Sports Radio Interviews

Scott Wolf: Could The USC Basketball Outcome Reduce The Football Penalty?

Scott Wolf, the supreme USC blogger and LA Daily News employee, brings up a fantastic point about the state of USC athletics – will the ongoing investigation and eventual outcome on the basketball side lessen the blow to the football program?  On the side of the pigskin, the situation involving Reggie Bush is still unsettled, but the basketball drama surrounding O.J. Mayo will likely be taken care of first.  Everyone knows in So-Cal that USC football is far more important than basketball – so this question is the one pumping in the minds of the school’s fans.  On the round ball side, USC’s Head Coach, Tim Floyd, recently resigned for reasons you’ll see below (the end result will not astound you).  Scott Wolf joined Petros & Money on KLAC to discuss why Floyd left, the compelling components of the USC basketball program for its next head coach, and how the fans feel about Floyd leaving.  Do they even care?

Why did Tim Floyd resign?

“Tim Floyd realized he was a lame duck and from what I heard, USC was gonna fire him at the completion of the O.J. Mayo investigation, and if that had happened, he would not have received any financial settlement.  So, he realized that, and I think last week he started talking to him about negotiating a settlement so he can get some money out of the deal… I hear the buyout was low seven figures.”

What are the fans feelings on the allegations concerning the basketball and football programs?

“The interest in a lot of the fans is whether this will help the football investigation with Reggie Bush and keep the NCAA a little bit off of USC for that.  You know, football is first obviously, and probably second, and third, and basketball is after that.  I don’t think a lot of people are anguished over Floyd’s departure except for that hardcore group that goes to the games…”

What is the state of the USC Basketball going forward?

“There’s two good things going for it: one is that arena you mentioned, pretty much brand new arena, the other thing is, with all these players that have left the program in the last two months, expectations are gonna be very low.  Whoever comes in is gonna get a year honeymoon and time to rebuild the program, and he’ll always have the excuse Floyd decimated the program and broke the rules.”

Listen to Scott Wolf on KLAC with Petros & Money

Tags: College Basketball, College Football, Reggie Bush, Tim Floyd, USC