Bruins’ Knight a Trojan Letterman

Guard Billy Knight will suit up for UCLA tonight, but he just as easily could be on the other side of this rivalry. He was heavily recruited by USC out of Westchester High.

“I thought I was going to ‘SC,” he said. “Then one time I went to practice and [Coach Henry] Bibby was like, ‘We already gave a scholarship to Jeff Trepagnier.’ I really thought I was going to go there.”

Like many other USC recruits, Knight received 400 letters from David Miller, a Trojan assistant coach, in two packets of 200 each. There is no limit to how many recruiting letters a school can write, although there are limits on visits and phone calls to players.

“They’re real short letters, things like, ‘USC loves you,’ ” Knight said. “Dave Miller writes all of them. I just got them in shipments. I was like, wow, they must really want me. Some guys like it, some guys get turned off by it. I really liked it.”

Knight read them all, then threw away almost all of them when he signed with UCLA. He kept one USC letter--as well as a letter from each of the other schools that recruited him--as a souvenir.

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With five more assists, UCLA point guard Earl Watson will become the fourth player in Pacific 10 Conference history to rank in the conference top 10 in assists and steals. He has 208 steals and 550 assists.

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Brandon Granville is putting more effort into being the Trojans’ floor leader, making sure the other players are involved.

“I have tried to take charge,” Granville said. “Too many times I’ve been complacent and reserved, just expecting the guys to know what to do. But I realized the guys are still looking at me.

“I’m trying to be more vocal now, get guys more charged up. I don’t want us to have a slide like last year.”

But Granville continues to have his own excellent individual season, averaging 13 points and 6.9 assists. He is shooting a career-best 45.3% from the field.

“You never know when the light comes on for a kid, but I hope he has bought into what we’re trying to do,” Bibby said. “There are still nine games left to see if he has really stepped up. But I’ve tried to put him in charge. If any player has control of the team, he has it.”

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Should USC win tonight, the Trojans would have their first 11-0 start at home since the 1973-74 season.

It would also give the Trojans 17 wins, equaling the most victories ever by a Bibby-coached team. In 1997, Bibby guided the team to a 17-11 record and its most recent NCAA tournament appearance.

TONIGHT

UCLA at No. 22 USC,

7:30, Fox Sports Net 2

* Site--Sports Arena.

* Radio--KXTA (1150), XTRA (690).

* Records--UCLA 13-6, 7-2 in Pacific 10 Conference; USC 16-5, 6-3.

* Update--The Bruins set the tone early in their first game against USC this season with hard fouls by Watson on David Bluthenthal, and by Dan Gadzuric on Desmon Farmer. Miller called the clubbing by Gadzuric “a chicken fill-in-the-blank foul.” So don’t be surprised if this game has a rough-and-tumble start. The Bruins have had plenty of success in this game in recent years. Bibby is 1-8 against his alma mater, with his only victory over UCLA coming last year at the Sports Arena. As far as USC is concerned, this is more of a statement game for the Trojans than for the Bruins. “We’ve lost to UCLA, Arizona and Stanford in the conference,” Brian Scalabrine said. “To be great, you have to knock those guys off. It all starts [tonight].” UCLA has fielded seven different starting lineups. The latest newcomer to the lineup, Knight, had 22 points in the upset of then-No. 1 Stanford last Saturday. The Bruins will need Gadzuric on the floor as long as possible to keep the Trojans’ Sam Clancy from roaming free in the low post. The key for USC is whether Trepagnier’s 19-point effort against California finally has the explosive guard on track. “To have Jeff back better than he has been has helped make us better,” Bibby said. “Jeff is a big part of what we do. There’s probably no other sub we could play 40 minutes and do what he did against Cal. Jeff brings a lot of energy to our squad.” After tonight’s game, the Bruins will head for the airport to catch a red-eye flight to Chicago for Saturday’s game at DePaul.

Tickets--(213) 740-4672.