Trojans to Feel Lakey Effect Again

When USC takes the court tonight at Loyola Marymount, the Trojans will see a familiar face and hear a familiar voice.

“There’ll be some good trash-talking going on, some serious jaw-jacking,” said Lion forward Greg Lakey, who played at USC for two seasons, 1997-99, before transferring to Loyola Marymount.

“I’m sure they’ll be saying things like, ‘You shouldn’t have left,’ and I’ll say, ‘That’s why I left.’

“I’m definitely looking forward to it, a chance to play against my old friends and old teammates.”

Lakey was a sophomore at USC when David Bluthenthal and Sam Clancy came on campus.

He was Bluthenthal’s roommate the one season their time as Trojans overlapped.

But with the arrival of the two forwards, Lakey saw that his playing time would be minimal. Plus, Lakey says, he wasn’t happy with his academic progress.

So he followed the trail blazed by Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble and transferred from USC to Loyola.

Lakey, 6 feet 9 and 235 pounds, averaged 4.8 points and 3.0 rebounds at USC and said Trojan Coach Henry Bibby’s often-caustic style did not chase him away.

“Nah, Bibby’s a real cool person, just like everybody else there,” Lakey said. “I just needed a fresh start and an opportunity to get more minutes. It’s worked out.”

Lakey, who sat out the 1999-2000 season per NCAA regulations, came off the bench in last season’s 91-68 USC win at the Sports Arena and had four points and a rebound before fouling out after playing 18 minutes.

He has been steady as a senior; he is the Lions’ second-leading scorer, averaging 11.4 points, and second-leading rebounder, averaging 5.5.

“He’s a workhorse ... a great competitor,” Bluthenthal said. “I hated to see him go, but it worked out for him and [there are] no hard feelings. But we have to go out there and be friends but once the game starts, try to go at him.”

This is the Trojans’ final nonconference game. Their schedule has been full of area mid-major schools--UC Santa Barbara, Pepperdine, Long Beach State and San Diego. And each team has made the Trojans work.

“They’ve got nothing to lose by playing us,” Clancy said.

“I think Coach scheduled these games because he thought they’d be easy wins and big wins so that it would get our confidence up and the younger guys would get a chance to play,” Bluthenthal said. “But as it is, they haven’t been blowouts, but the younger guys have had the chance to play.”

TONIGHT

at Loyola Marymount, 7:30 Fox Sports Net

Site--Gersten Pavilion.

Radio--KMPC (1540).

Records--USC 7-2, Loyola Marymount 6-4.

Update--The Lions have won four of their last five games, and it could have been five straight had they not blown a 16-point halftime lead against Nevada Las Vegas last weekend at home. Forward Andy Osborn, a freshman from Longmont, Colo., is leading the Lions in scoring (11.8 points) and rebounding (6.0 average).