The story of Andy Enfield at USC basketball might be working toward a conclusion. This doesn’t necessarily mean he will be fired at the end of this upcoming season (that’s a separate conversation), but it does mean we might have seen everything we need to see about Enfield.
The rap on Enfield entering this season was that he didn’t maximize talent. He didn’t develop players to the point that USC was overwhelming and dominant the way Arizona is under Tommy Lloyd. Arizona develops players at an elite level. Lloyd can take players from high school or from other programs and turn them into highly improved performers. Look at what Lloyd is doing with Caleb Love at Arizona this season. Love was erratic at North Carolina under Hubert Davis. In Tucson, Love has a much more polished game and is thriving.
Andy Enfield has failed to do that sort of thing, but this season — with Isaiah Collier, the No. 1 recruit in the country, joining Boogie Ellis and Kobe Johnson — Enfield had what was, on paper, his best backcourt ever at USC. This was a team with high-end potential and a very lofty ceiling. Finally, Enfield had Cadillac talent.
Enfield had his big chance to show what he could do.
Here we are.
USC is 5-5 through 10 games following a blowout loss to Auburn. Enfield did well with worker-bee, blue-collar teams in 2021, 2022, and 2023. With a lot more raw material to work with this season, Enfield has had no ideas and no solutions.
If USC Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen gives Enfield one more season, it would be understandable and reasonable. Enfield has made four straight NCAA Tournaments (if you include 2020, when USC would have made the Big Dance had the pandemic not happened). To suddenly fire him might seem harsh. However, we are already at a point where it seems clear — beyond clear, really — that Enfield can’t coach elite talent. USC needs another coach, a new coach, if it ever wants to go past this point.
Again: Andy Enfield has been good for USC basketball. He has raised the bar here. He has elevated standards of performance. USC is now expected to make the NCAA Tournament every year. That expectation did not exist when Pat Haden hired him in 2013. Enfield deserves credit and gratitude for what he has done at USC.
Now, though, it seems like it’s time to pass the baton to a new coach who can take the next step with this program.
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