Smiley Still Recovering

Senior guard Roy Smiley’s rehabilitation from a broken leg has not gone as hoped and the three-point specialist’s career apparently is in doubt.

Smiley broke his left leg in the Pacific 10 Conference tournament title game against Oregon in March and has not played since.

The Trojans, who are shooting 26% from three-point territory, could desperately use the services of a sound Smiley, who shot 34.5% from beyond the arc last season but now is bothered by ankle and knee problems.

“I’m having a hard time riding a bicycle now,” Smiley said. “I want to play but I can’t play in the state I’m in.

“I need to sit down with Coach and, if I need surgery, see if the opportunity is there for me to come back next year.”

As recently as Friday USC had hoped to regain Smiley’s services by the start of Pac-10 play.

On Tuesday, though, Coach Henry Bibby said, “I’m not sure if he can play basketball again. He hasn’t gotten better since we started. We’re not banking on him to be ready to go.

“It’s tough because at the end of last year ... he was just starting to come on. He stepped it up a notch and kept us in basketball games.”

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Senior center Jonathan Oliver, who sat out the first semester because he was not enrolled as a full-time student, will rejoin USC Thursday in time for Friday’s game at Fresno State.

The 7-foot, 230-pound Oliver may need to contribute immediately because forward Nick Curtis is again hampered by tendinitis in his knees.

“I’m sure [Oliver] will get in the game and play some,” Bibby said, “to give the guys a breather.”