COLLEGE BASKETBALL: 1994-95 PREVIEW : USC : Parker Won’t Blow His Horn Over Team Yet

Overconfidence is a problem the USC basketball team probably will not have to worry about this season.

That’s because the Trojans have a long way to go before they can start taking any opponent lightly.

For the first time in nine years, USC will not have George Raveling as coach. Raveling, who led the Trojans to postseason tournaments the last four seasons, retired last week after having spent seven weeks in the hospital because of a traffic accident Sept. 25.

Taking his place will be Charlie Parker, who served as an assistant the last six seasons. Parker will be an interim coach with an opportunity to take over permanently, depending on his success this season, Athletic Director Mike Garrett said.

Parker’s job will not be easy because the Trojans are not expected to be a factor this season in the Pacific 10 Conference. In the annual Pac-10 preseason media poll, USC was predicted to fight it out with Washington, Oregon and Oregon State for last place.

Are the Trojans that bad?

“I think people just voted us in that position based on circumstances,” said Parker, who, with Jack Fertig, stood in for Raveling the first month of practice. “At the time they voted, the situation with Coach Raveling was still up in the air and we still had our problems with injuries and eligibility. But, potentially, we feel that we are far from a seventh-place team.”

USC did not start on a good note, though. Besides losing Raveling, the Trojans also lost senior Tremayne Anchrum for the season because of an injury sustained in practice. Anchrum will redshirt this season, but his absence will hurt USC because he was regarded among the conference’s top returning rebounders.

The Trojans also will have to play until Dec. 20 without Stais Boseman, who is academically ineligible. Boseman led the team in steals last season as a freshman.

“He’ll have a great impact (when he returns) in areas we are weak at and that is defense and rebounding,” Parker said, “He immediately makes us better because he is that type of player who makes things happen.”

In their opener last Wednesday, the Trojans lost to New Mexico State in the first round of the preseason National Invitation Tournament, 97-84. USC led by as many as 15 points in the first half, only to run out of gas in the second.

“That game gave us a good idea on how much we have to go as far as conditioning with the style of play we want to have,” Parker said. “We were not ready to play intense defense with a fast-break offense for a full 40 minutes.”

What also was clear was the Trojans’ lack of a strong, experienced player inside. Kirk Homenick, a 7-foot junior, started at center but fouled out with no points and two rebounds in 24 minutes. His backup, David Crouse, scored three points and took down three rebounds in three minutes.

If neither Homenick nor Crouse steps forward, USC will put a small lineup on the court, with 6-7 senior Lorenzo Orr the tallest player.

Orr, an All-Pac-10 performer last season, scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds against the Aggies. He will have to have a huge season for the Trojans to surprise in the Pac-10.

Jaha Wilson, a 6-5 sophomore, will help Orr inside and might be the sleeper on the team. Wilson, who had a game-high nine rebounds against New Mexico State, can score, rebound and run.

A strength for the Trojans will be in the backcourt, where starters Burt Harris, a 5-10 junior, and Brandon Martin, a 6-4 junior, are back.

Harris, a three-year starter at point guard, should prosper under Parker’s running style and increase his scoring average. At Fairfax High, Harris averaged 26 points a game as a senior.

Martin, who scored 17 against New Mexico State, will be the Trojans’ top outside shooting threat. Last season, he averaged 12.4 points and had a season-high 24 against California.

Freshman Cameron Murray, younger brother of former UCLA standout Tracy, will probably become a starter later in the season because of his ballhandling ability and creativity. Murray, who had 12 points and a game-high six assists in his debut last week, is a talented shooter who could push Harris over to shooting guard.

USC will count on sophomore Claude Green, whose specialty is the three-point shot, as a reserve. Green scored 12 points and had three rebounds in 17 minutes against the Aggies.

“We have a lot of things to work on, but three areas stand out most,” Parker said. “We have to stop giving up too many easy baskets, get better rebounding and cut down on our turnovers.”

Before USC begins Pac-10 play Jan. 5, it will play Temple, Northern Iowa, Utah, Sacramento State, Houston, Lamar, Missouri Kansas City and Southern Methodist. It’s not a killer nonconference schedule, but it’s tougher than in years past.

“Our goal is to do better early in conference play and not have to make a late run to make a postseason tournament,” Parker said. “It’s not going to be easy, and we know that we have a tremendous task ahead--especially with the competition of our conference. We have an uphill battle. But, it’s not anything that we haven’t faced before.”

USC Facts and Figures

1994-95 ROSTER

No Player Pos Hgt Wgt Yr 3 *Brandon Martin G 6-4 195 Jr 11 Michael Wolfe F 6-5 190 Sr 15 *Claude Green G 6-3 175 So 21 *Lorenzo Orr F 6-7 200 Sr 22 Tyson Reuter G 6-3 180 Jr 23 *Jaha Wilson F 6-5 210 So 25 Craig Slaughter G 6-0 157 So 30 Cameron Murray G 6-1 170 Fr 32 *Burt Harris G 5-10 175 Jr 35 *Stais Boseman G-F 6-4 200 So 41 David Crouse F-C 6-11 225 So 54 *Kirk Homenick C 7-0 215 Jr 14 Adam Ingersoll G 6-3 170 Fr 44 Rome Douglas F 6-7 245 Fr

No Hometown (High School) 3 Los Angeles (Washington) 11 Oxnard (Oxnard JC) 15 Washington, D.C. (Dunbar) 21 Detroit, Mich. (Pershing) 22 Mitchell, Neb. (W. Nebraska JC) 23 San Francisco (Riordan) 25 Chicago, Ill. (U of Chicago High) 30 Glendora (Glendora) 32 Los Angeles (Fairfax) 35 Inglewood (Morningside) 41 Rancho Cordova (Cordova) 54 Saskatoon, Sask. (Hardy) 14 Peoria, Ill. (Mennonite) 44 Claremont (Claremont)

* Lettermen returning (7)

Coach: Charles Parker.

