Carroll jumps on USC basketball bandwagon

I TOOK a ride out to the basketball school Tuesday, and thought it would be interesting to see how the poor football coach feels these days what with everyone so excited at the basketball school about their tournament team.

I was also curious to know if Pete Carroll had asked for an audience or maybe an appointment with Tim Floyd to get some tips on how to beat Texas should the football team get a second chance someday.

“We talked today,” said Carroll, and as some of you might recall, he’s the football coach at USC. “We talked about how well the team is playing.”

But what about Texas, and the coaching job Floyd did contending with Texas’ best player? It’d be a terrible thing to let just one player beat you.

I thought he hadn’t heard the question, because he just stared at me.

“You don’t see any humor in this?” I said.

“I see no humor in it at all,” the football coach said -- with a grin.

THE BASKETBALL team is four wins away from a national title, righting itself after a disastrous showing in the Pacific 10 Conference tournament championship game and a pregame visit from Carroll.

Carroll had spoken to the Trojans in the locker room before the Pac-10 title game against Oregon, obviously going with the same pregame speech he had used before the football game with UCLA.

“You might want to throw that one away,” I suggested, and I got that stare once again.

Carroll spoke to the Trojans twice this season, the basketball team winning the first time he fired them up.

“One win and one loss isn’t bad,” I said.

“I’m 2-1,” he argued. “I take credit for a tennis team win, too. I’m no .500 kind of guy.”

EVERY YEAR, the football coach visits various quarterback clubs in the area. Last year he took along the basketball coach, and they worked so well together, it was suggested they take their act to Las Vegas.

“I had a blast being with him,” Carroll said.

Given their records on the professional level, should they ever venture back to the pro ranks, they might want to keep the Las Vegas option open. The basketball coach was terrible at the professional level, the football coach so-so, and the similarities between the two begin right there.

“We both bring a special kind of expertise to our jobs now because of our coaching backgrounds,” Carroll said. “I think we both came here with a confidence in what we want to do now.”

The two men are now working on behalf of each other. When basketball super recruit O.J. Mayo visited USC, Carroll stopped football practice and had his team surround Mayo in the middle of the field.

When Carroll takes his recruits to the Galen Center now, they’re not only impressed with the new facility, but with the size and energy of the crowd cheering on a winning basketball team.

“The new arena is awesome,” Carroll said. “It’s such a boost for everyone going to school here.”

Carroll, a big basketball fan, also fashions himself a pretty good player. He likes to play during the noon hour, shooting as much as Kobe Bryant from what I have been told, and scoring as much as Kwame Brown -- I’ve been told.

He always has been an optimistic guy.

“You could see last year how Tim changed the mentality of the players around here,” Carroll said, while paying no attention to what I’ve been told. “I just love what he’s doing and how he’s got those guys playing. When he asked me to speak to the team, I saw no harm in it at all.”

Oregon 81, USC 57.

It’s really not polite to stare at people.

THE TROJANS began practicing on the football field for the first time Tuesday in preparation for the 2007 season -- never too early if you’re going to have a chance of beating UCLA.

The biggest questions for the Trojans right now are who will play receiver and where’s the best place to watch the basketball team take on North Carolina, which might explain why Carroll is so excited these days. The Trojans are loaded once again.

John David Booty is the starting quarterback, and let the Heisman hype begin. Seventeen starters return, 10 on defense and the season begins with a date against Idaho in the Coliseum. Ho-hum.

“It’s such a young team, but a fun bunch,” Carroll said. “It’s like Christmas and trying to figure out while unwrapping the packages just what you’ve got.”

Most experts figure the Trojans will be ranked No. 1 or No. 2 when the football season begins, which is great news because USC basketball fans are going to need some kind of diversion while having to wait for Mayo’s debut.

THE DODGERS announced a new parking plan, but nowhere in their 402-word press release did they mention a 50% increase in the price to park.

The Dodgers will charge $15 for general parking and for “improved safety” and assigned parking places. Fans will be required to enter and exit the stadium from the same gate -- like the team will be able to manage that. For $5 more, it sounds like the parking chaos now will at least be more organized.

KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR was a guest on the father/daughter morning gabfest on 570 with Fred Roggin, and when asked about his reputation for being a poor communicator, he got ticked and couldn’t explain himself very well. When I joked that UCLA could use him in a Bruins uniform against Pittsburgh’s big center, he didn’t find it funny, and the UCLA conversation came to an awkward close. I’m pretty sure we could’ve gotten more out of a monk who has taken a vow of silence.

Abdul-Jabbar called back later asking to come back on the show today. I’m going to give it another try and say “hello,” but I fear it might be too much for him.

T.J. Simers can be reached at

t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to

latimes.com/simers.