Right where he belongs
USC coach Floyd respects his job
MINNEAPOLIS – If Tim Floyd weren’t coaching basketball, he’d like to be a college professor. His time on campuses around the country – as well as his time away from them – deepened the USC coach’s appreciation for the excitement and energy created by young people bursting with promise.
And being in that environment while indulging his passion? Pure bliss. Floyd, 55, stepped away from the college scene after a dozen seasons as a head coach to seek his fortune in the NBA. Now that he’s back – in the hoops hotbed of Southern California, with a new $147 million arena and a team playing in today’s second round of the NCAA tournament – he can’t imagine going anywhere else.
USC is happy to oblige. In his fourth season with the Trojans, Floyd has led them to three consecutive NCAA appearances, a school record, and their first Pac-10 tournament championship earlier this month. Already, he has won more games over a four-year period than any previous USC coach, but Floyd insists he gets as much as he gives.
“It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” said Floyd, who coached at Idaho, New Orleans and Iowa State before leaving for the Chicago Bulls in 1998. “The school has made a commitment to basketball, and that makes a coach’s life easy.
“I enjoy being in control of my own destiny. I enjoy being back on a college campus and being around young people who are aspiring to go someplace. I had a guy come up and talk to me about whether he should get married, and that didn’t happen in the NBA. It sounds kind of corny, but it’s fun.”
It’s even more fun when winning enters the equation. Floyd came to USC in January 2005, taking over a program that hadn’t won a Pac-10 title since 1985 and could never seem to find consistent success. In his four seasons, the Trojans have gone 85-49, with a school-record streak of three 20-victory seasons in a row.
Floyd worked his way up through the college ranks and made his biggest splash at Iowa State. He transformed the program into a Top 25 presence and a regular invitee to the NCAA tournament, leading the Cyclones to their first Big Eight tournament championship and the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1997.
But like many coaches, he wanted to try his hand in the NBA. Floyd became the Bulls’ director of basketball operations the following year with the expectation he would eventually succeed Phil Jackson as coach. The timeline accelerated when Jackson chose to sit out the 1998-99 season, and Floyd assumed charge of rebuilding the team following the departures of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
Floyd said few players wanted to sign with a franchise that had declared its intention to build through the draft and suffer through losing streaks in the process. After compiling a 49-190 record with the Bulls, Floyd resigned, then came home to college ball following one season as coach of the New Orleans Hornets.
“(USC) is a place where guys are really wanting to go right now,” Floyd said. “We’re in an area with 18 million people, at a highly ranked private school. There are a lot of basketball players in Southern California, and now a brand-new $147 million facility. It would be a good fit for any coach in the country.”
That glamorous new basketball palace, the Trojans’ first on-campus arena, gave Floyd an important recruiting tool. When the Galen Center opened in 2006, it demonstrated USC’s basketball program wasn’t an afterthought in the shadow of the football program.
Floyd’s strong recruiting has been compromised a bit by early player departures to the NBA, including O.J. Mayo, who left after his freshman season last year. He is particularly proud of the commitment shown by a junior class that has formed the backbone of this 22-12 season. Taj Gibson, who leads the team with 14.6 points and 9.3 rebounds and anchors its fierce defense, said Floyd’s long resume and fatherly way of teaching have helped him mature.
Daniel Hackett added that the players are proud to have collaborated with Floyd in rebuilding the program. “He is a great teacher, not only in the gym but off the court,” said Hackett, a 6-5 guard whom Floyd remolded into a point guard this season. “He’s very demanding, very intense. But he knows what he’s talking about. We respect him, and we’ve been able to go on a nice ride this past three years.”
When Floyd first met Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, the man he will coach against today, he advised Izzo to “stay put” in college ball rather than move to the NBA. Floyd didn’t come by that wisdom easily, but he’s comfortable with where it led him.
“What an incredible job he’s done there in a short period of time,” Izzo said. “That program is just taking off. He’s gotten that thing back where USC is a player, and, I think, a big-time player this year. Other than (today), I’m pulling for him all the way.”