Remember Michigan's Fab Five?
Southern Cal basketball coach George Raveling wishes people would forget all about them."One of the worst things that happened to college basketball was Michigan's Fab Five," Raveling said. "What it's done is it has made all of these freshmen come in and think they're going to go to the Final Four right away."
The transition from high school to college basketball is not as easy as Chris Webber and his buddies made it look during the past two seasons, leading Michigan to back-to-back Final Four appearances.
That's a lesson that's been hammered home to USC's highly touted freshman class, dubbed by some as the Fab Four.
Raveling is confident center Avondre Jones, forward Jaha Wilson and guards Stais Boseman and Claude Duncan are talented enough to make significant contributions to USC's basketball program during their collegiate careers. However, for the time being, each is struggling to get comfortable with the Trojans' system and the increased physical and mental demands that go along with competing at this level.
The ball is round, the rims are the same height and the court is the same size. But this, clearly, isn't the same game they played in high school.
Just take a look at Jones. During his senior year at Lakewood Artesia High, the 6-foot-11 center averaged 21.2 points, 11.7 rebounds and 4.3 blocked shots per game. He was a McDonald's All-America. Through five games this season, Jones is averaging 2.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.2 personal fouls. Against Notre Dame Saturday, Jones had three rebounds, three turnovers, three personal fouls and one technical foul in seven minutes.
After that game, junior forward Lorenzo Orr took it upon himself to give Jones some advice and some encouragement.
"I've taken him under my wing," Orr said. "It's easy for me to look back and see myself in the same situation he's in now.
"I think the biggest problem is that he's trying to make his moves too fast. He's such a great talent and he has so many moves. When he gets out on the court, he wants to do everything all at once. I've told him you just have to pick one move and stick with it."
Said Raveling: "I think that with this team, we have to exercise a lot of patience. The coaches have to be patient with the players. The players have to be patient with the coaches and themselves."