Craven’s Not Superman, Only the Man of Steals

USC seniors Sam Clancy and Brandon Granville had a competition to see who would finish with more steals.

Too bad they let freshman Errick Craven in on the contest.

While Clancy and Granville tied with 33 steals apiece in Pacific 10 Conference games, Craven led the league with 51 thefts.

“I used to listen to them and in my mind I was like, ‘They don’t really know that I’m going to beat both of them,’” Craven said with a smile.

“Defense is kind of my forte. I told them that and they kind of just laughed at me.”

Craven is the first freshman to lead the Pac-10 in steals since California’s Jason Kidd in 1993.

Having started 17 conference games and averaging 12.9 points and 4.0 rebounds, Craven is also a leading contender for the Pac-10’s freshman of the year award, along with Arizona’s Salim Stoudamire and Channing Frye. The Pac-10 announces its year-end awards tonight.

While Clancy, a front-runner for league player of the year, has joined USC Coach Henry Bibby in voicing a disdain for the Pac-10 tournament, essentially saying that the Trojans have nothing to gain NCAA seeding-wise from the three-day affair, senior forward David Bluthenthal did not agree with them.

“Absolutely not. Coach Bibby’s getting a paycheck and Sam’s probably going to the [NBA] anyway,” Bluthenthal said, grinning. “For me, I need as many games as I can get.”

Bibby and Clancy, however, reiterated that they would have preferred to play in the tournament were they still a lower-echelon team.

When Clancy was asked, then, if it was a chance for Arizona State and Washington to make some noise, he was blunt.

“It’s a good idea for them,” he said, “but they’re probably going to lose in the first round.”

On the eve of postseason play, Bibby’s season-long search for a team leader has come to an end. “I’m the leader of the team,” he said. “They follow me.”