Dupree’s Return Becomes Official

On a day that USC had once hoped to use flying to Hawaii for the Rainbow Classic, the Trojans instead returned to the North Gym for a more than three- hour practice session that included a welcome back-styled ‘Aloha’ for a teammate who had been adrift for a semester.

With grades being posted during the Christmas break, Jerry Dupree’s return to the team is official as the junior forward earned a high enough grade-point average to rejoin the Trojans in time for the start of Pacific 10 Conference play Thursday at Washington State.

“School and basketball, you can’t do one without the other,” Dupree said Thursday night. “I learned my lesson and I won’t ever get in this predicament again and let my team and my coaches down.”

Dupree was suspended by Coach Henry Bibby in the summer for what amounted to seven games in an effort to help him concentrate on his studies.

USC had tentatively scheduled the Hawaiian holiday tournament this summer, before an Ohio judge upheld the NCAA’s decree that schools cannot play in more than two exempt events in a four-year span.

Bibby was incredulous at talk that has UCLA boosters contacting him to gauge his interest in coaching the Bruins should Steve Lavin be removed.

“How rumors start, I don’t know,” said Bibby, who led UCLA to three national titles from 1970-72. “I think Steve Lavin does a good job ... I don’t know why they’re all over him every year.

“I’m not after his job. I have a job. I’m happy here. I like ‘SC. This is my home.”