Assistants: Jack Fertig, Adrian Walters.

1993-94 STATISTICS

Player G FGM-FGA Pct. FTM-FTA Pct. Reb Ast Pts Lorenzo Orr 28 143-299 .478 89-152 .586 1.6 6.6 13.4 Mark Boyd 28 134-266 .504 97-144 .674 1.4 6.3 13.0 Brandon Martin 26 113-272 .419 65-87 .747 1.3 2.8 12.4 Burt Harris 28 97-224 .433 37-54 .685 3.1 1.7 10.3 T. Anchrum 26 59-121 .488 29-59 .492 1.6 5.4 6.3 Stais Boseman 28 34-122 .279 43-73 .589 1.5 2.1 4.4 Jaha Wilson 27 38-93 .409 30-50 .600 0.6 3.1 3.9 Avondre Jones 25 38-84 .452 19-32 .563 0.2 3.1 3.8 Claude Green 21 27-88 .307 10-24 .417 0.5 0.8 3.7 Damaine Powell 28 27-66 .409 25-37 .676 2.1 1.4 3.4 John Masdea 7 1-5 .200 5-5 1.000 0.1 0.4 1.1 Kirk Homenick 16 3-10 .300 7-12 .563 0.1 0.9 0.8 Craig Slaughter 4 0-1 .000 1-2 .500 0.3 0.0 0.3 Michael Wolfe 3 0-0 .000 0-2 .000 0.0 0.3 0.0 USC Totals 28 714-1651 .433 356-733 .622 13.7 37.1 72.5 Opponents 28 690-1559 .443 497-706 .704 12.5 36.1 72.6

Three-point goals: Anchrum 17-40; Harris 56-144; Powell 15-37; Martin 32-84; Green 14-50; Boseman 12-46; Masdea 1-5; Jones 0-3; Wilson 0-7. USC 147-416, 35.3%. Opponents: 156-494, 34.4%.

1994-95 SCHEDULE

Date Opponent Time Nov. 27 vs. Temple* TBA Nov. 29 Northern Iowa 7:00 Dec. 3 Utah 8:00 Dec. 6 CS Sacramento 7:00 Dec. 10 at Houston 7:30 Dec. 11 at Lamar 4:00 Dec. 20 Missouri-Kansas City 7:00 Dec. 29 Seton Hall tournament xTBA Jan. 5 at Oregon State 7:05 Jan. 7 at Oregon 7:05 Jan. 12 Washington State 7:00 Jan. 14 Washington 3:00 Jan. 19 at Arizona State 7:00 Jan. 21 at Arizona 4:00 Jan. 26 California 7:00 Jan. 28 Stanford 1:00 Feb. 2 UCLA 6:30 Feb. 9 at Washington State 7:00 Feb. 11 at Washington 3:00 Feb. 16 Arizona 6:30 Feb. 18 Arizona State 3:00 Feb. 23 at Stanford 7:00 Feb. 25 at California 1:00 Mar. 1 at UCLA 8:00 Mar. 9 Oregon 7:00 Mar. 11 Oregon State 3:00

All Times are p.m. and PST

*Dr. Martin Luther King Classic at Memphis, Tenn.

x-Seton Hall tournament dates are Dec. 29 & 30.

1993-94 RESULTS

W-L, Rec. Opponent Score L, 0-1 *Penn 77-62 W, 1-1 *Loyola Marymount 105-92 W, 2-1 Tenn.-Martin 78-72 W, 3-1 *San Diego State 75-56 W, 4-1 *Notre Dame 75-64 W, 5-1 *CS Sacramento 84-64 W, 6-1 *Howard 107-65 L, 6-2 South Florida 64-61 W, 7-2 Missouri-Kansas City 67-66 W, 8-2 *Oregon State 82-76 W, 9-2 *Oregon 77-69 W, 10-2 Washington 53-46 L, 10-3 Washington State 89-59 L, 10-4 *Arizona State 87-62 L, 10-5 *Arizona 83-74 L, 10-6 California 77-68 L, 10-7 Stanford 76-67 L, 10-8 UCLA 101-72 W, 11-8 *Washington State 70-64 L, 11-9 *Washington 50-49 L, 11-10 Arizona 94-61 W, 12-10 Arizona State 68-56 L, 12-11 *Stanford 66-55 W, 13-11 *California 86-78 W, 14-11 *UCLA 85-79 W, 15-11 Oregon 84-75 W, 16-11 Oregon State 69-68 NIT Tournament L, 16-12 Fresno State 80-79

*Home: 10-5. Away: 6-6. Neutral: 0-1.

Conference: 9-9 (seventh place).