Trojan Horse

Along with his name, school and number, there should be a sign on the uniform of USC forward-center Sam Clancy:

Shhhh! Big man at work.

That’s because the 6-foot-7 sophomore plays basketball as if he were in a library.

On offense, he slides into the key, establishes some turf and waits for a pass from Brandon Granville or Brian Scalabrine. By this time, some defender is draped over him.

If Clancy can’t step backward and get off a jump shot, he moves around the key until there is another opening for a dunk or a layup. Once he scores he silently trots down the floor and plays defense.

Jeff Trepagnier may electrify with high-flying, rim-rattling jams. Granville may slash his way to the basket or toss up a three, or forge a clever assist. Scalabrine barely rustles the nets with buttery-soft jump shots. David Bluthenthal can snake through a forest of defenders for offensive rebounds and tip-ins.

None of them leads the 10-5 Trojans in scoring, however.

Clancy does, averaging 17.6 points. He leads the team in rebounding, at 7.8, and blocked shots, at 1.6, as well.

Clancy, 19, also leads the Trojans in making opponents ask after seeing the final statistics, “When did he get that many?”

“The thing about Sam is, most of the points he gets are his,” Scalabrine said. “We don’t run that many plays for him.”

Clancy said, “If you had told me before the season that I would be the scoring leader, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

But the explanation for his transformation from the hesitant freshman who averaged 5.5 points last season into the dependable scorer he has become is twofold: he’s in a system that demands that all five starters score regularly, and his confidence has grown.

“Over the summer I went to Pittsburgh and worked on my game with my friend, Roger Simmons, the first guy to teach me basketball,” Clancy said. “I played in some summer leagues out there. And when I came back, I was really confident. My first game, I still didn’t know what to expect, but I played well. Ever since then, I feel I can do whatever I want.”

Clancy is blessed with great genetics. His father, Sam Sr., played football and basketball at Pitt and went on to an NFL career with Seattle, Cleveland and Indianapolis. He presently works for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“My parents are divorced but I’m still close to my dad and mom [Anetta Harris],” Clancy said. “My dad didn’t want me to play football; he said it was too rough, that basketball was easier on your body.

“The decision to come here was me and my mom. But he supported it. He hasn’t had a chance to see me play in person. But he gets a few games on TV and he reads the Internet. After every game he calls and gives me advice.”

Clancy also has a quiet resolve when he plays. Except for a rare display of anger that resulted in a technical foul against Washington, Clancy has little to say on the court.

“Teams will try to trash-talk him but you can’t really get to Sam,” said Bluthenthal, a close friend. “When I guard him in practice, I talk at him and he talks back to me, but it doesn’t affect the way he plays. You can’t really faze him.”

He’s probably the easiest USC player to coach.

“I would never say anything back to coaches or authority,” Clancy said. “They probably know more than I do anyway. Who am I not to listen to them?”

Yet as well as Clancy has been playing, the USC coaches believe he is capable of much more.

“I think Sam is still going 75%,” Coach Henry Bibby said. “But if Sam gets a meanness about him, he could be one of the best players ever at USC. He’s just such a nice, mild-mannered guy, and not mean on the floor. That hurts him at times.

“He could be a pro player. I hope the light comes on one day and he thinks ‘I’m one of the toughest guys in this conference. I’m one of the meanest guys in this conference. I want to dominate in this conference.’ You want him to think that.”

Assistant coach Dave Miller, who recruited Clancy out of St. Edward High in Lakewood, Ohio, said Clancy has what it takes to be an elite player.

“When I saw him at an ABCD summer camp three years ago, he had a mean streak,” Miller said. “He got every rebound, he dominated games.

“As I said when he first got here, Sam was like a flower and we’ve been pouring water on him to make him grow. Now we need to put some fertilizer on him and get him mean.”

Paul Mokeski, a 12-year NBA player new to the Trojan staff this season, is also among those who believe Clancy is only scratching the surface.

Being mean is not about being dirty, Mokeski said. It’s about not only surviving, but thriving in the lane.

“Sam’s been working on his game to be able to step out and hit the 16- to 17-foot shot,” Mokeski said. “But his bread and butter is down low in the post. And if you’re a post player in college or the NBA, you have to have a toughness that’s not only physical but mental. When you get in the lane, it’s a physical game.

“You have to have an attitude on defense that, ‘This is my area. No one is coming in here and taking a shot over me. I’m gonna block it or take the charge.’ When you’re on offense, the attitude is, ‘When I catch the ball in here, I’m scoring or getting fouled. Or both.’ ”

What would it take to draw that side of Clancy out? A catchy nickname? Silent Sam? Stealthy Sam? Quiet Riot?

Clancy said he’s not sure he’ll ever turn into a pivot monster or start drawing attention to himself.

“I would say I’m a quiet person,” he said. “I think it’s just my personality. Coach Bibby is always trying to get me to be more emotional, more vocal. But that’s hard for me. I sit and focus, and think in my head what I have to do to be successful.

“I figure, as long as I’m doing my job, it’s all right, however I do it.”

*

UP NEXT

No. 2 Arizona

at USC

Thursday, 7 p.m.

XTRA (690)

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Also

KNIGHT TO REMEMBER

Indiana defeated Iowa, 74-71, in first game between Hoosier Coach Bob Knight and former star player Steve Alford. Page 7