Floyd Is Happy With Progression

You might recognize a few of the opponents on USC’s tentative schedule for next season.

Duke. Kansas. The names are synonymous with college basketball’s elite.

Tim Floyd can only hope a time comes when one of his coaching counterparts scans his schedule, lets his finger rest on USC and feels his pulse quicken.

Truth be told, Floyd’s Trojans might be closer to becoming a basketball blueblood than anyone envisioned when they opened this season with a combined five years’ worth of Division I experience.

Although they finished sixth in the Pacific 10 Conference and were shut out of the postseason for a fourth consecutive year, there was progress aplenty. The Trojans finished comfortably above .500 at 17-13 and secured a first-round bye in the Pac-10 tournament.

Victories over North Carolina, UCLA and Arizona provided a sampling of what might be in store next season. All five Trojan starters are expected to return, and a highly touted recruiting class will become the first freshmen to play in the new 10,258-seat Galen Center.

“It is certainly a better place to start from than where we started a year ago,” Floyd said. “That being said, we still need to add to what we have in order to make that next step and try to improve.”

Incoming freshmen Taj Gibson, Kasey Cunningham, Kevin Galloway and Dwight Lewis -- all 6 feet 5 or taller--should help counteract USC’s interior deficiencies. The Trojans were outrebounded in 21 of 30 games and scored only a small fraction of their points in the paint.

Floyd called the 6-9 Gibson, 6-7 Cunningham and 6-6 Galloway “guys who can get the ball off the glass.”

“I think all four are going to compete for spots,” Floyd said.

That doesn’t mean he has given up on incumbent big men Abdoulaye N’diaye, RouSean Cromwell and Jeremy Barr; he intends to work with each player to develop post moves and rebounding technique.

Any improvement would help All-Pac 10 first-team selections Gabe Pruitt and Nick Young, who were forced to carry too much of the scoring load in their sophomore seasons.

Floyd said he is struggling to find a brand-name opponent for the Galen Center opener, but the road schedule already appears enticing with games against the Blue Devils and Jayhawks. USC also has reached a verbal agreement to play both teams at the Galen Center during the 2007-08 season, Floyd said.