COLLEGE BASKETBALL : NCAA TOURNAMENT : He Has People Talking : Trojans: Miner’s scoring led USC into tournament, but it’s how, not how many, that sets him apart.

USC guard Harold Miner was talking to himself as he sat in front of his stall in the deserted locker room before a game.

Teammate Calvin Banks was startled when he stumbled upon Miner.

“Coach, your boy is talking to himself,” Banks told George Raveling.

Raveling dismissed the incident, saying that Miner was trying to psych himself up.

“But Coach, he was carrying on too long of a conversation,” Banks said.

Said Miner’s mother, Marilyn: “That’s just Harold. He likes to have a few moments with himself.”

After trying to guard Miner this season, defenders may have walked off the court talking to themselves.

A 6-foot-5 sophomore, Miner has been a major force in the Trojans’ resurgence. He set a school single-season scoring record of 665 points as USC received its first NCAA tournament bid since 1985 with a 19-9 record. The Trojans will play Florida State in a Southeast Regional game Thursday night at Louisville, Ky.

“It’s nice to make the NCAA,” Miner said. “But we have to redefine our goals because we plan on going far in the tournament.”

Miner, who has been featured on ABC’s halftime show and ESPN’s “Up Close with Roy Firestone,” has become a minor celebrity in the Southland.

You know you’ve made it when kids request autographs, and Miner was hounded by autograph seekers when he attended a Clipper game Sunday night.

Miner says he can’t get used to signing autographs because it wasn’t that long ago that he was asking Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for their autographs.

After an appearance at an elementary school in West Covina, where Miner lectured on the importance of reading, students wouldn’t let him leave. Later, they wrote a letter to The Times, which was published in the Saturday Viewpoint.

A two-time All-Pacific 10 selection, Miner averaged a team-high 23.8 points, scoring 20 or more points in 24 of the Trojans’ 28 games. At his best in big games, he averaged 26.3 points in eight games against Arizona, UCLA, Notre Dame, Maryland and Oregon State, including a season-high 36 in an 87-83 upset of Pac-10 champion Arizona.

“Miner is as good a player as there is in America,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said. “Miner went up over us, faded back if he had to and did whatever it took to put the ball in the hole. I thought we did a good job of putting pressure on him, and he still put it in. There’s not much you can do about that.”

Notre Dame Coach Digger Phelps, who recruited him when Miner was at Inglewood High, gushed after Miner had scored 35 points in a 105-95 victory over the Irish at South Bend, Ind., in December.

“We really wanted him and you can see why,” Phelps told reporters. “I think Miner is one of the best players in the country. He’s going to be one of the greatest scorers this game has ever seen.”

Miner, with 1,243 points in 56 games, is on a pace that would break the Pac-10 scoring record of 2,555 held by Arizona’s Sean Elliott.

Miner, though, is trying to become a complete player by improving his rebounding and defense. He had a career-high 10 rebounds against Oregon and grabbed 14 more in his next game against Oregon State.

Averaging 5.6 rebounds, he led Pac-10 guards in that category and was second on the Trojans.

Raveling assigned Miner to check the opposing team’s point guard in each of the Trojans’ final three games, and Miner responded to the challenge.

“I think the sky’s the limit for Harold,” Raveling said. “Each year Harold has to redefine his goals. He has to gravitate away from generating satisfaction from scoring points. He’s got to expand his game from a mental standpoint and excel in rebounding and defense.”

Miner appreciates the motivation he receives from Raveling.

“He’s always setting up challenges for me and trying to make me a better player,” Miner said. “He always brings up NBA players to use as challenges for me. He’ll say, ‘Michael Jordan does it this way.’ ”

But it’s dunking, not defense or rebounding, that gives Miner the most satisfaction.

“God blessed me with a lot of leaping ability and a lot of creativity,” Miner said. “Dunking is like a release for me, when I can get up there and try to tear down a rim.”

Miner’s exploits haven’t gone unnoticed by the NBA.

After watching him score 28 points, guard Craig Ehlo of the Cleveland Cavaliers told Miner: “I’ll be waiting for you in the NBA. There’ll be fingerprints on you when I guard you.”

General Manager Bernie Bickerstaff of the Denver Nuggets showed up at a recent USC game to scout Miner.

And another NBA scout said Miner would be among the first 10 players drafted if he left school this year.

