Swillis Wants a Bigger Role

Sophomore forward Shannon Swillis spoke with Coach Henry Bibby on Tuesday morning about his lack of playing time in the Trojans’ last two games. At 6 feet 6 and 225 pounds, Swillis is the team’s leading returning rebounder and was expected to challenge for a starting spot.

But in the opener against San Diego State, he had only two points and two rebounds in 16 minutes. At Nevada Las Vegas, he had one rebound and no points in five minutes. Since then, Swillis has remained on the bench.

“We have 12 good basketball players on our team,” Bibby said. “Everybody can’t be happy. Each player has to find out where he sits on the team.”

The coach advised Swillis to be patient.

“It’s a long season,” Bibby said. “If anyone starts to get their head down now, it’s going to kill them for the rest of the year.”

*

The Trojans have appeared as a blip on the national radar screen, receiving a dozen or so votes in two national polls. Jeff Sagarin’s latest basketball rankings list USC at No. 25.

“Don’t care about the polls,” Bibby said. “They’re as bad as the Internet. A lot of gossip.”