USC Coach Andy Enfield speaks about VCU transfer D.J. Haley

New USC basketball Coach Andy Enfield spoke Friday afternoon about the Trojans’ newest player, D.J. Haley, who played three seasons at Virginia Commonwealth.

Enfield said Haley, who graduated in three years and is immediately eligible, plans to enter USC’s engineering graduate school.

Haley, a 7-footer from Palmdale who averaged 1.9 points and 1.9 rebounds last season, fills a need for a USC team that lost forward Eric Wise, who exhausted his eligibility, and center Dewayne Dedmon, who entered the NBA draft but wasn’t taken.

“We looked at our roster and we lost our interior players, especially Eric Wise and Dewayne Dedmon,” Enfield said. “We heard D.J. was looking to transfer, we knew he was from California and we found out he’s a very hard worker, a great student-athlete and a great leader.”

Enfield said he has no plan for how many minutes Haley might play but said he expects him to contribute immediately.

“We couldn’t go into the season with only one experienced interior player,” Enfield said, referring to 7-foot-2 center Omar Oraby, who is returning to USC from Egypt, where he went to spend time with his family.

Enfield expects to hear interesting stories from Oraby about his time in his strife-torn homeland. If the coach had any reservations about Oraby’s going back to Egypt, he didn’t express them.

“You can only control so much,” Enfield said. “We were concerned for his safety of course, but it was a family decision and we’re not going to get in the way of a family decision.”

ALSO:

VCU player D.J. Haley reportedly to transfer to USC

Watch Lane Kiffin, Marqise Lee deliver ice cream to band

Passer Cody Kessler could send USC on a different pattern