The USC Trojans, on the basketball court, have not been wildly popular in Los Angeles for a long time. In football, USC is hugely popular thanks to Lincoln Riley. The football coach has recalled the days of Pete Carroll. Older generations of USC fans — seeing the football program reclaim prominence — recall the gleaming era of John McKay and John Robinson. USC football, when it is good, owns Los Angeles. USC hoops has very rarely been able to command that kind of attention.
For one year, though, it did. In 1992, the Trojans became supremely relevant and exciting in Los Angeles. USC basketball legend Harold Miner, interviewed by ESPN’s Myron Medcalf, remembers:
“‘There were so few fans that the first few games of my freshman year, you could hear people talking in the stands during games,’ Miner, a 1992 consensus All-American who averaged 23.5 PPG in three years with the Trojans before the Miami Heat made him the 12th pick in the 1992 NBA draft, told ESPN. ‘You could hear conversations going on in the stands.’
“Miner, who is one of two USC men’s basketball players over the past 40 years to have his number retired (DeRozan is the other), was a hometown hero who can relate to the frenzy Bronny will experience next season in a city full of celebrities, albeit without the TikTok and Twitter attention.”
Miner led USC to a No. 2 seed in the 1992 NCAA Tournament. That remains the only time USC has been a top-three seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Bronny James will try to create the second season with a top-three seed in March Madness.
You won’t be able to hear conversations in the stands at the Galen Center this season.
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