Trojans Discussed a Boycott

In protest of the firing of Coach Charlie Parker on Wednesday, USC center Avondre Jones did not make the trip for the Trojans’ game at Stanford and the rest of the team discussed boycotting the game only hours before tip-off, according to USC sources.

After the Trojans’ 99-69 loss to Stanford, interim Coach Henry Bibby said that Jones was suspended indefinitely and that no reason was given for his absence. According to sources, however, Jones was upset with Parker’s release and wanted to meet with Athletic Director Mike Garrett on Wednesday.

Jones then missed the team’s evening flight to San Francisco and did not speak to Bibby or the coaching staff before the Trojans played Stanford. The Times was unable to reach Jones on Friday.

“There was a ticket for [Jones] to come, and there was no explanation why he didn’t come,” Bibby said. “We want these young men to go in the right direction. Obviously, Avondre is not going the direction we want him to go.”

With Garrett and Associate Athletic Director Daryl Gross in attendance, Bibby also had to contend with a possible team boycott, suggested by the Black Coaches Assn. Only a team meeting and a talk by Bibby kept the players from taking any sort of action, according to sources.

Parker said that he spoke to the team Wednesday before they traveled north, but he denied talking to them or Jones about any protest.

“I met with the team before they left on Wednesday and I talked to them briefly,” Parker said. “I told them to keep playing and to work hard, for them to continue because they still have a chance to play in a postseason tournament. I also told them that I’m sorry that I won’t be there, but not to worry about me because I will be fine.”

Without Jones, USC (11-11) played well for the first 10 minutes but then was handed its worst loss by a Stanford team.

Guard Stais Boseman said that he understands Jones’ suspension.

“That’s my teammate,” Boseman said. “But he’s had every opportunity and now they have to deal with him not here. He’s a good friend to me, but he has to conform to the rules.”

The USC players agreed nearly unanimously that this has been a distracting week, but they did not blame Thursday’s loss on activities that occurred off the floor.

“We can’t blame our loss on that,” senior Ty Reuter said. “We already had 10 losses before we even played the game. Stanford had a better team, but not necessarily better players.”

Added Boseman: “Once we got down, we had to play catch-up the rest of the game. Stanford plays good up here. They’ve blown out a lot of teams at home already this season.”