’s hope for a great 2009-2010 season had bloomed after short, but successful run in the post season, so did it vanish. But wait. Several hours later the story disappeared and Tim Floyd (Pictured left) reassured the Nation of Troy he was not going anywhere while ESPN suddenly contracted a terrible case of foot-in-mouth disease. At that moment I was also curious what the sporting world thought of this case and ESPN’s blunder. After diving into the online discourse, it is safe to say that it seems that most people were more concerned about the final destination of Coach Floyd than whether ESPN sacrificed a bit of it’s journalistic integrity to try to be the first with a story. For a sampling of the encounter here are my response to two bloggers that commented on this issue. The first one I found on the College Sports Hotline and the second was discovered on Fan Nation.

Arizona’s next coach: Could it be Tim Floyd?
(Click here to the comment in context)

I think this event, especially in retrospect (now that we know he is staying), is one of the more curious happenings of this year's post season for several reasons. My first thought when reading that he was going to leave (A terrible blunder by ESPN which I will address in a moment) I found sudden and confusing. Why would Tim want to leave this year? Tim has been able to sell USC (At least as an institution if not as a stellar basketball program) to top recruits the past couple years making it obvious that rebuilding the program is anything but impossible. Despite a mid season slump this is the team that beat Cal, UCLA and ASU to win the PAC 10 tournament and almost beat Final Four contender Michigan State in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament. It it obvious this team was just getting started toward the end of the season which leaves next season as a sea of possibilities waiting to be explored. If you were Tim Floyd, despite entertaining the Arizona offer, would you really even want to leave? However, had Floyd decide to go to the desert, I would not have minded getting a chance at Pittsburgh's Jaime Dixon who supposedly has had an urge to return to Southern California. Had Floyd decided to leave and Dixon take his place, do you feel that USC would have had the chance to keep DeRozen and other incoming recruits despite the coaching change?

Besides the oddity of thinking Floyd would want to leave this year is the fact that Arizona would want him. He may have greatly improved USC the past few years, but they are not exactly a powerhouse yet. He is a good fit for the current program, however, due to Arizona's past success, I would think they would be looking at taking from more established programs.

And finally, do you think ESPN has any excuse for jumping the gun like they did? Though I would not have minded if they had reported that Arizona had offered Floyd the position, they decided to report on it as if he had all but signed on the dotted line. Why? Because one of their radio affiliates said so. I am surprised that there is not as much disappointment or backlash toward ESPN for this little stunt. I certainly give them less credibility now.

P.S. Also I would like to point out that Daniel Hackett’s issue was cleared his freshman year by the NCAA and there was no real reason why it should have come up again his junior year.

Tim Floyd Makes the Right Move
(Click here to see the comment in context)

I could not agree more that Tim Floyd made the right decision. Rebuilding takes time and patience. Though USC was not transformed into a powerhouse over night (As sometimes people wish when a new coach is hired), they are seeing successes already. Never before has USC been to the NCAA tournament three straight years or won the Pac 10 Tournament. Success can be measured by a process (Are we doing better than we did before?) and a product (There are more W's than L's in the record books). USC is actually achieving both now.

Though Arizona (Pictured Right) has had past successes, they did no better than USC during the regular season and went out early in the PAC 10 tournament. I applaud them for making it the Sweet Sixteen after barely making the NCAA tournament, but I still do not think that enough of a success to entice a coach away from a program who just recently (2007) made it to the Sweet Sixteen as well. If Tim means what he says about wanting to build his own traditions, then why would he want to start all over again at another program after he's worked this hard to begin a tradition of success at USC?

Here is a thought: Had he left, what do you think would have been his main motivation? And had USC gotten first choice Jaime Dixon as a replacement, do you think he could have kept all of Floyd's recruits and our current players in the anticipation of seeing the success he achieved at Pitt?