Hoffman Is Brightest Hope for the Struggling Trojans

Ebony Hoffman, freshman center for USC’s struggling women’s basketball team, was describing the moment a year ago when she told Coach Chris Gobrecht she was going to become a Trojan.

“We were having dinner someplace in Hollywood, and I said to her, ‘Coach, SC is the place for me. I’m committing, now.’

“It was a Kodak moment. Her smile was so big, you could see every tooth. She picked up her cell phone and called her husband. He was the first to know.”

And so it was over, one of the most spirited, nationwide recruiting battles in the recent history of the women’s game. USC won out over, in order, Tennessee, Ohio State and Connecticut.

Hoffman, a powerfully-built 6-footer--she’s not close to her listed height, 6-2--was a four-year starter at Narbonne High and a prep All-American. Tennessee’s Pat Summitt was in her house twice, Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma three times.

Turns out, though, that the battle was closer than even USC people know.

She nearly committed to Ohio State during her visit there. And her parents went house-shopping in Knoxville, Tenn., while she was making her official visit there.

Of course, no one at SC had mentioned, “Oh, Ebony, did we tell you? In your freshman year, you’ll have to carry the team on your back.”

That’s how it has developed, Hoffman having emerged as a dominating Pacific 10 Conference center, but playing for a team that has been, to say the least, inconsistent.

Example: USC hung with Notre Dame, arguably the nation’s best team, before losing, 70-61. Then, two weeks later, USC lost by 12 to the Pac-10’s worst team, UCLA.

That’s how it’s gone for a team that is 4-9 in conference play, 9-13 overall and running out of time to finish at .500.

This team has foundered mostly because of the normal shortcomings of young players but some responsibility must be taken by two seniors.

Seniors Denise Woods and Tashara Carter are good players but never developed into dominating, hard-nosed, championship players. Widely recruited freshman guard Aisha Hollans has shown brilliant flashes but flashes aren’t what Gobrecht had in mind. The same goes for another major recruit, Jessica Cheeks.

Four point guards have been tried and only now has a freshman, Texan Ryane Alexander, taken over. Gobrecht wants a point guard who can make her offense work and none of the others could.

“Ryane might be OK,” Gobrecht said.

“She’s a different player now than she was early. She’s tough and aggressive and this team needs that. There’s a lot she can’t do but I can count on her intensity.”

No problems in the low post.

Hoffman, after encountering early-season problems of getting open for her teammates, has blossomed into a first-rate college center.

She’s the Pac-10 rebound leader at 8.2 a game and is averaging 12.1 points. She also has shot more free throws than any of her teammates and has the highest percentage, 78%, fourth best in the conference. She also has blocked 22 shots.

She’s quick afoot, has strong power moves with the ball and a quick release.

Next year, more Hoffman-like players come on board. One is 6-5 Kimberly Gipson of Westchester High, who averaged 11 rebounds and four blocks a game as a junior. Another is 6-1 Rachel Woodward of Murrieta Valley High, who averaged 14 rebounds as a junior. Both signed with USC in November.

When Hoffman began to develop in basketball as a sixth-grader, her mother was disappointed.

“Mom wanted me to be a concert pianist,” Hoffman said.

“After six years of lessons, I was playing Chopin and Mozart. I can still play a little Mozart, but I’ve forgotten a lot.”

She says she enjoyed her biggest basketball moment as a sixth-grader, when her older brother, Elliott, who had refused to play pickup games with her because ‘Girls can’t play,’ said to her as he headed off for a pickup game, ‘OK, let’s go. You’re on my team now.’ ”

TWICE AS NICE

Like USC, Loyola Marymount has had a problem at point guard, but seems to have solved it.

Loyola Marymount is 18-7 overall--a school record for victories--and at 9-3 is tied for the West Coast Conference lead with Pepperdine, Santa Clara and St. Mary’s.

The Lions’ first two point guards went out because of injuries and the position has since been shared by Taryn Reynolds and Bryn Britton, with better-than-anticipated results.

BEAT GOES ON

Cal Poly Pomona is shooting for the Division II final four at Rochester, Minn., after clinching at least a tie for its 17th California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship in the last 20 years.

The Broncos have won 14 in succession, are 19-2 overall, 17-1 in the CCAA, and can win their second consecutive outright title Friday at Chico State. They’re ranked 10th in Division II.

Cal Poly finishes its regular season with four road games, then proceeds to the CCAA tournament at the University of San Diego.