Hair Decides to Return to Team

Nate Hair was reinstated and practiced with the team on Monday, Coach Henry Bibby said.

Hair, a sophomore guard, did not travel for the games against Stanford and California last weekend, taking the time to decide if he wanted to remain with the team.

Abdullah Elmagbari, Rob Eres and Jamie Hooper--the walk-on players who left the team two weeks ago--will probably not return this season, according to other Trojan officials. Bibby would not comment on the three players’ status.

Eres and Hooper are both juniors, and Elmagbari is a senior.

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Beating Cal and playing then-No. 1 Stanford very close before losing did not cost USC too much ground in the rankings. On Monday, USC dropped to No. 22, down one spot from the previous week.

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Playing the Bruins on Thursday at the Sports Arena, USC will be trying to beat UCLA in consecutive home games for the first time since 1991 and 1992.

Bibby has not forgotten the hard fouls UCLA’s Dan Gadzuric and Earl Watson put on Desmon Farmer and David Bluthenthal at the start of the Jan. 11 game at Pauley Pavilion, which the Bruins won, 80-75.

“We are going to play any way they want to,” Bibby said. “I promise it’s going to be a battle.”