Kevin O'Neill fired from USC

USC men's basketball head coach Kevin O'Neill has been removed from the position as the search for the program's next head coach begins. In the interim, lead assistant Bob Cantu will take over the Trojans.

Here is the official release from Pat Haden and the Sports Information Department:


http://www.usctrojans.com/blog/2013/01/mens-basketball-coaching-change.html

By all accounts a first class jerk.

Wouldn't call USC a sleeping giant but they are a sleeping Top 25 program.

I concur regarding O'Neill. I once came into contact with one of his former Marquette players in a business setting. The guy described O'Neill as a truly awful person. He's known as a yeller and screamer with none of the underlying love and respect that often bonds players to such coaches.

He first gained notice as an assistant to Lute Olson when Arizona became a national power in the late 1980s. Kevin O'Neill returned there a few years ago and became interim coach when Olson's messy exit began with a still rather strange leave of absence. Lute endorsed O'Neill as his eventual successor, but at season's end denounced him and said he'd never coach the Wildcats.

The full extent of what happened never came to light, but rumor has it that O'Neill tried to block Olson's planned return in order to keep the job himself. Lute Olson wanted to leave on his own terms and resented his assistant's power grab. So Lute reasserted himself enough to move O'Neill aside and reclaim his job only to then retire before the next season began anyway. O'Neill worked a season as an NBA assistant before getting the USC spot.

I've heard comparisons to Rick Majerus...I live in Salt Lake now and Majerus was actually despised by the school officials here, the media and many of his former players. But they respect him because he took Utah to the Final Four in 98...Andre Miller and Doleac had a great run... Plus the kid from the Twin Cities(name??)....Anyway, O'Neil's never had the success of Majerus but he is respected for his ability to teach defense. I guess he just couldn't recruit enough talent in LA...Hard to believe.

Although USC is a brand name football school and has had on and off success with basketball, it's always played second fiddle to UCLA and can't seem to establish its own identity. Not even all that local talent and a new arena created much of a buzz. One issue lately has been recovering from probation related to the recruitment of the long gone OJ Mayo. USC faced a year without the NCAA Tourney, returning tourney money, reduced scholarships, restricted recruiting contact, and having a season of results vacated. If you read between the lines of AD Pat Haden's statement, apart from whatever personality issues may have led to a coach getting axed at midseason, it seems like he left O'Neill alone until recently in order to effectively write off a couple of seasons and then get a new coach on board with a clean slate once the restrictions ended.