ESPN Men's Basketball

LOS ANGELES -- Gabe Pruitt felt somewhat responsible -- and, at the very least, felt accountable -- for putting USC in a precarious position entering this season.

Academic troubles made him ineligible for the fall semester, news that came amid the aftermath of the tragic shooting death of starting point guard Ryan Francis last spring. Once the basketball season arrived, though, much of the burden of USC starting the season without its other starting guard landed back on Pruitt.

"I felt a responsibility that I was one of the older guys, and I felt that I had to come back and make a point because a lot of people were talking about [the effect] of me sitting out," said Pruitt, a junior who led the Trojans in scoring last season and, while his scoring numbers aren't the same this season (16.9 to 9.8 ppg), he is providing important leadership on a much more well-rounded team. "I felt I had to come back improved. I knew I couldn't come back the same. I had to be better, to help change this team."

Pruitt's commitment -- to getting eligible, to becoming an all-around player and becoming a leader -- plays a big part in the Trojans' recent upswing, one that includes wins over Oregon and Arizona. His return, along with the early arrival of point guard Daniel Hackett and the emergence of possible Pac-10 freshman of the year Taj Gibson in the post, surprisingly has made USC a viable Pac-10 contender.

It's a development that still is somewhat amazing for second-year coach Tim Floyd to grasp fully.

"If we can get to the [NCAA] Tournament this year, we would be further along than we thought," Floyd said Saturday night after a 58-49 victory over Arizona State, while sitting in his still freshly decorated office at the new Galen Center on USC's campus.

"We try not to sell our guys short, but we didn't know if we could get there because the thought of playing without a point guard was really scary, and really, [we were] playing without our [entire] backcourt, since we were playing without Ryan and Gabe for the first 12 games," Floyd said.

USC lost to South Carolina to open the Galen Center and also lost at Kansas and to Kansas State (in Pruitt's first game back) in Las Vegas. The Trojans rebounded to beat Wichita State in Vegas by four, a win that seemed to jump-start the Trojans toward a double-overtime win over Washington in their Pac-10 opener.

"These kids are good players now, and they've got a belief system that they think we're good," Floyd said. "We're two last-second shots from being undefeated in the league."

Floyd believes that Francis could have been the difference in several of the Trojans' performances, but he is thrilled with the way Hackett and Gibson have developed.

"With Ryan, we may not have lost three of the games we lost because we couldn't stay between the point guard and the basket against South Carolina, Washington State and UCLA," Floyd said. "Taj [averaging 13.1 ppg and 9.2 rpg] exceeded our expectations and Hackett's play the first 12 or 13 games was real key. It was to the point where we weren't sure we were going to play Gabe [at the point] when he came back.

"I like our team, I really do," Floyd said. "We're growing up."

Floyd's teams usually are rock-solid on defense. That hasn't changed, with the Trojans having held 18 of their 20 opponents to 40 percent or less from the field. The Trojans now, though, have an offensive flow that can go through the post and also has plenty of perimeter options with Pruitt, Nick Young and Lodrick Stewart.

"We're buying in and really incorporating what the coaches are saying, and it all starts defensively," Pruitt said. "[Also,] we're working the ball around offensively, whereas last year we were much more of just a perimeter team. Now we have options down low [with Gibson]."

The Pac-10 schedule has been kind, too. While Washington started out with five of seven on the road and now seems buried at 1-6, the Trojans started with five of seven at home. In a normal USC year, that still may not have made a difference, but the Trojans have a homecourt advantage now at Galen that they may not have had at the L.A. Sports Arena.

Attendance still isn't consistent but it's getting better with each big game, and the atmospheres at the past three games -- UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State -- had the feel of cozy college home games. The Washington, Washington State and Arizona State home games drew between 5,300 and 5,900 in attendance, while the UCLA and Arizona games drew between 9,600 and 9,900 to the 10,000-seat arena. That's a far cry better than the nonconference games that drew as low as 1,700.

"It is more of a college atmosphere," Pruitt said. "The fans are right on top of you. The student section is heckling the other team and it feels like more of a homecourt advantage than the Sports Arena. That used to feel like a neutral site."

"It finally gives us an edge," Floyd said. "I appreciated Hilton Coliseum [his former home arena at Iowa State] and I'm starting to get a feel of it here with UCLA and Arizona and this [Arizona State] game. It's starting to come and we're starting to see the student section fill up."

Maybe the early success -- and the historic lack of a need to rely on a home court -- will help the Trojans when they play seven of their final 11 league games on the road.

"The schedule is what did Washington in so far, and if we had that we may be in a different position," Floyd said. "I'm having a lot of fun with this, building it. I'm enjoying being back and enjoying working with the kids. It took me until I was 51 to figure out who I am. I'm a college coach."

He's now a college coach who has the Trojans well ahead of schedule. Remember, the Trojans were supposed to be building toward next season, when prep star O.J. Mayo arrives along with Davon Jefferson as part of a top-five recruiting class.

"Everyone is realizing that we don't have to wait until next year," Pruitt said. "Obviously, O.J. is a great player and he'll help us out, but we're showing that we can do it this year. We can play different styles, up-and-down and halfcourt, and our resume is improving [for the tournament]. We've proved we can play with the top teams."

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.