USC’s current and former basketball coaches cause a ruckus
USC men’s basketball Coach Andy Enfield and Texas El Paso coach and former USC coach Tim Floyd reportedly got into a heated exchange Wednesday night during a dinner for the schools playing in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.
Sports Illustrated reported that Enfield went up to Floyd to try to make amends over a dispute they had over recruit Isaac Hamilton, a Los Angeles player who had signed a letter of intent with Texas El Paso in 2012 but ended up at UCLA, where he is sitting out this season.
Floyd accused Enfield and his USC staff of tampering with Hamilton.
According to Sports Illustrated, when Enfield went up to Floyd, Floyd got into Enfield’s face. Enfield told Sports Illustrated that he was “trying to tell him that I was sorry we had words and we should put this behind us. I thought it would be a 20-second conversation.”
Assistants from both teams got involved, including Bob Cantu, USC’s interim coach for the last half of last season and who now works for Floyd.
Asked why he approached Floyd, Enfield told Sports Illustrated “because I’ve always liked Tim. He’s always been a good guy to me. I wanted to let him know that I was upset that this whole ordeal happened. I wanted to let him know that I respect him.”
Enfield confirmed what he said in the Sports Illustrated article.
“I’m sorry this situation occurred and I apologize on behalf of our basketball program,” he said.
Twitter: @mepucin
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