USC Has Floyd at the Top of Its List

While USC continues to talk with Tim Floyd about becoming the men’s basketball coach for next season, a source familiar with the negotiations said Thursday that school officials made contact with Floyd well in advance of Rick Majerus’ sudden resignation Monday.

And while both sides denied a deal had already been reached for Floyd to take over as soon as he can reach a financial settlement with his previous employer, it is believed USC had hoped to introduce Floyd immediately after bidding farewell to Majerus in the same news conference. The snag, though, was that USC wanted Floyd to come on campus without a contract, the source said, and that the details could be worked out later.

Floyd, 50, is making close to $2 million a year for the next two years after being fired in May after one season as coach of the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets.

Still, Garrett said Thursday the school has offered the job to only one man -- Majerus, who confirmed immediate speculation of a change of heart about USC by officially resigning five days after being introduced.

“We’ve contacted a few people,” Garrett said.

“We want to bring in a top-notch basketball coach ... with the [new] building, we feel we can be a viable basketball power.”

Garrett was referring to the $114-million, 10,258-seat Galen Center, scheduled to open in 2006.

When asked why USC seemed to be in such a hurry to name a new coach in light of the Majerus fiasco and why a hiring seemed to be such a priority for senior associate athletic director Daryl Gross, the point man in the coaching search who is leaving late next month to become athletic director at Syracuse, Garrett shrugged.

“Daryl’s not a time line,” Garrett said. “This could happen in a week; it could happen in four weeks. We have ample time.

“We have a program that everybody’s looking to coach.”

Gross has not returned numerous messages.

Floyd acknowledged Monday he had already been contacted by USC but did not return phone messages Thursday. Floyd told SI.com, however, he hoped to make a decision after Christmas.

With USC’s desire to make an announcement sooner rather than later, campus speculation centered on Monday since it is the first business day after Christmas and the day before the USC football team and numerous school officials depart to Miami for the Orange Bowl.

Floyd’s last two jobs have been in the NBA -- with New Orleans, where he was 41-41 and lost a playoff series, and the Chicago Bulls, 49-190 in three-plus years -- but his greatest success has been in college with a combined winning percentage of .651 (243-130) in 12 years at Idaho, New Orleans and Iowa State.

It was at Iowa State from 1994 to ’98 where the defense-minded Floyd was 81-47 and took the Cyclones to three NCAA tournaments, including the Sweet 16 of the 1997 NCAA tournament, where they fell to UCLA in overtime, and became the first coach in school history to win at least 20 games in three consecutive seasons.

Before being hired by the Hornets, Floyd passed on the head coaching job at Clemson as well as on an assistant’s position with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.

Majerus was to replace Henry Bibby, who had been fired Dec. 6, but claimed health reasons for his resignation. Interim Coach Jim Saia won four of his first five games and led the Trojans into the championship game of the Rainbow Classic late Thursday night against host Hawaii.

Former Seattle SuperSonic and Milwaukee Buck Coach George Karl has also shown interest in USC.