Turning To a Journeyman: The Hiring of Kevin O’Neill
“I am convinced that in Kevin, we have found the right coach at the right time for our great institution – a proven winner at the professional and college level who has demonstrated over the years that he recognizes that what happens off the court is equally, if not more important, than what happens on it.” – Mike Garrett
Well, that’s certainly one way to look at it.
But before we get into the choice, let’s take a look at a few of the circumstances surrounding the program that USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett has been trying to sell to coaching candidates. 1.) An ongoing NCAA investigation that could mean the loss of scholarships, a forfeiting of past victories, and possible future recruiting restrictions 2.) The loss of four members of USC’s Pac-10 Tournament winning team from last season (Taj Gibson, Daniel Hackett, DeMar DeRozan, an Marcus Johnson) 3.) The de-commitment of eight, that’s right, eight Trojan recruits.
Not exactly an easy sell, huh?
Kevin O'Neill pleads his case
After the sudden (and awkward) resignation of Tim Floyd, there was a lot of speculation about which direction Garrett would take USC basketball. Optimists were hoping for Pitt coach Jamie Dixon. Apparently, so were USC officials who pursued the 43 year-old on two different occasions hoping to capitalize on the fact that Dixon’s family lives in the Southern California area. When it became clear that Dixon was not a realistic option, Garrett turned to UNLV’s Lon Kruger and former Sacramento Kings coach Reggie Theus. Later, more names surfaced like NBA coaches/analysts Jeff Van Gundy and P.J. Carlesimo. A few people even mentioned Bobby Knight as a possibility. Amidst all the speculation, Garrett selected a man on almost nobody’s radar screen.
USC’s new head basketball coach is Kevin O’Neill. The 52-year-old journeyman has 13 years of head coaching experience at the collegiate and pro level. O’Neill has never been the type to shy away from a challenge, and he welcomes the situation at USC with great enthusiasm:
“If I didn’t believe in USC – and all of the people involved – I wouldn’t be putting my name and reputation on the line. But I do and I am. Enough said.”
O’Neill fits the mold of a Mike Garrett choice; a defensive minded coach that has spent time in the NBA. He actually compares quite favorably to Tim Floyd. The major difference between the two is that O’Neill prides himself on being a major disciplinarian that demands the accountability of his players at all times. He has a reputation for restricting offensive freedom in favor of defense, but since USC has lost most of it’s offensive talent anyway, he shouldn’t have too much trouble installing his defense-first system.
O’Neill was an assistant with the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, and this past season, the Memphis Grizzlies. In 2004, he served as head coach of a Toronto Raptors team that went 33-49 and almost made the playoffs (how that record almost gets you into the playoffs is beyond me, but I digress). For Garrett, having NBA experience on a resume is almost a pre-requisite for the USC job and it was undoubtedly a factor in the hiring of O’Neill.
At the collegiate level, O’Neill has previously been at four Division-I schools. His record as a college coach is an underwhelming 171-180. He has coached at Marquette, Tennessee, and Northwestern, also serving as Lute Olson’s interim replacement in 2007 at Arizona.
O’Neill’s tumultuous time in Tucson might have been another factor that won Garrett over. He was chosen to be Arizona’s interim head coach for the 2007-08 season. Wildcats coach Lute Olson had taken a leave of absence and insisted on O’Neill as his replacement. On December 18, 2007 Arizona declared O’Neill as Olson’s permanent replacement, and O’Neil would lead the Wildcats to an NCAA tournament berth that season.
But in March of 2008, Olson announced that he was returning as head coach for the following year and O’Neill was told he could stay on only as an assistant. The relationship between O’Neill and Arizona soured as he went from “Olson’s eventual successor” to “perhaps not being brought back”. Before the start of the following season, O’Neil left for Memphis to become an assistant on the Grizzlies coaching staff. O’Neill has not forgotten the way he was forced out in Tucson, and next year’s meetings between the schools will be interesting, to say the least.
His time with Arizona did prove one thing; O’Neill knows how to keep a team focused during a chaotic period. Next year, he will have to prove that he can do it again.
It’s too early to tell what kind of personnel SC will have for the 2009-10 season, but regardless, O’Neill is going to have to do one of his best coaching jobs to keep the team competitive. Dwight Lewis, Marcus Simmons, and Leonard Washington give O’Neill a decent core to work with. Nikola Vucevic, Mamadou Diarra and Alex Stephenson (North Carolina transfer) provide the Trojans with solid big men. Throw in Lil’ Romeo and you have yourself a basketball team (even he can get minutes next year). USC will obviously lack depth next season, but if they buy into O’Neill’s half-court offense and stingy defense, the team should be decent.
I don’t think Kevin O’Neill is the best hire Mike Garrett could have made. Honestly, I don’t even think it was the second, third, fourth or fifth best hire. Just look at all of the names that Garrett missed out on. But this is a trying time for USC basketball, and there is no easy fix. I believe this is just a transitional hire; one meant to help turn the page on the Floyd era.
For those of you that think O’Neill’s hiring is “eerily similar” to the hiring of Pete Carroll; it’s not. Yes, Carroll was a secondary choice that fans disapproved of at the beginning. And yes, he had a poor pro-coaching career before transforming into a mega-star at the collegiate level. But, let me make it crystal clear; Kevin O’Neill will not be the basketball equivalent of Pete Carroll.
Does that mean O’Neill will fail at USC? Absolutely not, I think he can be a stabilizing presence, as long as fans temper their expectations.
Don’t expect a home run out of this hire. It wasn’t meant to be one. Do expect accountability and order, because it’s coming. O’Neill has been around the block. He may not bring in the Mayo’s or DeRozan’s, and he may not even be in Los Angeles three years from now. But he runs a clean program, and nothing could be more important right now.
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