Commentator, Coach Make Voices Heard

Off to a 3-0 start and playing the featured game of the Wooden Classic today against 18th-ranked Utah at the Arrowhead Pond, No. 15 USC will again be without senior guard Jeff Trepagnier.

Trepagnier, who missed all three previous games with a stress fracture in his left foot, was suspended indefinitely Friday for violation of athletic department policy by Coach Henry Bibby.

Today was to have been Trepagnier’s season debut, and players and coaches were expecting that he, as the team’s most athletic and electrifying performer, would inject some needed energy into the starting lineup.

Bibby would not elaborate on the nature of Trepagnier’s transgression.

“He is able to play and could play,” Bibby said. “This is my decision. And he will be suspended until I decide he can come back.”

Bibby added that he had discussed the situation with Athletic Director Mike Garrett, who supported the decision.

The suspension is another setback in what was supposed to be a big season for Trepagnier, already considered one of the nation’s top college swingmen.

Last season he finished as the Trojans’ second-leading scorer at 15.9 points, and the third-leading rebounder at 6.6 boards. He was the only Pacific 10 Conference player to finish in the top 10 in five league statistical categories.

Three weeks ago, Trepagnier, a senior, was interviewed by NCAA investigators about a trip to Las Vegas he took in September with Fresno State guard Tito Maddox, who said he and Trepagnier went there on plane tickets bought by a family friend.

Trepagnier was cleared of any wrongdoing but Maddox sat out Fresno State’s opener against St. Mary’s.

Bibby would not respond specifically, but intimated the suspension had nothing to do with the investigation. Sources at USC said the kind of policy violation Trepagnier was suspended for often has to do with academics, as in failing to go to class. Bibby has, in the past, suspended players for similar transgressions.

Trepagnier’s absence will provide more playing time for freshman Desmon Farmer, who has averaged 11 points a game.

The 6-foot-4 Farmer has Trepagnier’s height and some similar athletic gifts, but does not have much college experience. So far he has not been a liability offensively or defensively for USC, but it is also evident he’s not always been on the same page with the four other players on the court.

Bibby will make allowances like that for a freshman. But he expects more from seniors like Trepagnier, who would have been a welcome addition against Utah as USC strives to show it belongs among the elite in college basketball.

Should the Trojans beat the 4-1 Utes, it will be USC’s first victory over a ranked nonconference opponent in five years.

Utah will have all of its players, but is still missing Coach Rick Majerus, who is in Las Vegas trying to rehabilitate an injured right knee. Majerus had arthroscopic surgery on the knee in September, but it has not healed properly. He has already missed four of the team’s five games, and is expected to be out until after New Year’s Day.

Assistant coach Dick Hunsaker is running the team in his absence.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

WOODEN CLASSIC

TODAY AT

ARROWHEAD POND OF

ANAHEIM

UCLA vs.

Georgia Tech, noon

USC vs. Utah, 2:30 p.m.

Channel 9

KXTA (1150)

THE LEADER

Brandon Granville, USC’s all-time assists leader, is firmly at the controls of nation’s No. 15-ranked team. D9