USC Basketball History Impressive, Too
Known for Football, Trojans Have Also Had Great Basketball Players
Nov 11, 2008
USC will forever be known for its football teams but Trojans basketball has had its share of success over the years as well. The Trojans have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons and seven times since 1991.
Though UCLA seems to have cornered the market on big names from college basketball history, USC’s rival doesn’t own exclusive rights to hoop heroes. O.J. Mayo, the third selection in the past NBA draft, is the latest star from USC but there have been others, from Bill Sharman, Alex Hannum and Paul Westphal to Mack Calvin, Ron Riley and Cliff Robinson.
With their season starting on Saturday, it is a good time to look back on the school's stars of the past. The following are the greatest Trojans ever to wear Cardinal and Gold on the court.
Super(sonic) star: Gus Williams
Williams played guard for the Trojans from 1973-1975, leading the team to a 60-23 overall record. He played in 82 games for USC, averaging 16.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists.
He sparked the 1974 squad to a 24-5 mark with a team-high average of 15.5 points per game to go along with 3.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists. He led the Trojans in scoring again the following year when he had arguably the finest statistical season in school history: 21.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.
Even better in the NBA, Williams led the Supersonics in scoring five times and helped them to the NBA Finals twice. They defeated the Washington Bullets to win the 1978-79 championship.
Relentless rebounder: John Rudometkin
Rudometkin was USC’s biggest star of the 1960s, leading the Trojans to a 51-30 record from 1960-62 and NCAA Tournament berths in 1960 and 1961.
The center averaged 11.7 points and 8.7 rebounds as a sophomore and then had back-to-back All-American seasons. His junior year was his best. He averaged 23.9 and 12.0 rebounds. He followed that up with 21 points and 11.6 rebounds per game as a senior.
He scored 30 or more points six different times during his career and he has two of the six highest season scoring averages in school history.
Rudometkin only spent three seasons in the NBA, then a nine-team league, playing for the last-place New York Knicks and San Francisco Warriors from 1963-65.
No minor star: Harold Miner
A three-time All-American, Miner ranks No. 1 on USC’s career scoring list and is the only Trojan to score more than 2,000 points. A force from his first day at USC, Miner averaged more than 20 points a game in each of his three seasons while leading the Trojans to the NCAA Tournament twice and a 55-32 overall record from 1990-1992.
Miner scored 30 or more points 19 different times. He averaged 20.6 points and 3.6 rebounds as a freshman, 23.5 points and 5.5 rebounds as a sophomore and 26.3 points and 7.0 rebounds as a junior when he was named Pac-10 Player of the Year and Sports Illustrated’s National Player of the Year.
He holds the school career (23.5) and single-season (26.3) scoring records and he has three of the top nine scoring averages in USC history.
Miner’s game never took off in the NBA, where his lack of defensive ability translated into four forgettable seasons with Miami and Cleveland. But he still ranks as the greatest Trojan ever.
