Mayo brings a new attitude

Tim Floyd may have unwittingly provided future opponents with a rallying cry in March when he addressed his team before its second-round NCAA tournament game against Texas.

“They’ve got four freshmen out there!” the USC coach barked. “Are you going to let four freshmen beat you?”

The Trojans didn’t, toppling the Longhorns en route to their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2001.

But rival coaches might pose the same question this season, referring to USC freshmen O.J. Mayo, Davon Jefferson, Angelo Johnson and Marcus Simmons.

These Trojans will go as far as their freshmen take them, which could be the program’s first consecutive NCAA tournament appearances since 2001 and 2002.

“We’re going to rely more on freshmen than we have since I’ve been here,” acknowledged Floyd, who is entering his third season. “That’s good and that means we’re upgrading talent, but at the same time they’re freshmen.”

These aren’t just any freshmen, however. Mayo may be the most heralded newcomer in school history, and Jefferson is a top talent who hasn’t generated as much buzz because he’s played sparingly the last two years while switching high schools.

Johnson gives the Trojans a pure point guard who will free Mayo to fill a large chunk of the scoring void created by the departure of Nick Young, Gabe Pruitt and Lodrick Stewart, who last season combined for 43.8 points per game. And Simmons is a lock-down defender who will often draw the opposing team’s top scorer.

USC’s freshman class also includes 7-foot center Mamadou Diarra, who by season’s end could provide the Trojans with a skilled big man to complement Jefferson and sophomore forward Taj Gibson.

“The team looks totally transformed from last year,” said Gibson, a preseason Wooden Award candidate whose averages of 12.2 points and 8.7 rebounds lead the returning players. “We have a lot of talent and a lot of players going after it.”

Still, Floyd has to wonder if he will ever have a firm grasp heading into a season. Two years ago, USC had only four players with Division I experience. Last season, the Trojans lacked a point guard after the shooting death of Ryan Francis.

Now, USC has to deal with the early departures of Young and Pruitt to the NBA.

“Here we are again,” Floyd said.

Floyd upgraded his schedule thinking that he would retain either Young or Pruitt as a sidekick to Mayo, but neither remained to lead the charge against the likes of Kansas and Memphis. Nonetheless, Mayo said he’s eager for the challenge.

“We’re starting off playing the best, and win, lose or draw we’ll see where we’re at, where we stand and where we need to get better,” Mayo said. “We’ve got a lot of freshmen and we’ll play a lot of teams loaded with upperclassmen and returning guys from last year.

“We’ve got to grow as a team as if we’ve got a year under our belt.”

Floyd hoped that an off-season trip to Mexico and the accompanying 10 extra days of practice would give his team a head start, but injuries beset the Trojans once practice started for the regular season. Sophomore guard Daniel Hackett suffered the most serious setback, a broken jaw that will sideline him until late November.

“Our problem is we don’t have guys on the floor that we’re going to be relying on right now,” Floyd said earlier this month, “so we’re going to have to go back and re-teach.”

Mayo has proven a quick study, prompting Floyd to say that the 6-5 guard possesses “a lawyer’s mind.”

“He asks questions constantly,” the coach added, “and they’re not questions to show you how smart he is, they’re questions because he wants to be doing the right thing, which is great.”

Many prognosticators question whether the Trojans can avoid severe growing pains, picking USC to finish seventh in the Pacific-10 Conference. Noting that the media picked USC eighth in his first season (when it finished sixth) and sixth in his second year (when it finished tied for third), Floyd isn’t paying much attention to predictions.

His focus is on teaching a roster without a senior but with 12 freshmen and sophomores.

“I love all of our new guys,” Floyd said. “I’m going to be as interested as everybody else to see how quickly they grow and who they become. “All the guys that we brought in here, we brought in with the idea that we were going to try to contend at some point for conference championships, which typically means in this league that you have an opportunity to go on and play for a national championship.”

Mayo, a projected lottery pick in the 2008 NBA draft, said he hopes his Trojans legacy will extend beyond his brief stay.

“You can’t beat the education that’s here, and it’s a great environment -- palm trees, sunlight. You can’t really beat that,” Mayo said. “Hopefully, I can draw a lot of the top athletes to look at SC.”

And perhaps give Floyd a fresh perspective on freshmen.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com

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Scouting report

* They’re back: F Taj Gibson, 6-9, So. (12.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg); G Daniel Hackett, 6-5, So. (5.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg); G Dwight Lewis, 6-5, So. (5.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg).

* They’re new: G O.J. Mayo, 6-5, Fr., Huntington (W.Va.) HS; F Davon Jefferson, 6-8, Fr., the Patterson (N.C.) School; G Angelo Johnson, 5-10, Fr., Stoneridge Prep; G Marcus Simmons, 6-6, Fr., Peabody (La.) HS; C Mamadou Diarra, 7-0, Fr., Stoneridge Prep.

* Last season: 25-12, tied for third in Pacific 10 Conference; lost, 74-64, to North Carolina in NCAA round of 16.

* This season depends on: If Mayo, Gibson and Jefferson can offset the loss of 43.8 ppg from the departed Nick Young, Gabe Pruitt and Lodrick Stewart, the Trojans should challenge for an upper-division Pac-10 finish and make a deep NCAA tournament run. But a roster that includes 12 freshmen and sophomores -- but no seniors -- must mature quickly to survive one of the nation’s most demanding schedules.

* Offensively: While Johnson will be the primary ballhandler, Mayo should emerge as the hub of the attack, whether he’s spotting up for three-pointers, slashing to the basket or dishing to teammates. Gibson and Jefferson will probably be the second and third scoring options. Hackett and Lewis must improve their three-point accuracy from last season to help stretch defenses.

* Defensively: Strong man-to-man defense should again be one of the hallmarks of a Tim Floyd-coached team, especially with an elite shot blocker in Gibson and a pair of lockdown defenders in Mayo and Simmons. Jefferson gives the Trojans another big body on the floor to help Gibson counter the likes of Stanford’s 7-foot Lopez twins.

* X-factor: USC’s inside game could become an unexpected strength if Diarra and junior forward RouSean Cromwell emerge as capable backups to Gibson and Jefferson. Diarra is skilled but raw, and Cromwell must fight his tendency to play out of control on the offensive end.

-- Ben Bolch