Gibson and Simmons return as Cromwell goes out

The USC men’s basketball team added two players and subtracted one at practice Monday, a better than equitable exchange given its recent injury woes.

Returning were sophomore forward Taj Gibson and freshman guard Marcus Simmons, who were sidelined the previous week. Sitting out was junior forward RouSean Cromwell, who suffered a minor leg injury when he fell Saturday during USC’s loss to Cal State Fullerton in a closed scrimmage.

The Trojans could have used Gibson and Simmons against the Titans, who “whipped us and defeated us and ran their offense better than we did,” according to USC Coach Tim Floyd. “They just exposed who we really are right now without some of our guys out here and a lot of young guys out there playing.”

The Trojans watched film of the scrimmage for two hours Monday in hopes they could avoid making the same mistakes Saturday in their regular-season opener against Mercer at the Galen Center.

“We didn’t play our best or look the best out there, but we learned a lot about our team and areas we need to improve in,” junior forward Keith Wilkinson said. “We relied too much on our offensive capabilities and not really worrying about the defensive end, so Cal State Fullerton exploited some of our weaknesses.”

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While O.J. Mayo’s debut on the court is still four days away, the freshman guard is off to a solid start in the classroom.

After attaining a B-plus in two summer school classes, Mayo said he was on pace to become a Pacific 10 Conference honor roll student based on his first-semester midterm grades.

“When you’re at the college level, it’s about being a student first and athlete second,” Mayo said, “and it’s kind of hard to manage both of them if you think you’re coming to college just to be a basketball player.”

Mayo said he planned to begin taking classes in his major -- real estate development and business management -- next semester and could have enough credits to be a semester ahead by the end of this year.

“Only time will tell” whether the projected lottery pick in the 2008 NBA draft remains in school next year, Mayo said, “but right now I’m getting ready for next year and moving on toward my major.”

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Freshman center Mamadou Diarra had successful surgery for a hernia and was expected to resume practicing in about five weeks.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com