Southern California basketball will dance to a different beat literally and figuratively during the madness in March.
Controversial star O.J. Mayo is out. Fabulous freshman DeMar DeRozan is in. Also in is Master P.'s son Romeo Miller, otherwise known as Lil' Romeo.
Miller will probably have the biggest impact of any recruit in the history of the game for a player who might not play a single meaningful minute. Rivals considers Miller only a two star recruit, but offering a scholarship to Miller helped lure top five recruit DeRozan to the school.
Miller and DeRozan are good friends and according to The Wall Street Journal, committed to USC together while driving with Romeo's father, Percy, after a tournament in Arkansas when Coach Tim Floyd offered both a scholarship.
While Miller probably won't contribute much if anything this season, DeRozan could easily have the biggest impact of any of the standout freshmen this year.
He's a 6'6'' swingman who's going to be on the floor to score. The Compton native wasn't recruited for his intangibles. He's expected to fill the void O.J. Mayo left when he bolted for the NBA after just one season in Los Angeles.
Mayo's loss will hurt, but won't hurt quite as much as it may seem.
According to Ken Pomeroy statistics, Mayo finished an incredibly high percentage of the Trojans' plays, but at an inefficient rate. He finished 25th in the country in possession rate at 30.8 percent which means three out of every ten offensive possessions that Mayo was on the floor for ended at the hands of Mayo.
A high possession percentage isn't a bad thing if Mayo is efficient with the ball, but he took 34 percent of his team's shots while on the floor at an effective field goal percentage of 52.4 percent, fifth best on his own team.
If DeRozan can come in and be more effective through higher percentage shots, USC will improve its 52nd ranked offensive efficiency rating.
DeRozan won't have to shoulder the entire scoring load. Junior guards Daniel Hackett and Dwight Lewis will have larger roles in the offense now that Mayo is gone. The two combined for 19.4 points per game in 2008.
In the front court, the Trojans return the PAC-10's third leading rebounder Taj Gibson. The Junior averaged 11 points on 58 percent shooting. He should receive more touches in the post because Gibson is efficient enough with the ball to be a productive member of the offense. But overall for Gibson, defense, not scoring is his forte.
Gibson was selected to the All PAC-10 Defensive First-Team. He's on pace to shatter the school record for blocks in just his junior year. Also, no Trojan has grabbed more rebounds in his first two years in L.A. than Gibson.
Taj Gibson entered USC in 2006 as a four star recruit, but has under performed slightly. If used the right way, the undersized center could become the most dominant big man in a conference lacking a lot of quality forwards.
Gibson is a big part of USC's superb defense. The Trojans ranked 15th in the country in defensive efficiency in 2008 and ranked first in the conference in opponent's field goal percentage.
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