But Marilyn Miner wants her son to stay in school.

“I definitely don’t want Harold to go pro this year,” she said. “I want him to stay in school and get his degree in case what he wants doesn’t pan out.

“We’ve talked about it and he listens to me but I’ve said that it’s his decision. But I would prefer that he stay in school and his father feels the same way.

“These are years that he’s never going to be able to come back to. He should stay the whole four years.”

Raveling thinks Miner will remain at USC for at least one more season.

“I would be stunned if he doesn’t come back next year,” Raveling said.

Said Miner: “Naturally, I’ve been thinking about it. But I really don’t know right now. I’m probably leaning toward staying in school.

“Actually, I really don’t know, to tell you the truth. I’m just trying to concentrate on playing this season.”

Broadcaster Dick Vitale, who has called Miner “the best thing to happen to USC since football,” thinks Miner should remain in school.

“He needs at least another year of college,” Vitale said. “He should work on his ballhandling skills, defensive ability and getting free for a shot.

“But he’s going to be a heck of a pro player.”

Playing in the NBA would force Miner, 19, to mature quickly. But he had to grow up quickly last season.

The Pac-10 freshman of the year, Miner was nearly buried under publicity. He received nearly as much attention for his idiosyncrasies as he did for his flashy dunks.

After all, how many basketball players rub their noses on the jacket of an assistant coach during a timeout? And how many players use their fingers to feel cracks on the floor during practices and games?

“Don’t ask me anything about his (idiosyncrasies),” Marilyn Miner said. “I’ve been told by Harold Miner not to talk about his little quirks.”

Miner’s teammates have come to accept his ways. They don’t even look twice now when he licks his fingers after rubbing the soles of his shoes.

Besides getting used to the limelight, Miner also had to adjust to life on his own after his family moved from Inglewood to Boulder, Colo., early in 1990, after his father received a job transfer. The second-youngest of five children, Miner is close to his mother.

“It was hard on him because we’d never been separated,” she said. “It was hard for him to take, but it helped him grow up.”

Miner lives in a sparsely furnished apartment near USC. A poster of Jordan, Miner’s idol, dominates the living room.

Miner watches videotapes of Jordan and such former NBA stars as Julius Erving, Pete Maravich and Oscar Robertson.

“I watch the tapes to learn various moves,” Miner said. “When I study a player, I look at how they run and the little tricks they use.”

Nicknamed Baby Jordan, Miner idolizes the Chicago Bull star. He has adopted several Jordan mannerisms, such as sticking out his tongue. And Miner, whose head is shaved as bald as Jordan’s, also wears Jordan’s number, 23.

“I’ve watched him so much that (sticking out his tongue) is just second nature to me,” Miner said. “I don’t try to do it.”

But Miner has a long way to go before they name a shoe after him. He has a tendency to lose interest during games against inferior opponents. He scored a career-low eight points against Cal State Northridge. And his defense and rebounding are inconsistent.

Miner sometimes turns an easy shot into a difficult one with needless fakes. But Raveling refuses to alter Miner’s shot selection.

“That’s just Harold’s game,” Raveling said. “When you’ve got a player like Miner, I think the worst thing to do is to try to make him ordinary. Ordinary players just go right up and shoot it. Extraordinary players see the game through a different set of eyes, and Harold sees the game with a different set of eyes.”

MINER’S STATISTICS

Sophomore guard Harold Miner’s statistics at USC:

FR SOPH TOTAL G 28 28 56 MIN 978 1010 1988 AVG 34.9 36.1 35.5 FGA 436 492 928 AVG 15.6 17.6 16.6 FGM 206 228 434 AVG 7.4 8.1 7.8 FG% .473 .463 .468 3PT/A 142 163 305 3PT/M 60 57 117 3PT% .423 .350 .384 FTA 126 190 316 AVG 4.5 6.8 5.6 FTM 106 152 258 FTM 3.8 5.4 4.6 FT% .841 .800 .816 PTS 578 665 1243 AVG 20.6 23.8 22.2 REB 101 157 258 AVG 3.6 5.6 4.6 AST 59 56 115 AVG 2.1 2.0 2.1 TO 45 53 98 AVG 1.6 1.9 1.8 BLK 5 8 13 STL 33 31 64 PF 52 59 111

NOTE: All averages (AVG) are per game.