USC basketball: Bob Cantu won’t be retained on Andy Enfield’s staff

Bob Cantu, a longtime USC basketball assistant who served as interim coach after Kevin O’Neill was fired in January, will not be retained as part of new Coach Andy Enfield’s staff, the school announced.

Cantu had been at USC since 2001 and served under four coaches.

“I want to thank everyone I worked with at USC the past 12 years,” Cantu said in a statement posted on USC’s website. “It was a great experience. We had some memorable moments. I look forward to following the future success of the program.”

Jason Hart, a Pepperdine assistant who played high school basketball in the Southland and also at Syracuse and in the NBA, will join the USC staff, Pepperdine Coach Marty Wilson announced via Twitter.

“Jason Hart will be joining the new USC staff,” Wilson wrote on his Twitter feed. “They are getting a first class person, family man & hard worker. Much respect”

USC and Pepperdine officials said they could not confirm Hart’s hiring.

Hart played at Inglewood and Westchester highs and then at Syracuse from 1996-97 to 1999-2000 before beginning an NBA career that spanned nine seasons. He was head coach at Woodland Hills Taft High before joining Pepperdine’s staff before the 2012-13 season.

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