USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen announces national search for next Trojans' basketball coach
USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen has an opportunity to make the first major coaching hire of her Trojan tenure as men’s basketball coach Andy Enfield officially landed with the SMU Mustangs on Monday.
Cohen released a statement following Enfield’s move:
“On behalf of USC athletics, I want to thank Andy Enfield for his eleven seasons of leadership and service to the University. He elevated and established USC Men’s Basketball as a premier program with a strong national presence. We are so grateful for everything Andy accomplished and we wish him, Amanda, Aila, Lily and Marcum all the best in this new chapter in their lives.”
Cohen then turned to the future of the program:
“Our national search for a new head coach is underway and I am confident that we will find the right person to lead our program. We have a track record of competitiveness, passionate supporters and fans, a robust donor collective, and are about to compete in the nation’s premier athletic conference. There is no ceiling to what our program can achieve and I look forward to introducing our next head coach.”
Enfield spent 11 seasons at USC and compiled a 220-146 record, including 105-100 in conference. Enfield never won the Pac-12 regular season title, but finished alone in second twice and tied for second once. He took over a program in absolute disarray and finished a combined 23-41 in his first two seasons before taking the Trojans to the NCAA Tournament in Year 3. Enfield took the Trojans to one Elite 8 appearance, in 2021, when the No. 6 seed Trojans beat No. 11 Drake before dominating No. 3 Kansas and No. 7 Oregon, ultimately coming up short against No. 1 Gonzaga.
One of the early names brought up in the USC search was Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman. But Arkansas’ athletic director Hunter Yurachek released a recent video indicating Musselman would remain with the Razorbacks.
Another name generating buzz is San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher. He took the Aztecs to the championship game last season and into the Sweet 16 this year. He recently signed an extension with San Diego State that would keep him there through the 2027-28 season, but contracts and buyouts have become an easily-cleared hurdle if both sides are set on completing a match.
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