Cromwell tries to regain early form

RouSean Cromwell is closing in on the two-year anniversary of his one shining moment, a double-double in his college debut that portended great possibilities for the USC freshman forward.

Two injury-ravaged seasons later, Cromwell is still hoping to capture the promise of his 17-point, 12-rebound performance against Cal State Northridge in November 2005.

“I want to get back to that type of success, but within the realm of helping this team,” the 6-foot-11 junior said Tuesday. “If it’s up to me to perform a few different tasks to get us to the W at the end of the game, then I’ll go ahead and do that.”

Cromwell isn’t expected to carry the scoring load for a Trojans front line that also includes preseason Wooden Award candidate Taj Gibson and highly touted freshman Davon Jefferson, but he certainly could contribute defense and rebounding.

He displayed a knack for the latter early in his freshman season when he tipped in a missed free-throw try in the closing seconds to help the Trojans defeat Alaska Anchorage. He showed a propensity for the former a year later when he blocked a pair of shots against Stanford and the 7-foot Lopez twins, Brook and Robin.

Cromwell’s freshman season essentially ended after 10 games when he stepped on a ball during a pregame layup line and broke his right foot. He returned late in the season but didn’t make much of an impact, and his development as a sophomore was curtailed by surgery to remove inflamed tissue from his left knee.

Nonetheless, Coach Tim Floyd described Cromwell as a “high-energy guy” who could help, especially with freshman center Mamadou Diarra sidelined by a hernia for the next six weeks or so.

Cromwell sat out a second consecutive day of practice Tuesday after suffering a minor leg injury, but he said he expected to be ready for the Trojans’ opener against Mercer on Saturday at the Galen Center.

Even though he has returned to practice for more than a week, Jefferson said his sprained knee was still bothering him and he doesn’t expect to be at full strength Saturday.

“I can play, but I don’t feel the same yet. I’m not 100%,” Jefferson said.

What does the injury affect most?

“Probably just my awareness on when to jump instead of just reacting,” he said.

Gibson said his sprained ankle “feels a lot better now” after a week of rest. Gibson played only three minutes in the Trojans’ intrasquad scrimmage and then sat out a scrimmage against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday. . . . Freshman guard O.J. Mayo celebrated his 20th birthday Monday with “school and practice.” He said he planned to treat himself to dinner with his teammates Tuesday night.

--

ben.bolch@latimes.com