Dupree Still Leads Popular Front

With his throwback looks and high-flying game, Jerry Dupree was a fan favorite during USC’s run to the Pacific 10 Conference tournament title game at Staples Center last March.

And not even a frustrating season of suspensions and injuries has hurt the popularity of the high sock-wearing, armband-toting, heavily tattooed junior forward.

When he entered Wednesday night’s 86-85 victory over UCLA with 8:22 remaining in the first half -- after being given a two-day break from the team by Coach Henry Bibby -- most of the 10,147 fans in the Sports Arena cheered; some chanted his name and shouted encouragement.

“It’s crazy because before the game people were yelling, ‘Come on, Dupree, we need you, we can’t win without you,’ ” Dupree said Thursday afternoon at Heritage Hall, ending a moratorium with the media that had lasted more than three weeks.

“Then I get on the floor and I’m hearing people in the stands yelling my name. I’m glad the fans are still supporting me, the alumni, the Trojan family ... they’re not saying bad things about me with my situation. I’m happy because I’ve got a lot of support and it’s making me feel better.”

After being kicked out of practice Saturday, Dupree was excused from Sunday’s win over Oregon and practice Monday because, according to Bibby, he had missed treatments for tendinitis in his right foot.

Dupree, though, said he had been late to the treatments and did not blow them off.

“[Bibby’s] never going to stop being hard on me,” Dupree said. “And that’s not a bad thing.”

Bibby, meanwhile, took the day off from speaking with reporters.

Dupree, who played eight minutes against the Bruins and did not take a shot while getting one rebound, acknowledged that his semester-long suspension to start the season set him back.

“They were putting in new plays every day and [that] made it hard for me to catch up,” Dupree said. “But my teammates did a good job helping me learn the plays and by supporting me through everything to this point.

“I’m just trying to make the best of the situation and finish strong, get a repeat of last year and come out strong in the Pac-10 tournament.”