Guard May Be Ineligible

USC sophomore point guard Rodrick Stewart is in danger of being academically ineligible to start the fall semester, according to sources. If he is ineligible, Stewart will miss at least the first six games of the season but could regain his eligibility in time for the Dec. 18 home game against Western Michigan. The Trojans’ Pacific 10 Conference opener is Dec. 31 at Oregon.

“Nothing is official yet, though,” Coach Henry Bibby said. “I haven’t heard anything yet. We’re good to go. Everything is intact.”

In starting 17 of the 27 games he appeared in last season, Stewart struggled at times, averaging 4.4 points on 34.4% shooting, 10% (three for 30) from three-point range. He attended the first session of summer school but has since returned to his Seattle home.

*

Assistant coach Mike Johnson had a recent health scare that prompted Bibby to pull him off the road from recruiting duties. Johnson, 35, had kidney stones and a collapsed kidney but is recovering well, Bibby said. New staff member Jim Saia, a former UCLA assistant, has taken over road recruiting duties.

*

Gregg Guenther, who has played both football and basketball at USC for the last three seasons before quitting the football team this summer, has been awarded a basketball scholarship.... Gabe Pruitt, a point guard recruit who has already been admitted to USC after signing with the school last November out of Westchester High, is attending summer school in an attempt to raise his core grade-point average to gain his eligibility for the fall semester.

-- Paul Gutierrez