Friend Gets Assist From USC and Gives Many More in Return

USC basketball Coach Stan Morrison wasn’t eager at first to recruit Larry Friend, an All-City guard from Jordan High School.

It wasn’t that Friend was a bad kid, or an overrated player, but the odds were stacked against him in the academic environment of a university.

Jordan is an inner-city school in an area where life can be a struggle just for survival.

Morrison doubted that Friend would even qualify for admission, which is based on a combination of high school grades, a standard Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and extra-curricular activities.

The state average score for the SAT is 897. Jordan students average 589.

But Morrison, at the urging of USC’s assistant coaches, met with Friend, his mother and his high school coach, Dick Masson.

“I started talking, and I suddenly realized that this kid was listening so intently that he was burning two holes with his eyes right through me,” Morrison said.

Then, Morrison played devil’s advocate with Friend.

“I asked him why he went to school and he said, ‘I like it there and you can learn a lot of things.’ I asked him why he wasn’t cutting school like everyone else (Friend had an exceptional attendance record). He said, ‘First of all, I live next door to school and, secondly, my mom would kill me.’

“I went one step further. I asked if he was using drugs like other kids. He said: ‘I won’t put chemicals into my body. I have a responsibility to my younger brothers and sisters.’ ”

Friend is one of 10 children who are growing up, or have grown up, in Jordan Downs, a government housing project.

Morrison was impressed with Friend’s attitude, but Morrison knew that it would be a struggle for Friend.

“I told him that we would surround him with a support system (tutors) and that if he was willing to work hard, he had chance to make it at the university,” Morrison said. “I also told him that everyone wants to get to the top of the mountain at the university. The only difference is that 99% of the students coming in started halfway up the mountain. I said, ‘You will be starting at the bottom and I don’t know if that’s fair to you.’

“But I also told him that if he was willing to fight the fight, I would fight it with him. He told me he really wanted to do it.”

Friend said he had a 2.8 grade- point average in high school, adding that he didn’t do well on the SAT. He was rejected by a special admissions process, the Freshman Access Program. There was only one other recourse left for Morrison.

“I went to president (James H.) Zumberge and told him what I knew about Larry and that I believed in him,” Morrison said. “Zumberge looked me in the eye and said: ‘OK, you got him, but remember you are responsible for this young man. We’ll all be pulling for you and Larry. Let’s make it work.’ ”

So Zumberge gave Friend a presidential exemption for admission to the university in the fall of 1982.

“I’m lucky to be at a university that has a president who recognizes that a university is not a place where you clone 6-foot-2 blond, white kids with polo shirts,” Morrison said. “It’s a place where you can open your eyes to another kid who has not had a lot of advantages.”

He also told Friend that he would be studying four hours in the library for an assignment, while the average student was studying two.

“I also told him that you’ll want to scream and throw your books out of a window and give up, but that you can’t do that,” Morrison said. “Just call me, or one of my assistants and we’ll get you going again because it’s worth it.”

Friend, a junior now, is proud of the two C’s and a B he got last semester. Morrison said Friend’s grade-point average is a little over 2.0.

“President Zumberge’s help adds more pressure on me to do well because he’s pushing for me. I can’t let him down and, most of all, my parents,” Friend said. “The president has given me a chance to get an education and I don’t want to waste it. It’s a big step, but I think I’m handling myself well.

“Learning is fun. Every day I learn things I’ve never known. Preparing for a test is like preparing for a game. You study the material, get mentally ready and then do the job.”

Friend said he sometimes studies five hours a day, including two hours with a tutor, adding that he is more comfortable as a student now than he was as a freshman.

“My goal is to graduate, get that paper (degree),” he said. “It will open some doors but, of course, you have to do the rest.”

Friend says he chats on campus with Zumberge from time to time and the USC president always asks how he is progressing scholastically.

Morrison, who is known to show up in his players’ classes unexpectedly, stays close to Friend, even on airplanes when the team is on a trip.

“We’ll buy two or three magazines and I encourage him to read,” Morrison said. “He sits next to me on flights and some of the players were kidding Larry at first, calling him the coach’s boy. But they know better now and are pulling for him to be a success.”

Masson, now the basketball coach at Carson High, is also rooting for Friend.

“Larry is a winner all the way,” Masson said. “He has the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever coached. He has always accepted challenges, tries to do his best and he is very well respected in his community as an athlete and a person.

“He wasn’t super prepared for college but, if there was a way, he had the will. He’s the kind of a kid who will rise to the occasion.”

Jordan Downs isn’t an environment that breeds scholars, or university graduates.

“To be successful coming out of there is something,” Masson said. “Larry has kept his nose clean and it’s important for him to set an example. The other kids there look up to him and want to emulate him. He’s one of a kind.”

According to Friend, drug dealing is common in his neighborhood, but he won’t have any part of it.

“You’ve got to have a strong mind,” he said. “I have a couple of friends who have gone on to college and we’re pretty tight. We stay away from the drug addicts and try to do our own thing.”

Friend seems almost too frail to be playing major college basketball. He has spindly legs, looks smaller than his 5-feet 11-inches, and weighs only 155. Still, next to All-Pacific 10 forward Wayne Carlander, he is probably the most important player on Morrison’s team.

He is USC’s playmaker, and a good one. He leads the Pac-10 in assists, averaging 6.7 a game and needs 27 more in 11 games to break Gus Williams’ school record of 140.

Although he handles the ball most of the time, he is averaging fewer than two turnovers a game and has a commendable 4-1 assists-to-turnovers ratio.

He fouled out of the Stanford game Monday night with 8 1/2 minutes left as USC lost, 60-54.

“Larry can’t be sitting next to me on the bench,” Morrison said. “He’s too important to our team, but I don’t know if he fully understands his value to the team. Our staff knows.”

Fortunately for USC, Friend was on the court and at the free throw line against UCLA with 16 seconds left in the second overtime Friday night at the Sports Arena. He made both foul shots in a one-and-one situation, the decisive points in USC’s 78-77 win over UCLA.

Friend seldom shoots and is averaging fewer than five points a game, lowest among the starters.

“I like getting assists more than scoring points,” he said. “My role is to get our players the right shot and get everyone into the flow of the game before I look for my shot. I won’t pass up a good shot, but I’d rather give the other guys their two points.”

Friend will try to keep USC flowing for the rest of the season, and that’s quite a challenge. Still, basketball is only a game.

USC’s point guard already has overcome more significant obstacles than he is ever likely to encounter on a basketball court.