Tony Bland accepts offer to join USC basketball staff, report says

Tony Bland, a San Diego State assistant who played for the school and also at Westchester High, has accepted an offer to join USC Coach Andy Enfield’s staff as associate head coach, according to a report.

Bland told UTSanDiego that Enfield offered him the job last Thursday at the Final Four. Bland’s compensation will increase from $120,000 to as much as $300,000, the website said.

“I took a risk of losing a lot of money, of losing a chance to really provide for my family, because of my loyalty,” Bland told Mark Zeigler of UTSan Diego. Enfield “easily could have said he wasn’t going to wait and hired somebody else. I knew that was a risk I was taking, but my heart was so torn.

“That was the first time in a long time I came to tears. I woke up Monday morning, and I was going to stay at San Diego State. But in the end I had to sit back and take my emotions out of it, and think about it from a business standpoint.”

Bland is the second assistant hired by Enfield. On Monday, Pepperdine Coach Marty Wilson announced via Twitter that assistant Jason Hart was joining USC’s staff.

A USC athletic department spokesman said he could not confirm Hart’s or Bland’s hiring.

Bland played at Syracuse for two seasons before transferring to San Diego State. As a senior in 2001-02, he averaged 16.4 points a game.

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