Trojans’ Floyd has little he can count on

OMAHA -- Consider this possible USC starting lineup: Returning starters O.J. Mayo, Taj Gibson, Davon Jefferson and Daniel Hackett, plus five-star recruit DeMar DeRozan.

Then ponder this one: DeRozan, Hackett, Mamadou Diarra, Keith Wilkinson and Dwight Lewis.

The Trojans’ forecast is a malleable entity, one that could shift dramatically depending on which, if any, of the team’s top players -- Mayo, Gibson and Jefferson -- return next season instead of declaring for the NBA draft.

While Mayo is expected to become a lottery pick, the status of Gibson and Jefferson is less certain. Gibson, a sophomore, is projected as a borderline first-round pick and Jefferson’s recent performances appear to have dropped him into the second round.

Sharon Gibson, Taj’s mother, said Friday that her son remained conflicted about his future.

“Sometimes he says he’s leaving, when he’s angry, and then later he says he’s staying,” Sharon Gibson said in a telephone interview. “He wants to go all the way through school and help them to a title before he leaves, so I don’t know what he’s going to do.”

Mayo could be the first in a parade of one-and-done players at USC, with DeRozan coming in next season and possibly Fairfax High center Renardo Sidney for the 2009-2010 season. Sidney has said he would attend college in California and appears to have narrowed his choices to USC and UCLA.

Floyd said before the Trojans’ 80-67 loss to Kansas State in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional on Thursday that he might reconsider the benefits of one-year players if they harm the team’s Academic Progress Rate.

“It will be a detriment if and when O.J. leaves if he’s not academically eligible and costs us a scholarship,” Floyd said. “That would be something that would make me review whether or not to give another guy like this an opportunity at some point.”

Mayo averaged 20.7 points, but couldn’t take USC past the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The challenge confronting Floyd going forward could be supplementing one-year stars with a supporting cast of four-year players. But it’s a delicate balance. Five players who could have contributed this season left the program in recent years after expressing unhappiness about playing time, leaving the Trojans with a thin and inexperienced roster.

USC’s 2008 recruiting class includes two guards, a swingman and no big men, potentially leaving the Trojans short-handed inside if forwards Gibson and Jefferson leave.

“It’s a speculation game with recruiting and future needs when you have projected NBA players,” Floyd said earlier this season. “We don’t know where we’ll be next year. We’ll still have a good core group if we don’t sign another big.”

One potential solution is 6-foot-6 forward Leonard Washington, who signed with USC in 2006 before being granted a release to assess other options. Sources have indicated Washington may now revert to his original plan.

USC could also get a boost from the return of the 7-foot Diarra and 6-7 forward Kasey Cunningham from injuries, and the addition of Connecticut transfer Marcus Johnson, a 6-6 forward.

Floyd called the 6-6 DeRozan “the premier perimeter player in the United States, probably the best NBA prospect on the West Coast and maybe in the country. He’s a tremendous talent. If O.J. does leave, we’ll have another great, great talent on the perimeter.”

Mayo said he didn’t “have a clue” as to when he would make his decision about whether to come back. But he did say that DeRozan provided a potential lure for returning.

“DeMar’s a good player,” Mayo said. “I’ll look at that.”

Asked to reflect on what will likely be his only college season, Mayo talked about USC’s ability to bounce back from an opening loss to Mercer and an 0-3 start in Pacific 10 Conference play. The Trojans won 11 of their final 15 league games and reached the Pac-10 tournament semifinals before closing the season with consecutive losses to UCLA and Kansas State.

After the loss to the Wildcats, Floyd noted that 96% of the team’s scoring came from freshmen and sophomores, and that “we have a lot to look forward to.”

That, or he’ll have a lot of work to do.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com