Brooks’ Season Appears Over

USC sophomore point guard Brandon Brooks suffered a fractured left leg Tuesday during practice and is feared lost for the season.

Brooks was injured trying to grab a defensive rebound during a scrimmage in preparation for Thursday’s game against No. 2 Arizona.

“He came down on it funny and I think it was Errick Craven who came down on the ankle and it was already turned and it just turned it more,” said junior Roy Smiley. “His foot was facing backward and he was facing forward. It was a devastating sight.”

After Brooks’ shoe was cut off and his foot popped back into place, his leg was placed in a vacuum splint.

“It was the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” said a subdued Robert Hutchinson. “His foot was completely turned the other way. He was yelling and in so much pain he didn’t want anyone touching him.”

Brooks was released Tuesday night from California Hospital and is scheduled to see a specialist today to see if surgery is needed.

Hutchinson, who has sprained his right ankle twice this season and sat out four games as a result, tweaked it again Tuesday, five plays before Brooks went down.

“This day seems like it’s cursed or something,” Hutchinson said.

Smiley also had to sit out Tuesday’s practice after twisting his right knee the day before.

But the Trojans’ thoughts were primarily on Brooks, who sat out a year before transferring to USC from Compton College full of promise, a swaggering point guard who predicted that he would claim the starting position by the start of Pacific 10 Conference play.

He was beginning to get comfortable at the Division I level and was averaging 4.5 points and a team-high 3.5 assists in 15 minutes a game off the bench.

“This is everything he was waiting for -- the Arizona game,” Smiley said. “A big reason he came to USC was to knock off Arizona and to see that happen so close to this game, it hurt me because I know how much it meant for him.”

With Brooks out and Hutchinson hobbled, Coach Henry Bibby might have to tap an unlikely source to back up sophomore starter Derrick Craven at the point.

“If it’s Peter McCaslin there, he plays point guard too for us,” Bibby said. “He’s a walk-on, he’s ready, he’s tough, let’s play ball. We’re going to dedicate this [game] to Brandon Brooks.

“It’s like Coach [John] Wooden said, ‘Make each day your masterpiece.’ So you’ve got to go out and give it your all because you don’t know what’s going to happen the next day, you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”