Tim Floyd said in his resignation statement that he no longer had full enthusiasm for the USC job.
But it was the appearance that he had been "convicted" already by the public of the most serious charge -- that he paid $1,000 to former player O.J. Mayo's handler, Rodney Guillory, on a Beverly Hills street corner in 2007 -- that forced him into the abrupt decision, according to a source who spoke with Floyd.
The source said that Floyd had been told not to speak by USC officials. The source said Floyd wanted to say that the allegations made by former Mayo inner circle member Louis Johnson to Yahoo! Sports were "not true and didn't happen."
The source stated that Floyd said, "'I don't have to do this.' He always said if he's not having fun at it then he won't do it. He has plenty of money. It became a situation where this isn't what he signed up for. It sounds simple but it was the bottom line."
The source said he wasn't sure if there was a negotiated buyout with Floyd. USC spokesperson James Grant said that he couldn't comment on any personnel matters.
"At the end of the day, Tim had had enough," the source said.
Arkansas State coach John Brady, a good friend of Floyd's, told ESPN's Kelly Naqi that Floyd had been thinking about resigning "for a while. This basketball business is something now. There's a lot of opportunities for booby traps. I think Tim is at a point with what he's been through and all the success he's had, I think the SC job, all of the circumstances [culminating with the Yahoo! report that Floyd paid Guillory $1,000], I think got to be too much. He didn't feel enthusiasm anymore because of all the speculation and he chose to walk. I think it was more frustrating than anything else."
Former player Daniel Hackett, who declared for the NBA draft after this past season, his third year playing for Floyd, said Wednesday that Floyd had "done the right thing for everybody. I just feel very bad that it had to be him. All he did was help the program and help kids."
Hackett, whose father Rudy is the strength and conditioning coach at USC, said that he was expecting something to happen, but not this soon after the season.
"I wasn't expecting it to happen this quick," Hackett said. "The school and the coach were under a lot of scrutiny and a lot of speculation, but he put the team and the program in front of himself and resigned. Hopefully they can all move on and end this chapter."
Hackett said he and the rest of his teammates were fully aware of the allegations after the "man [Johnson] went to the FBI. I don't know if I want to believe all that stuff."
Hackett said he never saw a blatant violation with Mayo or a handler.
"All I can tell you is that he took pride in coaching O.J. and helping him get settled in the program," Hackett said. "We all knew that with O.J. there was a lot of hype and a lot behind him. I think Coach Floyd handled the situation extremely well. I don't believe all those allegations until I speak to Coach Floyd, which I haven't. It's unfortunate because somebody [ran] their mouth and ruined a great program like USC."
USC's coaching staff went to work Wednesday, still stunned over Floyd's abrupt resignation Tuesday, unsure of their respective coaching fates and waiting for the athletic department to officially brief them on their next move, according to sources.
According to sources with direct knowledge of the situation, no one expected Floyd to suddenly resign.
"It was like a foul ball hitting you when you're not watching," said one source. "I don't know what happened, why it happened. It was a shock for sure."
The mood at USC was characterized by one source as "empty."
"Right now there is a sense of everyone walking around empty, not knowing anything or why it happened," said a source. "There's a feeling of being abandoned and feeling blindsided."
Assistants Phil Johnson, Bob Cantu and Gib Arnold are still on staff and were told, according to sources, to continue working by an athletic department official.
The staff wasn't sure what to do with the recruits that were expected to continue to ask out of their letters of intent. That unraveling of the roster was another reason that Floyd opted to get out now, even before an official notice of allegations from the NCAA had been handed down.
Since the Trojans lost to Michigan State in Minneapolis in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the program has seen an unraveling that was hard to predict.
One source close to Floyd said he didn't think Hackett or Taj Gibson would declare for the NBA draft. But they did. The assumption was in place when freshman DeMar DeRozan arrived at USC that he might be a one-and-done. Recruit Solomon Hill's decision to bolt was a blow as he landed at Arizona. But the three things that were the most befuddling and may have been the final pieces were when Noel Johnson asked out of his national letter of intent despite no official NCAA notice of allegations, a request that was granted without hesitation by the school; the decision by the administration not to take Renardo Sidney (now heading to Mississippi State) because of concerns about how it would look for the school if Sidney had potential eligibility issues at the same time as the ongoing Mayo investigation; and Marcus Johnson's decision to enter the NBA draft after the staff worked tirelessly to get him a sixth-year waiver to continue his eligibility. Johnson hurt his shoulder during the season and played in only 16 games after becoming eligible as a transfer from Connecticut. The source said Floyd couldn't believe that Johnson passed up a chance to be a starter next season and showcase himself then, instead choosing to attempt to realize a remote chance of being drafted in June.
The Trojans were coming off three straight NCAA tournament appearances. Only two other coaches in the school's history had been to three NCAAs. The total number of appearances by the Trojans is only 15. One source who talked to Floyd said that he had felt great about the recent run, including the Pac-10 tournament title this past March, and that he thought the Trojans were on the verge of having a national title contending team next season. While he did go to Arizona to look at the Wildcats' opening on April 1, the source said Floyd told him that he didn't think the Wildcats were better than the Trojans so he essentially pulled out of consideration.
"He did it on a whim, but wasn't using it as leverage," a source said. "He went to listen. That was it."
"I don't think he's running or afraid of anything. I think if he was, he would have taken the job at Arizona," Brady said. "It got to a situation where [Floyd thought] 'I'm not going through this, I've done enough in my career, I've had success, I'll just resign and see what's out there for me at a later time.'"
The defections occurred before and after the Yahoo! report.
"That caught him off guard," a source said. "He really thought he would have a top five team next season. The kicker was Marcus Johnson. And that had nothing to do with the investigation."
According to a source close to the recruits, point guard Lamont Jones, out of Oak Hill Academy (Va.), is already pursuing a release and might look at Arizona. The Wildcats, who have 10 players on scholarship, already got Hill under new coach Sean Miller and stand to be one of the beneficiaries of Floyd's departure. Noel Johnson could be a player for the Wildcats, too. There is an expectation that Derrick Williams, out of La Mirada High (Calif.), might look at Arizona, as well. It's not clear what would happen with another signee, Evan Smith. USC was already off to a tremendous start in 2010 with commitments from highly touted Gary Franklin Jr., out of Mater Dei High, and Dwayne Polee, a small forward out of Westchester High (Calif.). Franklin will likely opt out, while a source said Polee has always wanted to go to USC. His father, Dwayne, is the director of basketball operations at USC, making his decision a bit more complex.
Meanwhile, the source said the current roster is likely set since the upperclassmen would have a hard time moving. Alex Stepheson, who transferred from North Carolina, is a junior and wouldn't move again. Senior guard Dwight Lewis and sophomore Leonard Washington and junior Marcus Simmons as well as redshirt sophomore Kasey Cunningham aren't expected to move since they have limited eligibility remaining.
The next coach can change who stays and goes, but not knowing the school's fate with regard to possible NCAA sanctions could make transferring decisions murkier.
The list of coaches who would be willing to listen to a USC offer, regardless of the likelihood of an NCAA sanction, is growing and it includes, according to sources, Virginia Tech's Seth Greenberg, Oregon State's Craig Robinson, Saint Mary's Randy Bennett, Long Beach State's Dan Monson, Los Angeles Lakers assistants Jim Cleamons and Brian Shaw and former Sacramento Kings coach Reggie Theus. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, the likely top target, isn't expected to go to rebuild the program at this late stage. Money can certainly change someone's mind, but that was the mindset last week, according to a source close to Dixon.
Floyd is expected to hunker down and lay low for the foreseeable future. He has good friends in the NBA that he might lean on for a gig if need be, and his ties to Brady and Larry Eustachy at Southern Miss would certainly open up some unofficial consulting opportunities next season.
While the USC assistants wait -- and according to one source it was akin to sitting at an airport gate waiting to see if there was room on a flight -- Floyd is staying mum.
"I don't know what he'll do," said a source. "I don't think he knows. He'll have an opportunity to coach in the NBA. I think he'll look at that. Or he may just decide he doesn't want to coach again."
Andy Katz
